The use of shortcuts helps you accelerate your work many times. The following article introduces the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts in Excel.
1. Basic keyboard shortcuts
Enter: Assign the entered data to the cell and move it to the bottom of the cell.
ESC: Ignore the data that is changing.
Alt + Enter : Create a new line in the same cell.
BackSpace: Delete characters to the left of the selection.
F4 or Ctrl + Y : Repeat the previous operation.
Delete: Delete the character to the right of the mouse cursor or selection.
Ctrl + Delete : Delete all text on the highlighted line or mouse cursor.
Ctrl + D : Copy data from the top cell to the bottom cell.
Ctrl + R : Copy data from the left pane to the right.
Shift + Enter : Assign data to a cell and move it above the selection.
2. Data format shortcuts
2.1. Format cell data
Ctrl + 1 : Display the Format dialog box.
Ctrl + B (or Ctrl + 2 ): Format bold or cancel bold.
Ctrl + I (or Ctrl + 3 ): Format italics or cancel italics.
Ctrl + U (or Ctrl + 4 ): Format underlined text or cancel underline.
Ctrl + 5 : Format dash or cancel.
Alt + ' : Display the Style dialog box.
2.2. Number format
Ctrl + Shift + $ : Format currency data with 2 decimal places.
Ctrl + Shift + ~ : General numeric data format
Ctrl + Shift + % : Format a percentage data with no decimal places.
Ctrl + Shift + # : Format date data in date, month and year order.
Ctrl + Shift + @ : Format time data in chronological order and use AM and PM distinguished.
Ctrl + Shift + ! : Number format takes 2 decimal values and uses "-" for negative values.
F4: Repeat the last format.
3. Data editing shortcuts
Ctrl + Z : Return to the previous operation.
Ctrl + Y : Go to the previous action.
Ctrl + C : Copy contents of selected cell.
Ctrl + X : Cut content of selected cell and save to clipboard.
Ctrl + V : Paste content from the clipboard into the selected cell.
Ctrl + Alt + V : Select the type of data paste in the Paste Special dialog box.
Data-manipulation keyboard shortcuts:
F2: Allows editing a data cell with the mouse cursor at the end of the line.
Alt + Enter : Down 1 new line in the same cell.
Enter: Complete the data entry into a cell and move up to the cell below that cell.
Shift + Enter : Complete the data entry into a cell and move up the cell above the cell.
Tab / Shift + Tab : Complete entering data at that cell and move to the left or right cell of that cell.
ESC : Cancel all operations in one cell.
BackSpace : Delete the character to the left of the mouse cursor.
Delete : Delete the character to the right of the mouse cursor.
Ctrl + Delete : Delete text content to the end of the line.
Ctrl + ; (semicolon): Insert the current date at the mouse cursor position.
Ctrl + Shift + : (colon): Insert the current time.
Ctrl + D : Copy content in the box above.
Ctrl + R : Copy cell to the left.
Ctrl + " : Copy the content of the cell above and allow editing.
Ctrl + ' : Copy the formula of the cell above and put it in the editing state.
Ctrl + - : Display the delete row and column menu.
Ctrl + Shift + + : Display the menu insert rows and columns.
Shift + F2 : Insert or edit a Comment.
Shift + F10 , then press m: Delete Comment.
Alt + F1 : Create and insert a chart on the current page.
F11 : Create and insert a chart in another sheet.
Ctrl + K : Insert a link.
Enter (in a cell containing a link): Open the link in the link.
4. Navigation shortcuts in spreadsheets
Page Down / Page Up : Move to the bottom or the top of the worksheet.
Alt + PageDown / Alt + PageUp : Move the screen left or right of the worksheet.
Tab / Shift + Tab : Move a cell to the right or left of the worksheet.
Ctrl + Arrow key: Move to the cells next to the data area.
Home : Move to the first cell of a row.
Ctrl + Home : Move to the first cell of the worksheet.
Ctrl + End : Move to the last cell of the worksheet.
Ctrl + F : Display the Find and Replace dialog box in search mode.
Ctrl + H : Display the Find and Replace dialog box in search and replace mode.
Shift + F4 : Repeat the previous search.
Ctrl + G (Or F5 ): Display the Goto dialog box.
Ctrl + right arrow key or Ctrl + left arrow key: Move to the cell to the right or to the left.
Alt + Down arrow: Display the AutoComplete list.
5. The shortcut to insert formulas in Excel
Alt + = : Insert the formula for calculating AutoSum.
Shift + F3 : Display the Insert Function dialog box.
Ctrl + A : Display the input method after entering the formula name.
Ctrl + Shift + A : Insert the arguments of the formula.
Ctrl + Shift + Enter : Enter a formula as an array formula.
F4 : Convert cell address to absolute address.
F9 : Calculate all tables in spreadsheets.
Shift + F9 : Calculate the active worksheet.
Ctrl + Shift + U : Switch mode to expand or collapse the toolbar.
Hope these keyboard shortcuts are useful in your work. Good luck!