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Microsoft Excel is so jam-packed with cells, worksheets, tabs, buttons, and dialog boxes that navigating your way around the program using your mouse can sometimes seem like more hassle than it’s worth! Here are my favorite keyboard shortcuts for speeding up this process.
The keyboard shortcuts in this article apply to Windows computers.Mac keyboard shortcutsin Excel often follow the same principle, though the Windows Alt key can normally be replaced by the Mac Options key, and the Windows Ctrl key can be substituted for a Mac Cmd key.
Navigating Between Cells in Excel
Although I use the Arrow keys in Excel to move up, down, left, or right to a nearby cell, some of the best yet simplest shortcuts allow me to leap further in one go. As a result, gone are the days of using the scroller wheel on my mouse in Excel!
Move to the right edge of the data region
Ctrl+Right Arrow or End+Right Arrow
Move to the left edge of the data region
Ctrl+Left Arrow or End+Left Arrow
Move to the top of the data region
Ctrl+Up Arrow or End+Up Arrow
Move to the bottom of the data region
Ctrl+Down Arrow or End+Down Arrow
Move to cell A1
Move to the last active cell in the worksheet
Move to column A in the current row
Home
Move to the cell one screen down from the active cell
Page Down
Move to the cell one screen up from the active cell
Page Up
Move to the cell one screen right from the active cell
Alt+Page Down
Move to the cell one screen left from the active cell
Alt+Page Up
To select cells as you navigate between them, press Shift alongside the above keyboard shortcuts. For example, Shift+Home selects all the cells in the active row from the active cell to column A, and Shift+Ctrl+Right Arrow selects all cells between the active cell and the right edge of the data region.
Press Alt+F3 to activateExcel’s Name Boxin the top-left corner of the window. There, you can type a name for the selected cell or cells, or use the Up and Down Arrow keys and Enter to navigate to arange you’ve already named.
Navigating the Excel Ribbon
The key to navigating the Microsoft Excel ribbon is understanding what the Alt key does. When I press and release Alt, a letter appears next to each tab on the ribbon.
Then, when I press one of those corresponding letters (such as H to open the “Home” tab), a new code appears for each command.
As a result, some of the Alt keyboard shortcut combinations are now ingrained in my mind, as I use them so often. For example, I know that Alt > Q takes me to the search field at the top of the window, Alt > H > L > R opens the Conditional Formatting Rules Manager, and Alt > W > VG hides and shows gridlines.
Press F2 to enter cell editing mode. This activates the formula bar, where you can see and modify the selected cell’s formula or value. Then, to return to navigation mode, press Enter or Ctrl+Enter.
What I like most about the Alt shortcut in Microsoft programs like Excel and Word is that when I press Alt, the tools I’ve added to my Quick Access Toolbar are numbered, meaning I can perform my most commonly used actions by pressing just two keys.
In my case, pressing Alt > 8 launches theCamera toolto capture some data, and Alt > 9 turns onFocus Cellso that I can read my spreadsheet more easily.
While most dialog boxes can be launched through the ribbon, I use more direct shortcuts to access the tools I use most often.
Navigate to the Format Cells dialog box
Navigate to the Find And Replace dialog box
Ctrl+F (Find) or Ctrl+H (Replace)
Navigate to the Go To dialog box
Ctrl+G or F5
Navigate to the Paste Special dialog box
Navigate to the Create Table dialog box
Navigate to the Insert Function dialog box
Navigate to the Name Manager dialog box
Ctrl+F3
Navigating Excel Dialog Boxes
Once I’ve used the relevant shortcut to open an Excel dialog box, I continue using my keyboard to navigate it.
Even though it took me a while to get out of the habit of reaching for my mouse, once I got used to using my keyboard to jump between the tabs and options, I realized just how much time I was saving.
Move to the next tab
Move to the previous tab
Jump between controls in a tab
Check or uncheck the selected checkbox
Expand the selected drop-down menu
Select an option in the expanded drop-down menu
Save changes and close the dialog box
Enter
An even quicker way I like to activate a control in a dialog box tab is to press Alt and the underlined letter in the control name. For example, after using Ctrl+1 and then Ctrl+Tab to open the Font tab of the Format Cells dialog box, pressing Alt+K activated strikethrough, since the letter “k” is underlined in the tool’s label.
Navigating Between Excel Worksheets
If, like me, many of your Excel workbooks contain more than one worksheet, you’ll know how frustrating it is to jump back and forth between tabs using your mouse. Luckily, these memorable keyboard shortcuts make this process far less time-consuming.
Jump to the next worksheet (tab)
Jump to the previous worksheet (tab)
Open a new tab immediately before the active tab
Shift+F11
To rename the active worksheet, press Alt > H > O > R, type the worksheet name, and press Enter.
Opening and Closing Excel Workbooks
Keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Excel aren’t limited to spreadsheet creation. Indeed, I use them to open a workbook at the start of the day and close it when I’m done.
Open an existing workbook (with Excel already open)
Open a new workbook (with Excel already open)
Close a workbook but leave Excel open
Ctrl+W or Ctrl+F4
Open the Save As dialog box
Save the workbook
Ctrl+S
If you haven’t saved a workbook and press Ctrl+W, Ctrl+F4, or Alt+F4, you’ll be given the option to save it before it closes.
Learning Microsoft Excel keyboard shortcuts isn’t the only way tosave time when using the program. For example, you couldfreeze panesto avoid overscrolling, useconditional formattingto color cells automatically depending on their values, and turn your data intoPivotTablesto analyze your data at a glance.
