21 best Excel shortcuts — all in one place
September 25, 2009 by Jennifer AzaraPosted in: Communication tips, Efficiency, Special Report, Technology
Love ’em or loathe ’em, spreadsheets are the lifeblood of any Finance department.
Why not make it as easy on yourself as possible? Here’s a collection of the best Excel shortcuts – bet you don’t know them all:
CTRL — Shift & Outline border to the selected cells.
CTRL Shift # — Change Date format with day, month and year.
CTRL Shift @ — Change Time format with hour and minute, AM or PM.
CTRL Shift : – For the current time.
CTRL ; — For current date.
CTRL 9 — Hide selected rows.
CTRL 0 — Hide selected columns.
CTRL ` — Display Formulas/Alternate in the worksheet.
CTRL+K — To insert Hyperlink.
CTRL+H — Opens up the Find and Replace dialog box.
CTRL+R — Uses the Fill Right command to copy the contents and format of the leftmost cell of a selected range into the cells to the right.
CTRL+7 — Hides or displays the standard toolbar.
ALT+F1 — This creates a chart out of the data in the current range (selected cells). This is the most well-known feature of Excel, and now you know a new way to use it!
ALT+SHIFT+F1 — Inserts a new worksheet into a workbook.
F6 — Switches between the worksheet, Ribbon, task pane, and Zoom controls. This is probably the most useful shortcut of all. This cool shortcut is also the most beloved to all the anti-mouse users out there.
SHIFT+F6 – The reverse of the F6 shortcut.
CTRL+F6 – Switches to the next workbook window when multiple workbook windows are open.
CTRL+SHIFT+$ – Applies the currency format to the selected cells.
CTRL+`– Alternates between showing the value of a cell and the formula in the worksheet. Great for complex worksheets.
CTRL+D – Fill down command on the selected cells. Fill down copies the content and format of the topmost cell into the cells below.
CTRL+R – Fill right command on the selected cells. Fill right copies the content and format of the leftmost cell to the cells to the right.
It’s worth posting a copy of this list next to every Finance PC. It can save time and frustration.
Any additional shortcuts you’d like to share? Pass them along here.
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Tags: Columns, Excel, Format, Shortcuts, Spreadsheets, Worksheets
September 28th, 2009 at 9:48 am
CTRL + F – Opens up the Find and Replace dialog box.
September 28th, 2009 at 10:05 am
I thought you might find this useful
September 28th, 2009 at 11:00 am
CTRL+R is repeated on this list… so 20 best shortcuts
September 28th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
F4 repeats the last action – very handy!
September 28th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
F2 – opens the cell highlighted for edit – very nice!
September 28th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Ctrl ` is also repeated. This list includes several shortcuts I didn’t know, so thanks! I just tried Ctrl 9 and Ctrl 0 for hiding and discovered that adding the Shift key Un-hides. Too cool!
Ctrl F and Ctrol H open the same dialog box but default to different tabs – F for find, H for replace. Here are some of my most favored favorites:
Shift + spacebar selects the current row(s)
Ctrl+ spacebar selects the current column(s)
Combine these with:
Ctrl – (minus) to delete the selected row or column
Ctrl + to insert the number of rows/columns that are highlighted. If you have already copied (Ctrl C) or cut (Ctrl X) rows or columns, then the Ctrl + acts as Insert-Paste.
Another of my favorites is Ctrl ‘ (apostrophe) which copies the contents of the cell directly above. It doesn’t copy formatting. I guess the delete and insert ones above aren’t as useful if you are working on a laptop keyboard, but I’m usually working on a standard keyboard and use them daily.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
BTW, does anyone know a short-cut for Paste-Special-Value or Paste-Special-Format? I use them a lot and would love to have shortcuts. Thanks.
September 28th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
CTRL + ` is also repeated. Still a useful list of shortcuts!
September 28th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
F11 makes a basic bar chart out of your data.
September 28th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Control+’ is also repeated.
Shift + F11 will also create a new sheet in a workbook
September 28th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I use the keyboard strokes for paste value as follows:
CTRL + C then ALT then E then S then V
For Format, it is the same except instead of V it is F at the end.
September 28th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
paste value (in 2007)
is
Alt then H then V then V
September 28th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
ctrl + shift+end : this selects the whole section that you are working with
combine with
ctrl+ shift + arrow keys to really fine tune the area selected
September 28th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
except for cut and paste, I tend to use mouse short cuts… but one that combines the two that i have found handy if you have a scroller on your mouse is + to zoom in and to zoom out
September 28th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I use the paste special, value so much I created a macro and assigned the shortcut of CTRL B. Saves a lot of time.
September 28th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
F2 – allows quick access the contents of a cells also available/evident in the formula bar.
F4 – changes a cells reference types only when the cell is in EDIT mode (absolute, relative references, and mixed) where formulas are evident.
F2 followed by F4 is a quick way to switch a cells reference types.
CTRL + Insert : another way to copy cells contents
SHIFT + Insert: another way to paste cells contents
CTRL + P: Print
CTRL + O: Open file dialog
CTRL + B : Bold formatting
CTRL + I : Italic formatting
CTRL + U : Underline formatting
CTRL + F10: Maximize wb
CTRL + F9 : Minimize wb
….etc all very handy
September 28th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
sorry, the symbols i used did not filter into the message… CTRL + to zoom in and CTRL – to zoom out or you can use your mouse scroller and CTRL
September 29th, 2009 at 7:44 am
One of my favorites- to highlight all populated columns to the right and rows below: CTRL + SHIFT + Arrow Right then Arrow Down.
September 29th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I use CTRL Z, for replaceing entrys that have been deleted or typed over by mistake.
September 29th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Great list! You left off CTRL+A which highlights all cells in the spreadsheet.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
‘Cntrl + ~’ flips all cells from formula view to results view. Very handy for complex modeling.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Dear Janet
Ctrl + Alt + V Past Special
Have fun
Dexter77