Excel Tips

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

 

Keyboard shortcuts are common in many applications.  There is nothing you cannot do without a mouse on your computer and Excel is no exception.  Learning the keyboard shortcuts for the most commonly used commands can save a lot of time and help aid your concentration by not having to switch between keyboard and a mouse continually.

Open a blank workbook, or alternatively one with some data in and experiment with the keyboard shortcuts below.  It is recommended that you make a backup of the spreadsheet to avoid data loss.

 

TOP TIP:  Disconnect your mouse for the day and see how you get on!

CTRL X

 

One of the most commonly known keyboard shortcuts within Excel.  Simply select some cells and press CTRL and the ‘x’ key together.  This will CUT the cells ready to be pasted somewhere.

 

CTRL C

 

This shortcut will COPY the selected cells ready to be pasted somewhere.

 

CTRL V

 

This shortcut pastes any data you have either copied or cut.

 

CTRL B

 

Makes the cell BOLD.

 

CTRL I

 

Makes the cell Italics.

 

CTRL U

 

Makes the cells underlined.  Note that this is the text within the cell and not a border.

 

CTRL ‘  (@)

 

Copies the information from the cell directly above into the cell you are currently in.  Very useful when using lists.

 

CTRL ; (:)

 

Puts today’s date in the cell you are currently in.

 

CTRL N

 

Opens a new blank workbook.

 

Hold CTRL and use the ARROW Keys

 

This is useful for navigating around blocks of data.  By holding the CTRL key and then pressing an arrow key, up, down, left, right, the target cell will jump to the end of the block of data in the direction of the arrow pressed.

 

CTRL PAGEUP or PAGEDOWN

 

This toggles between worksheets in your workbook.  Pressing CTRL and the PAGEUP key will jump to the worksheet to the left.  Pressing CTRL and the PAGEDOWN key will jump you to the worksheet to the right.

 

HOLD SHIFT and use the ARROW Keys

 

This will cause cells to be selected by holding the selection in the original start cell and ending the selection to encompass a range according to your ARROW key movements.

 

 

 

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