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4 min read

Powerful Microsoft Excel keyboard shortcuts in 2024

itfoundations Originally posted on September 09, 2024
Last updated on September 13, 2024

IT Support Productivity

Microsoft Excel is a powerhouse of an application. That power can be unleashed even quicker by using the many built-in keyboard shortcuts.

In our own rigorous trials, we established that using a keyboard shortcut saved at least one second on every task that we undertook over the traditional process of moving the cursor to the appropriate task in the ribbon and clicking. Those seconds add up when you consider how many functions and tasks you carry out in Microsoft Excel, especially if you are a power user.

Learning just a handful of keyboard shortcuts is well worth it to boost your productivity.

Below we've listed the best time-saving Excel shortcut key combinations.


General Shortcuts in Excel

These shortcuts are almost universal across Windows but are still worth including in this list in relation to Excel just in case you don't know them.

General Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + C Copy the contents of selected cells
Ctrl + X Cut the contents of selected cells
Ctrl + V Paste the contents of the clipboard into the selected cells (depending on which cells you have selected this behaviour will vary:
  • If a single cell is selected and one cell of data is in the clipboard this will fill data into the cell
  • If a single cell is selected, but multiple cells are on the clipboard then data will paste into the surrounding cells using the selected cell as the top left cell for the pasted area
  • If multiple cells are selected and one cell of data is in the clipboard then all selected cells will be filled with the same data
  • If multiple cells are selected, and multiple cells of data are on the clipboard that match the same sizes as the selection, the area will be filled completely with the clipboard data
  • If multiple cells are selected, but fewer than the multiple cells of data on the clipboard then paste will extend the area to paste the full contents of the clipboard
  • If more cells are selected than cells of data stored on the clipboard, pasting will paste what is on the clipboard using the top left selected cell as the starting point. Only what is on the clipboard will be pasted and the remainder of the selected cells will be left unchanged.
Ctrl + Shift + V Paste the contents of the clipboard as plain text (without any source formatting)
Ctrl + D Copies the contents of the top cell into all selected cells below
Ctrl + R Copies the contents of the left cell into all selected cells to the right
Ctrl + Z  Undo the last action
Ctrl + Y Redo the last action (where possible)

 

Navigation Shortcuts in Excel

These shortcuts assist with navigating around your worksheet quickly.

Navigation Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + F  Display the Navigation task pane, to search within the document content.
Ctrl + H   Display the Replace dialog box, to find and replace text, specific formatting, or special items
Ctrl + arrow key  Moves to the end of an area of data in the direction pressed
Page Up / Down Moves up / down one screen worth of cells
Alt + Page Up / Down Moves left / right one screen worth of cells
Tab Move one cell to the right (or if a worksheet is protected it will move to the next unlocked cell to the right)
Shift + Tab Move one cell to the left (or if a worksheet is protected it will move to the next unlocked cell to the left)
Ctrl + End Moves to the last cell in a worksheet aligned to the further right column, and the further down row with data in them.  
Ctrl + Page Up or Page Down Moves between worksheets in a workbook.

Selection Shortcuts in Excel

These shortcuts help you select cells of data in your worksheet. Navigating by keyboard shortcut can be very efficient once you remember the combinations.

Selection Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + A Pressing this combination will select a whole table and another press will expand the selection to the whole sheet
Shift + arrow key  Selects the current cell, and the next one in the direction that you pressed.

Keep it held down while pressing the arrow key repeatedly to expand the selection
F8 Press once, move your cursor and click to select all cells in between
Hold Shift + mouse click  Performs the same action as above; selects from the current cell to the location of your mouse click
Shift + spacebar Select the whole current row in a table, or press again to extend to the whole worksheet
Ctrl + spacebar Select the whole current column in a table, or press again to extend to the whole worksheet

 

Formatting Shortcuts in Excel

There are some common formatting shortcuts across all of windows like bolding text but there are also some specific to Excel and we've covered both both. Learning them will assist with converting those pesky numbers into percentages and times in no time at all!

Formatting Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + B Apply bold format to selected cells
Ctrl + I Apply italic format to selected cells
Ctrl + U Apply an underline to all characters, including spaces in selected cells
Ctrl + 1 Opens the Format Cells dialogue box
Ctrl + shift + percent (%) Applies the percentage format without decimals
Ctrl + shift + caret (^) Applies scientific number format to two decimals
Ctrl + shift + Exclamation Point (!) Applies number format with two decimals, and thousand separators
Ctrl + shift + At sign (@) Applies time format (Hr:Min)

 

Editing Shortcuts in Excel

Using shortcut key combinations will make editing and data entry much quicker in Excel.

Editing Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Shift + F2 Adds or edits a comment in cell
F2 Edits the selected call and puts the cursor at the end of existing contents
Ctrl + K Insert or edit a hyperlink
Ctrl + ; Enter the current date
Ctrl + shift + ; Enter the current time
Alt + enter Start a new line within the same cell

 

Document Management Shortcuts in Excel

Opening a new workbook involves moving your mouse to the file button at the top of the screen and clicking Blank Workbook from the menu. It might now seem like much, but using a simple keyboard shortcut eliminates those steps. Saving a few seconds each time adds up over the course of a year.

Document Management Shortcuts in Excel
Shortcut Keys Description
Ctrl + N Creates a new workbook
Ctrl + S Saves the document (especially useful when not working from OneDrive or SharePoint when autosave doesn't work)
Ctrl + W Close a spreadsheet

 

Learning these powerful keyboard shortcuts will speed up your Excel use, making you more productive. We've written other guides with similar helpful shortcuts to help you become a power user. 

Most useful Microsoft Word shortcuts

Most useful Windows shortcuts

8 time-saving Windows 11 Shortcuts

If your team would benefit from our technical knowledge, IT support and user training get in touch today.
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