Keyboard shortcuts are great, but there are also hidden Excel double click features and shortcuts available for mouse users. Which means everyone, because we all use the mouse, even those hardcore keyboard shortcut fans.
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Double Click Shortcut 1 - Ribbon
When working in large spreadsheets you need all the space you can get. You can quickly hide and unhide the ribbon by double clicking the ribbon tabs:
Tip: If you have Microsoft 365 you can also switch to the new compact toolbar, also known as the Simplified Ribbon:
This simplified ribbon displays the commands in a single line, which frees up space so you can see more spreadsheet.
Double Click Shortcut 2 – Activate Tab
Open the contextual format tab for shapes and images. When you first insert an image the contextual tab typically opens at the same time, but if you want to go back and edit that image or shape, a single left click doesn’t aways bring the contextual tab to the front, but a double click does:
Double Click Shortcut 3 – Dialog Boxes
No need to click the OK button in dialog boxes (most of the time). Simply double click the radio button you want. Excel will effectively select it and click OK with a double click:
Double Click Shortcut 4 – Selecting Formulas
Double click a cell to go into edit mode. Select cell references in formulas with a double click anywhere in the cell reference. It also works for the function name. And with a triple click you can select the whole formula:
Double Click Shortcut 5 – Open PivotTable Dialog Boxes
Open PivotTable dialog boxes by double clicking column headers. For row label columns, position the mouse until the arrow appears, then double click. For value field headers, position the mouse inside the cell area, then double click:
Double Click Shortcut 6 – Drill Down on PivotTables
Double click grouped items to expand and collapse, or double click on a value cell to see the underlying transactions that make up the value. Tip: double click on the Grand Total to see all rows in the source data.
Double Click Shortcut 7 - Navigating
Navigate by double clicking the edge of a cell to jump to the end of the range. Hold down SHIFT to select a range of cells:
Double Click Shortcut 8 – Autofit Rows/Columns
Resize columns, rows, etc. by double clicking the line between each column/row. Or select all columns/rows, a range of columns/rows or the whole sheet and double click:
Double Click Shortcut 9 – Copy Formulas Down
No need to CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy and paste formulas down a column. Simply double click the bottom right corner of the cell containing the formula and it will copy it down the column as long as there is contiguous data in an adjacent column (left or right of the cell containing the formula):
Double Click Shortcut 10 – Format Painter
Enable multiple applications of the format painter by double clicking it. Then paste as many times as you like. Press ESC to clear the format painter:
Which was your favourite double click shortcut? Or do you have one I missed? Please share them in the comments.
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Gary Knott
Some great tricks there, Mynda.
My favourite double-click trick (in fact my favourite Excel trick of all) is to double click on a cell to jump to the first precedent. You may have to change options: File, Options, Advanced, Allow editing directly in cells option must be turned off.
See my video at https://www.how2excel.com/en/simply-double-click-to-jump-to-cell-formula-precedent/
Mynda Treacy
Cheers, Gary!
Vijay
I was unknown with
1. Double Click Shortcut 3 – Dialog Boxes
2. Double Click Shortcut 7 – Navigating
Thanks Mynda, for sharing…
Mynda Treacy
Great to hear you picked up some new tips you can use, Vijay!
Andrei
Hi,
– Double-click the sheet tab to rename a sheet;
– Double-click the ‘+’ sign for adding new sheet to add a new sheet and renaming it at the same time;
– (like in old Excel versions) Double-click the top-left corner of Excel window to close the active workbook;
– Double-click on values from a pivot table to insert new sheet with data corresponding to the respective value.
Mynda Treacy
Thanks for sharing, Andrei! I forgot about double clicking the sheet tab to rename, so thanks for sharing. I couldn’t get your second tip to work for me. It added a new sheet, but it didn’t go into edit mode for the sheet tab name. Your third tip closes all workbooks for me. Your last tip was covered in the video.
KM packaging
THANK YOU
Mynda Treacy
My pleasure 🙂