Microsoft Excel Short-Cut Keys - Our Favourite MS Excel Keyboard Short-Cuts

By Andy J Brown

Here are our favourite short-cut keys, with notes on how they work and why we like them!

Inserting a Worksheet

Inserting a new worksheet can be a pain, involving moving the mouse down to the bottom left of the screen and right-clicking. How much easier to press SHIFT + F1.

Going to a Cell or Range Name

You can navigate to a cell using the mouse, but we find it easier to press the F5 key. This brings up a dialog box, into which you can type in any range name or cell reference, then press OK to go to it!

Inserting a Range Name

When you're creating a formula, it can be useful to paste in a range name (particularly useful if you've forgotten what you called it). To do this, just press F3 - this brings up an alphabetical list of all the range names that you've created, from which you can select the one you want.

Selecting an Entire Column or Row

If you have a block of cells selected, you can select all of the corresponding rows or columns by pressing SHIFT + CTRL + either the down or the right arrow (for columns and rows respectively).

Entering Information in Multiple Cells Simultaneously

If you want to enter the same data in lots of cells at the same time, select them, type in the information and press CTRL + ENTER.

Editing a Cell

You can always edit a cell by double-clicking on it, but sometimes only a short-cut key will do - so press F2.

Copying Cells Down or Across

If you want to copy a cell down (or across), the quickest way is usually to use the autofilter (the little black cross at the bottom right corner of a cell). Sometimes, however, it's easier to use the keyboard. Simply select a column (or row) of cells, press CTRL + D (or CTRL + R), and Excel will copy the top (or left) cell down (or across).

Those are our favourite short-cut keys. What's yours?

Andy Brown works for Wise Owl Training, providing professional training in small classes for businesses throughout the UK. We run Excel training courses at all levels, as shown at http://www.wiseowl.co.uk/excel/courses/index.htm, and also publish information on our website about the differences between Excel versions see http://www.wiseowl.co.uk/versions/excel/index.htm.