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| Keyboard Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel |
Excel supports a plethora of keyboard shortcuts that help you work efficiently and increase productivity. Instead of accessing the toolbar with a mouse, two or three keystrokes are used to perform significant functions. Isn’t that easier and time-saving? Using Excel shortcuts drastically increases the speed, and thus reduces work-time.
Now the question is, if you have to memorize these shortcuts, the answer is no. However, it would be an advantage if you can remember a few of them. With regular practice, you will be able to remember most of the common Excel shortcuts.
Let’s now look at the top Excel shortcuts, which you should know when working on Microsoft Excel. In this article, we have categorized 50 Excel shortcuts based on their operations. First, we will look at the workbook shortcut keys.
| Shortcut | Action | Menu | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ctrl+A | Ctrl A | Select All | None |
| Ctrl+B | Ctrl B | Bold | FormatCellsFontFont StyleBold |
| Ctrl+C | Ctrl C | Copy | EditCopy |
| Ctrl+D | Ctrl D | Fill Down | EditFillDown |
| Ctrl+F | Ctrl F | Find | EditFind |
| Ctrl+G | Ctrl G | Goto | EditGoto |
| Ctrl+H | Ctrl H | Replace | EditReplace |
| Ctrl+I | Ctrl I | Italic | FormatCellsFontFont StyleItalic |
| Ctrl+K | Ctrl K | Insert Hyperlink | InsertHyperlink |
| Ctrl+N | Ctrl N | New Workbook | FileNew |
| Ctrl+O | Ctrl O | Open | FileOpen |
| Ctrl+P | Ctrl P | FilePrint | |
| Ctrl+R | Ctrl R | Fill Right | EditFill Right |
| Ctrl+S | Ctrl S | Save | FileSave |
| Ctrl+U | Ctrl U | Underline | FormatCellsFontUnderlineSingle |
| Ctrl+V | Ctrl V | Paste | EditPaste |
| Ctrl W | Ctrl W | Close | FileClose |
| Ctrl+X | Ctrl X | Cut | EditCut |
| Ctrl+Y | Ctrl Y | Repeat | EditRepeat |
| Ctrl+Z | Ctrl Z | Undo | EditUndo |
| F1 | F1 | Help | HelpContents and Index |
| F2 | F2 | Edit | None |
| F3 | F3 | Paste Name | InsertNamePaste |
| F4 | F4 | Repeat last action | EditRepeat. Works while not in Edit mode. |
| F4 | F4 | While typing a formulaswitch between absolute/relative refs | None |
| F5 | F5 | Goto | EditGoto |
| F6 | F6 | Next Pane | None |
| F7 | F7 | Spell check | ToolsSpelling |
| F8 | F8 | Extend mode | None |
| F9 | F9 | Recalculate all workbooks | ToolsOptionsCalculationCalc,Now |
| F10 | F10 | Activate Menubar | N/A |
| F11 | F11 | New Chart | InsertChart |
| F12 | F12 | Save As | FileSave As |
| Ctrl+: | Ctrl : | Insert Current Time | None |
| Ctrl+; | Ctrl ; | Insert Current Date | None |
| Ctrl+" | Ctrl " | Copy Value from Cell Above | EditPaste SpecialValue |
| Ctrl+' | Ctrl ' | Copy Fromula from Cell Above | EditCopy |
| Shift | Shift | Hold down shift for additional functions in Excel's menu | none |
| Shift+F1 | Shift F1 | What's This? | HelpWhat's This? |
| Shift+F2 | Shift F2 | Edit cell comment | InsertEdit Comments |
| Shift+F3 | Shift F3 | Paste function into formula | InsertFunction |
| Shift+F4 | Shift F4 | Find Next | EditFindFind Next |
| Shift+F5 | Shift F5 | Find | EditFindFind Next |
| Shift+F6 | Shift F6 | Previous Pane | None |
| Shift+F8 | Shift F8 | Add to selection | None |
| Shift+F9 | Shift F9 | Calculate active worksheet | Calc Sheet |
| Shift+F10 | Shift F10 | Display shortcut menu | None |
| Shift+F11 | Shift F11 | New worksheet | InsertWorksheet |
| Shift+F12 | Shift F12 | Save | FileSave |
| Ctrl+F3 | Ctrl F3 | Define name | InsertNamesDefine |
| Ctrl+F4 | Ctrl F4 | Close | FileClose |
| Ctrl+F5 | Ctrl F5 | XLRestore window size | Restore |
| Ctrl+F6 | Ctrl F6 | Next workbook window | Window... |
| Shift+Ctrl+F6 | Shift Ctrl F6 | Previous workbook window | Window... |
| Ctrl+F7 | Ctrl F7 | Move window | XLMove |
| Ctrl+F8 | Ctrl F8 | Resize window | XLSize |
| Ctrl+F9 | Ctrl F9 | Minimize workbook | XLMinimize |
