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There are hundreds of Excel keyboard shortcuts but we don't use them all frequently.

There'll be some that you use more often than me, but in this post I'm listing the keyboard shortcuts I use all the time.

It was hard to pick just a few, it was like being asked to pick your favourite child.

I've also compiled a list of 239 Excel Shortcuts. Learn as many as you can to improve your efficiency and how fast you work.

Navigation

Let's start with some obvious ones, but still ones that you can't do without.

  • The arrow keys move you around the cells in the sheet
  • PAGE UP/PAGE DOWN to move up and down a screen at a time
  • CTRL+HOME/END to move to the first cell/last cell with data

CTRL+S

Save the current workbook. You can't use this often enough.


CTRL+N

Create a new workbook.


CTRL+F4

Close the current workbook.


CTRL+TAB

Cycle through open workbooks.


CTRL+PageUp/PageDown

Move through sheets in active workbook.


ALT+SHIFT+F1

Insert new worksheet


Cut/Copy/Paste

CTRL+X : Cut

CTRL+C : Copy

CTRL+V : Paste


CTRL+ALT+V

Open the Paste Special dialog box. You can then select the paste option you want.


CTRL+Z and CTRL+Y

Undo and Redo.


CTRL+T

Create a table. If you haven't discovered tables yet where have you been! Start using them now for all the benefits they bring.


CTRL+SHIFT+L

Toggle autofilters. Do ad-hoc analysis of your data by using auto-filters. Quickly turn them on and off with this shortcut.


F2

Edit the cell.


F4

Toggle absolute and relative references. Essential when writing formulas.


F4

Repeat last action.


ALT+F11

Open the VBA editor.


ALT+F8

Open the list of macros.


ESC

Cancel selection, cancel editing, cancel dialog box etc.


F3

Show names. If you have created named ranges, use F3 to see a list of them, then quickly insert one into your formula.


CTRL+1

Format. Use this to format cells, charts, all sorts of things.


Use the Quick Access Toolbar

You can customize the QAT and add commands to it that are accessible by using ALT+Num where Num is 1, 2, 3 etc.


How many of these do you use, and what other ones do you use regularly?

essential excel shortcuts

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  5. Juan

    Thank you very much Philip for sharing this time-saving shortcuts! Definitively it is a good resolution to learn some of them this year.
    Do these shortcuts work in all Excel versions, regardless of the language?

    Reply

  6. Barry

    Navigation – the arrow keys in conjunction with CTRL or CTRL & SHIFT, to move around or select, the ‘current region’

    Reply

  7. Joel

    Not sure why this is, but in my Excel 2016 (I use Office 365), the keyboard shortcut for creating a table is CTRL+L, not CTRL+T. Which is really strange because it used to be and it even says so when I hover over the icon in the ribbon.

    Anyway, thought I would share in case someone else was having the same issue.

    Reply

    • Catalin Bombea

      Hi Joel,
      To create an excel table, both shortcuts are functional (tables were previously referred to as lists).
      It is possible that your Ctrl+T key to be customized and assigned to another operation.

      Reply

  8. jim

    and as an extension to F4 Repeat last action:
    when you get over-zealous with F4ing and have to Ctrl+Z to undo, you can restart the repeat process at another location with alt+Enter (F4 will just redo your undo)

    Reply

  9. jim

    2 alternatives to the above:
    I use Ctrl+W to close the current workbook (less far to stretch and I think it’s the same?)
    and Ctrl+L to create a table (or move the right pinkie up slightly to become Ctrl+Shift+L for filter)

    There are so many others I use frequently that I can only recall them when I need them

    The first 9 on my QAT (and hence Alt+Num) are Toggle Protect Sheet , Create Pivot Table, AutoFit Column, Freeze Sheet, Paste Values, Clear Formats, Autofilter on current, Remove Duplicates and Unhide columns (Ctrl+shift+0 doesn’t work)

    If anyone knows of normal single-stroke keyboard shortcuts to any of those, I’d be delighted to hear

    there are also some utilities in Personal.xlsx given shortcuts (eg unhide all sheets, centre across selection, remove password, toggle status bar, remove Style bloat, convert to Proper Case), many of which should be in Excel proper imho – or am I still stuck in 2007 and they’re there already?

    Reply

  10. SUNNY KOW

    Some of my regular shortcut keys are:

    F12 (Save As)
    F5 (Go To)
    CTRL + ~ (Switch between show Formulas and Values mode)

    Reply

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