Excel Shortcuts
The following Excel shortcuts have saved me many hours, and I’m sure
that they can save you a bunch of time as well. If you’d like to play
along, feel free to download the sample workbook.
- Double-click. Rather than fill down formulas with
the traditional copy/paste, or a fill down, simply select the formula
cell, and then double-click in the lower right corner. The double-click
tells Excel to fill the formula down for as many rows as there is data
in the column adjacent and to the left of the formula cell.
- Edit a formula. The fastest way to edit a formula is to select the formula cell and then press the F2 key on your keyboard.
- Change cell references. When entering a formula or a
function argument, change the cell reference to absolute by pressing
the F4 key on your keyboard. Repeated presses cycle through all four
options.
- Navigate. Rather than grab the mouse to navigate
your worksheet, keep your hands on the keyboard. Use the arrow keys to
move one cell at a time. Use the Shift key with the arrow keys to add
cells to your selection. Use the Ctrl key with the arrow keys to jump to
the edges of data regions. Use Shift and Ctrl with the arrow keys to
extend your selection to the edge of the data region. These shortcuts
also work when entering function arguments.
- Change worksheet. Ctrl and Page Up will activate the previous worksheet. Ctrl and Page Down will activate the next worksheet.
- Enter Sum(). Quickly enter a Sum function by pressing Alt and = at the end of a range of data.
- Highlight row or column. Highlight an entire row by pressing Shift and Space. Highlight an entire column with Ctrl and Space
- Enter current date. Enter today’s date into a cell by pressing Ctrl and ;.
