Microsoft Excel is a fantastic tool for organizing data sets, keeping track of budgets or even tracking business growth over a period. While it is a versatile program, manually typing each of the commands can add hours to an otherwise short project.
Excel shortcuts can help make the program even more useful by allowing you to create a comprehensive spreadsheet with just a few keystrokes.
Here’s a list of some of the best shortcut keys for Excel, as well as some instructions to help you make custom shortcuts if the ones built into the program just don’t cut it.
Since most of the file and data shortcut keys for Excel are standard across most programs — such as Ctrl/Cmd + C for copy or Ctrl/Cmd + V for paste — we’re going to skip these in favor of some more Excel-specific shortcuts. We will feature the alternatives for both Mac and Windows computers. Shortcuts that only have one set of key commands will work on both systems unless otherwise indicated.
Many of these shortcuts may work on other free Excel clone programs like Google Sheets or Apache OpenOffice, but make sure you test them first.
The arrow keys control the movement between the cells in Excel. Pressing Ctrl and an arrow key on either Mac or Windows computers will move to the next full cell on a spreadsheet. On a Windows computer, the Home key will move to the beginning of a row. On a Mac, you will need to press the Function (FN) key and the left arrow key. Other quick movement shortcut keys for Excel include:
Here is where the shortcuts start getting a little bit complicated.
It’s easy to make mistakes when editing the formulas within a cell. These shortcuts can make it easier to avoid those mistakes and make your monthly Excel calendar easier to manage.
There are quite a few formatting options for Excel, so we’re going to stick to the program-specific ones and leave out the formatting options that work in other Microsoft programs. These shortcuts are useful for creating everything from budgets to drop-down lists.
Unlike Microsoft Word, Excel will not let you edit the built-in shortcuts to create your own. That doesn’t mean you can’t create macro shortcuts — just that it is a little more complicated.
Start by choosing File > Options. In this menu, you will see a Customize Ribbon option — these ribbons are your macro shortcuts. Click the developer tab, and you’ll see a button that says Record Macro.
When you record a macro, the program will store your keystrokes, so if you need to plug in a formula or a specific command, you can do so now. When the macro is complete, the program will ask you to assign a shortcut key to it, with Ctrl or Command and a series of other keys. Be careful which keys you choose, though — you can override shortcut keys, so make sure you’re not accidentally replacing shortcuts you regularly use, like Ctrl + Z for undo.
If you use Excel every day, these shortcuts can make your life easier and your workday more productive. Take time to search through them to find the commands you use daily and see where you can make some changes.
