Utilising the keyboard shortcuts in Excel

Workbook Shortcut Keys

In this section, we will understand the basics of operating a workbook. We will learn how to create a new workbook, open an existing workbook, and save a spreadsheet so that you don’t lose any data or calculations that you have done. We will then go through how you can toggle between several different sheets in a workbook.

Description Excel Shortcuts

To create a new workbook Ctrl + N
To open an existing workbook Ctrl + O
To save a workbook/spreadsheet Ctrl + S
To close the current workbook Ctrl + W
To close Excel Ctrl + F4
To move to the next sheet Ctrl + Page Down
To move to the previous sheet Ctrl + Page Up
To go to the Data tab Alt + A
To go to the View tab Alt + W
To go the Formula tab Alt + M
To go to home tab Alt +H
To go to page layout tab Alt +P

Those were the Excel shortcuts that can help you navigate through your spreadsheet. Once the workbook creation is done, the next key step is cell formatting.

Cell Formatting Shortcut Keys

A cell in Excel holds all the data that you are working on. Several different shortcuts can be applied to a cell, such as editing a cell, aligning cell contents, adding a border to a cell, adding an outline to all the selected cells, and many more. Here is a sneak peek into these Excel shortcuts.

Description Excel Shortcuts

To edit a cell F2
To copy and paste cells Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V
To italicize and make the font bold Ctrl + I, Ctrl + B
To center align cell contents Alt + H + A + C
To fill color Alt + H + H
To add a border Alt + H + B
To remove outline border Ctrl + Shift + _
To add an outline to the select cells Ctrl + Shift + &
To move to the next cell Tab
To move to the previous cell Shift + Tab
To select all the cells on the right Ctrl + Shift + Right arrow
To select all the cells on the left Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow
To select the column from the selected cell to the end of the table Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow
To select all the cells above the selected cell Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow
To select all the cells below the selected cell Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow

Additional and advanced cell formatting Excel shortcuts that might come handy.

Adding a comment to a cell.

Comments are helpful when giving extra information about cell content.

Description Excel Shortcuts

To add a comment to a cell Shift + F2
To delete a cell comment Shift + F10 + D
To display find and replace Ctrl + H
To activate the filter Ctrl + Shift + L, Alt + Down Arrow
To insert the current date Ctrl +;
To insert current time Ctrl + Shift +:
To insert a hyperlink Ctrl + k
To apply the currency format Ctrl + Shift + $
To apply the percent format Ctrl + Shift + %
To go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box Alt + Q

Row and Column Formatting Shortcut Keys

Critical row and column formatting shortcuts.

We will understand how to delete rows and columns, hide and unhide the selected rows and columns, and group and ungroup rows and columns.

Description Excel Shortcuts

To select the entire row Shift + Space
To select the entire column Ctrl + Space
To delete a column Alt +H+D+C
To delete a row Shift + Space, Ctrl + –
To hide selected row Ctrl + 9
To unhide selected row Ctrl + Shift + 9
To hide a selected column Ctrl + 0
To unhide a selected column Ctrl + Shift + 0
To group rows or columns Alt + Shift + Right arrow
To ungroup rows or columns Alt + Shift + Left arrow

Pivot Table Shortcut Keys

First, let’s create a pivot table using a sales dataset.

Fig: Pivot table using sales data

Description Excel Shortcuts

To group pivot table items Alt + Shift + Right arrow
To ungroup pivot table items Alt + Shift + Left arrow
To hide pivot table items Ctrl + –
To create a pivot chart on the same sheet Alt + F1
To create a pivot chart on a new worksheet F11