About MS Excel
Microsoft Excel is a powerful spreadsheet program that is used for managing the data and information. Every kind of organization and business throughout the world extensively use MS Excel in their day-to-day data related works.
What is Shortcut Key and Why it is Used
The shortcut key is the combination of keyboard buttons by using which we do different operation in Excel. For Example, by pressing Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, we make a duplicate of things. This is very common for all computer applications.
In MS Excel too, there are numerous shortcut keys we can use to make our work fast. For example, if you need to insert today’s date in a cell, you can press Ctrl + ; If you do not know this shortcut, imagine the time difference between putting the date manually and using the shortcut.
The main question in mind is, is it possible to memorize all of them? It is difficult, but not impossible. The capacity to memorize depends upon how frequently you use them. If you memorize only 20 of them, it will make the difference.
Below you have the 50 most useful shortcut keys to boost your productivity.
| SN | Shortcut Key | Description |
| 1 | Ctrl + A | Selects the entire worksheet |
| 2 | Ctrl + B | Applies bold formatting to selected text. |
| 3 | Ctrl + C | Copies the selected cells. |
| 4 | Ctrl + D | Fills the cell beneath with the contents of the selected cells. |
| 5 | Ctrl + E | Flash Fill (Understand the pattern and apply the same for rest) |
| 6 | Ctrl + F | Opens the find dialog box to search for text or values. |
| 7 | Ctrl + G | Open the Go To dialog box to navigate to a specific cell. |
| 8 | Ctrl + H | Opens the Replace dialog box to find and replace content. |
| 9 | Ctrl + I | Applies italic formatting to the selected text. |
| 10 | Ctrl + K | Insert a hyperlink. |
| 11 | Ctrl + N | Creates a new workbook. |
| 12 | Ctrl + O | Opens an existing workbook. |
| 13 | Ctrl + P | Opens the Print dialog box. |
| 14 | Ctrl + R | Fills the cell to the right with the contents of the selected cell. |
| 15 | Ctrl + S | Saves the workbook. |
| 16 | Ctrl + U | Applies underline formatting to the selected cell. |
| 17 | Ctrl + V | Pastes the copied cells. |
| 18 | Ctrl + W | Closes the current workbook. |
| 19 | Ctrl + X | Cuts the selected cells. |
| 20 | Ctrl + Y | Redoes the last action. |
| 21 | Ctrl + Z | Undoes the last action. |
| 22 | Ctrl + 1 | Opens the format cells dialog box. |
| 23 | Ctrl + 5 | Applies strikethrough formatting. |
| 24 | Ctrl + 9 | Hides the selected rows. |
| 25 | Ctrl + 0 | Hides the selected columns. |
| 26 | Ctrl + Shift + $ | Applies Currency format (US Dollar) |
| 27 | Ctrl + Shift + % | Applies percentage format. |
| 28 | Ctrl + Shift + & | Applies outline border. |
| 29 | Ctrl + Shift + # | Applies date format. |
| 30 | Ctrl + Space | Selects the entire column. |
| 31 | Shift + Space | Select the entire row. |
| 32 | Ctrl + Arrow Keys | Moves to the end of current data region (Up, Down, Right & Left) |
| 33 | Ctrl + Shift + Arrow Keys | Extends the selection to last nonblank cell (Up, Down, Right & left) |
| 34 | Ctrl + Page Up | Switch between sheets (Left to Right) |
| 35 | Ctrl + Page Down | Switch between sheets (Right to Left) |
| 36 | Ctrl + Shift + L | Applies and Removes filter in the selected data. |
| 37 | Ctrl + ; | Inserts current date in the selected cell. |
| 38 | Ctrl + Shift + ; | Inserts current time in the selected cell. |
| 39 | Ctrl + Home | Goes the first cell (A1) of the worksheet. |
| 40 | Ctrl + – (minus) | Deletes the selected row(s) or column(s). |
| 41 | Ctrl + Shift + + (Plus) | Inserts new row or column before selected row or column. |
| 42 | Alt + = | Auto SUM the selected cells |
| 43 | Ctrl + ~ (tilde) | Toggle between displaying cell values and formulas |
| 44 | F2 | Goes to editing mode in selected cell. |
| 45 | F4 | Repeats the previous action. |
| 46 | F11 | Quickly visualize selected data by a recommended chart |
| 47 | F12 | Opens Save as Dialog Box |
| 48 | Ctrl + F3 | Opens name manager |
| 49 | Ctrl + End | Go to the End of the data |
| 50 | Alt key | Creates shortcut for each tab and tools inside it (see below for more) |
More Shortcut Keys (With Alt key)
Apart from above mentioned most useful shortcut keys, by pressing the Alt key in keyboard, Excel creates on screen shortcut for each tab. For example, when you press Alt, you will see below given change in the tabs.
In every tab, a shortcut letter is attached. Suppose if you press H key in keyboard, then Excel will assign other keys for all the tools in Home tab. Which is given below.
There you see, other keys are assigned to each tool.
For example, if you want to make the cell value Bold, use the shortcut key is Alt, H, 1. To apply % formatting in the cell value, type Alt, H, P.
Note:
- In Above 50 shortcuts keys, all keys should be pressed together without releasing the previous key press. But the keys in Alt method can be pressed one after another by releasing the previous key press.
- The keyboard Shortcuts in Alt Key method is not the standard one. This may change based on the window size of Excel. For example, if you are using Excel in restored down window, key combination might change. So, always follow the on-screen key instruction in this Alt key method.
So, this is all about the top 50 most useful keyboard shortcut keys for Microsoft Excel and the on-screen shortcuts using Alt key. Thank you for reading this article. If it is useful, please share this to Excel users. Thank You.
