Essential Excel Keyboard Shortcuts – 2024

Essential Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

Excel is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of tasks, from creating simple spreadsheets to complex financial models. However, in order to use Excel efficiently, it’s important to know how to use keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcuts are a quick and easy way to perform common tasks in Excel. They can save you a lot of time and effort, especially if you use Excel frequently.

There are many different Excel keyboard shortcuts available, but some of the most useful include:

Basic Navigation

• Ctrl + Home: Moves to the beginning of the worksheet
• Ctrl + End: Moves to the end of the worksheet
• Arrow keys: Moves one cell at a time
• Page Up: Moves up one screen
• Page Down: Moves down one screen

Editing

• Ctrl + Z: Undoes the last action
• Ctrl + Y: Redoes the last action
• F2: Enters edit mode for the selected cell
• Del: Deletes the selected cell
• Backspace: Deletes the character to the left of the cursor

Formatting

• Ctrl + B: Bolds the selected text
• Ctrl + I: Italicizes the selected text
• Ctrl + U: Underlines the selected text
• Ctrl + Shift + F: Opens the Font dialog box
• Ctrl + Shift + A: Opens the Borders and Shading dialog box

Formulas

• F4: Repeats the last action
• Esc: Cancels the current action
• Enter: Enters the current formula
• Ctrl + Shift + Enter: Enters an array formula
• F9: Calculates the selected formula

Data

• Ctrl + C: Copies the selected cells
• Ctrl + V: Pastes the copied cells
• Ctrl + X: Cuts the selected cells
• Ctrl + Shift + V: Pastes special
• Ctrl + F: Opens the Find and Replace dialog box

Charts

• F11: Creates a chart from the selected data
• Shift + F11: Opens the Chart Type dialog box
• Ctrl + Shift + F11: Edits the selected chart

These are just a few of the many useful Excel keyboard shortcuts that are available. With a little practice, you can learn to use these shortcuts to save time and improve your productivity.

Additional tips

• Customize your keyboard shortcuts. You can customize your keyboard shortcuts to fit your own preferences. To do this, go to the File tab, click Options, and then click Customize Ribbon. In the Customize Keyboard dialog box, you can select the command that you want to assign a shortcut to and then press the shortcut key combination.
• Use a keyboard shortcut reference sheet. There are many keyboard shortcut reference sheets available online and in print. You can use these sheets to keep track of the shortcuts that you use most often.
• Practice using keyboard shortcuts. The more you use keyboard shortcuts, the more comfortable you will become with them. Try to use them as much as possible, even for simple tasks.