Top 21 Excel shortcuts to share with users
November 16, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Software, Software shortcuts
Few people enjoy working in Microsoft Excel. Unfortunately, a lot of employees in your company often have to.
To make it easier, here are some handy keyboard shortcuts you can share with users:
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.
FinanceTechNews.com delivers the latest Finance news once a week to the inboxes of over 150,000 Finance professionals.
Click here to sign up and start your FREE subscription to FinanceTechNews!
November 10th, 2009 at 9:29 am
Ctrl-F6 is the same as Ctrl-Tab and a Ctrl+Tab is a lot easier to do one handed.
the F6 must be new to Excel 20007 (thus the ribbon in the description)
and nice try using Ctrl-R twice
November 17th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Nice one, Shawn.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:25 am
yes, they used Ctrl+R twice, but they both say they do the same thing, just different wording…
November 17th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
I like to use Shift + F2. It allows you to enter a comment in a cell without having to use the mouse. Then, when you are done entering the comment, hit escape twice and you can tab over to the next cell.
November 17th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
They left out one of my favorites CTRL+ENTER which repeats the last command such as a format or inserting or deleting a row or column etc. As an added bonus if you highlight multiple cells (including non-contiguous cells using the mouse and CTRL key) then go into edit mode (using the F2 key) when you hit CTRL+ENTER it will copy the contents into all of the hi-lited cells without copying formats. I know the explanation for this is long but I use this alot, especially when I want a formula copied without affecting formatting i.e. borders, bolding, shading etc.
Another is CTRL+’ (apostrophe) which copies the contents of the cell immediately above the active cell.
Forget about the CTRL+9 etc for hiding rows or columns, it is much easier to use the grouping so you can visually see where rows or columns are hidden, plus you can hide/unhide with one click of the mouse.
I can’t believe they didn’t mention CTRL+C to copy and CTRL+V to paste unless they assume this is known by all users.
November 19th, 2009 at 11:14 am
JEH is correct, CTRL+ENTER is a great shortcut. Thanks for writing it up JEH!
November 24th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I don’t see the CTRL+z key for the undo command and the CTRL p is missing too. Maybe they assume everyone knows these too.
November 25th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
My guess is that Ctrl-S, Ctrl-P, Ctrl-F, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-U, Ctrl-X, Ctrl-Y, and Ctrl-Z are considered common “Windows” shortcuts that they left out because they aren’t specific to Excel. This is still a nice list to share with our end users. I’d like to also see a Top 20 list of Windows shortcuts, Word shortcuts, etc., all in convenient, tack up on your cubicle wall formats.