50 Must-Know Excel Keyboard Shortcuts: Boost Your Efficiency Today
Master Excel like a pro with our list of 50 essential keyboard shortcuts. From navigation and data entry to formatting and data analysis, these shortcuts will supercharge your productivity.
Navigation Shortcuts
These shortcuts are your bread and butter for moving around an Excel sheet with agility.
- Ctrl + Arrow Key: Navigate to the edge of data region (Imagine having a long list of data and you quickly want to get to the last filled cell. Use this shortcut.)
- Alt + Page Down: Move one screen to the right
- Alt + Page Up: Move one screen to the left
- Ctrl + Home: Go to cell A1
- Ctrl + End: Go to the last cell with data
Data Entry and Editing
Excel’s real power is in its capability to handle complex data entry tasks.
- Alt + E, S, V: Paste special (For instance, if you’re copying a cell that has both formula and formatting, but you only need the value, Paste Special will be a lifesaver.)
- Ctrl + D: Fill down
- Ctrl + R: Fill right
- F2: Edit active cell
- Alt + Enter: Start a new line within a cell
Selection Shortcuts
Selection shortcuts help in making bulk changes to cells or in applying functions.
- Shift + Space: Select entire row (Ever needed to delete an entire row? This shortcut followed by the delete key will get it done in a snap.)
- Ctrl + Space: Select entire column
- Ctrl + Shift + L: Add or remove filters
- Shift + Arrow Key: Extend cell selection
- Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Key: Extend cell selection to the last non-blank cell
Workbook and Worksheet
Managing the workbook itself and switching between sheets is often an underrated skill in Excel.
- Ctrl + N: New workbook
- Ctrl + O: Open workbook
- Ctrl + S: Save workbook
- Ctrl + P: Print workbook
- Ctrl + Tab: Switch between open workbooks (When you have multiple workbooks open, this lets you flip through them much like you would switch between tabs in a web browser.)
- Ctrl + Page Up: Move to previous worksheet
- Ctrl + Page Down: Move to next worksheet
Formatting
Formatting shortcuts are useful for adding the necessary emphasis or clarity to your data.
- Ctrl + B: Bold (If you’re presenting data to clients, making key figures bold can make a huge impact, and this shortcut makes it effortless.)
- Ctrl + I: Italic
- Ctrl + U: Underline
- Alt + H, B, A: Add all borders
- Alt + H, H: Fill cell background
- Alt + H, F, C: Fill font color
Formulas and Functions
The core of Excel’s utility is in its computational abilities.
- Alt + M: Open Formula tab
- F4: Repeat last action
- Ctrl + `: Show or hide formulas (This toggles the view to show the formulas behind the cell values, invaluable for debugging.)
- Shift + F3: Open function insert dialog
- Ctrl + Shift + Enter: Enter formula as array formula
Data Analysis
- Alt + A, T: Add table (Converting a dataset into a table allows you to manage and analyze related data more easily.)
- Ctrl + Q: Quick Analysis Tool
- Alt + D, G, G: Group selected cells
- Alt + D, U, U: Ungroup selected cells
- Alt + A, S, S: Sort data ascending
- Alt + A, S, D: Sort data descending
Miscellaneous
This is the grab-bag of shortcuts that don’t neatly fit into other categories but are equally useful.
- Ctrl + F: Find (This is often overlooked but is critical when you’re auditing sheets and need to find all instances of a particular value or string.)
- Ctrl + H: Replace
- Ctrl + X: Cut
- Ctrl + C: Copy
- Ctrl + V: Paste
- Ctrl + Z: Undo
- Ctrl + Y: Redo
- Ctrl + K: Insert hyperlink
- F7: Spellcheck
- Alt + E, A, A: Clear all content and formatting
- Ctrl + Alt + V: Paste Special menu
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