| Ctrl+F10 | Ctrl F10 | Maximize or restore window | XLMaximize |
| Ctrl+F11 | Ctrl F11 | Inset 4.0 Macro sheet | None in Excel 97. In versions prior to 97 - InsertMacro4.0 Macro |
| Ctrl+F12 | Ctrl F12 | File Open | FileOpen |
| Alt+F1 | Alt F1 | Insert Chart | InsertChart... |
| Alt+F2 | Alt F2 | Save As | FileSave As |
| Alt+F4 | Alt F4 | Exit | FileExit |
| Alt+F8 | Alt F8 | Macro dialog box | ToolsMacroMacros in Excel 97 ToolsMacros - in earlier versions |
| Alt+F11 | Alt F11 | Visual Basic Editor | ToolsMacroVisual Basic Editor |
| Ctrl+Shift+F3 | Ctrl Shift F3 | Create name by using names of row and column labels | InsertNameCreate |
| Ctrl+Shift+F6 | Ctrl Shift F6 | Previous Window | Window... |
| Ctrl+Shift+F12 | Ctrl Shift F12 | FilePrint | |
| Alt+Shift+F1 | Alt Shift F1 | New worksheet | InsertWorksheet |
| Alt+Shift+F2 | Alt Shift F2 | Save | FileSave |
| Alt+= | Alt = | AutoSum | No direct equivalent |
| Ctrl+` | Ctrl ` | Toggle Value/Formula display | ToolsOptionsViewFormulas |
| Ctrl+Shift+A | Ctrl Shift A | Insert argument names into formula | No direct equivalent |
| Alt+Down arrow | Alt | Display AutoComplete list | None |
| Alt+' | Alt ' | Format Style dialog box | FormatStyle |
| Ctrl+Shift+~ | Ctrl Shift ~ | General format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryGeneral |
| Ctrl+Shift+! | Ctrl Shift ! | Comma format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryNumber |
| Ctrl+Shift+@ | Ctrl Shift @ | Time format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryTime |
| Ctrl+Shift+# | Ctrl Shift # | Date format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryDate |
| Ctrl+Shift+$ | Ctrl Shift $ | Currency format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryCurrency |
| Ctrl+Shift+% | Ctrl Shift % | Percent format | FormatCellsNumberCategoryPercentage |
| Ctrl+Shift+^ | Ctrl Shift ^ | Exponential format | FormatCellsNumberCategory, |
| Ctrl+Shift+& | Ctrl Shift & | Place outline border around selected cells | FormatCellsBorder |
| Ctrl+Shift+_ | Ctrl Shift _ | Remove outline border | FormatCellsBorder |
| Ctrl+Shift+* | Ctrl Shift * | Select current region | EditGotoSpecialCurrent Region |
| Ctrl++ | Ctrl + | Insert | Insert(Rows, Columns, or Cells) Depends on selection |
| Ctrl+- | Ctrl - | Delete | Delete(Rows, Columns, or Cells) Depends on selection |
| Ctrl+1 | Ctrl 1 | Format cells dialog box | FormatCells |
| Ctrl+2 | Ctrl 2 | Bold | FormatCellsFontFont StyleBold |
| Ctrl+3 | Ctrl 3 | Italic | FormatCellsFontFont StyleItalic |
| Ctrl+4 | Ctrl 4 | Underline | FormatCellsFontFont StyleUnderline |
| Ctrl+5 | Ctrl 5 | Strikethrough | FormatCellsFontEffectsStrikethrough |
| Ctrl+6 | Ctrl 6 | Show/Hide objects | ToolsOptionsViewObjectsShow All/Hide |
| Ctrl+7 | Ctrl 7 | Show/Hide Standard toolbar | ViewToolbarsStardard |
| Ctrl+8 | Ctrl 8 | Toggle Outline symbols | None |
| Ctrl+9 | Ctrl 9 | Hide rows | FormatRowHide |
| Ctrl+0 | Ctrl 0 | Hide columns | FormatColumnHide |
| Ctrl+Shift+( | Ctrl Shift ( | Unhide rows | FormatRowUnhide |
| Ctrl+Shift+) | Ctrl Shift ) | Unhide columns | FormatColumnUnhide |
| Alt or F10 | Alt / F10 | Activate the menu | None |
| Ctrl+Tab | Ctrl Tab | In toolbar: next toolbar | None |
| Ctrl+Tab | Ctrl Tab | In a workbook: activate next workbook | None |
| Shift+Ctrl+Tab | Shift Ctrl Tab | In toolbar: previous toolbar | None |
| Shift+Ctrl+Tab | Shift Ctrl Tab | In a workbook: activate previous workbook | None |
| Tab | Tab | Next tool | None |
| Shift+Tab | Shift Tab | Previous tool | None |
| Enter | Enter | Do the command | None |
| Shift+Ctrl+F | Shift Ctrl F | Font Drop Down List | FormatCellsFont |
| Shift+Ctrl+F+F | Shift Ctrl F F | Font tab of Format Cell Dialog box | FormatCellsFont |
| Shift+Ctrl+P | Shift Ctrl P | Point size Drop Down List | FormatCellsFont |
