Excel is one of the most widely used tools in the world, but not only for work topics but also in many cases, in different types of studies of different courses. That is why it is important to know some tricks that can save us time while using Microsoft software.
There are several tricks that we should all know so that we can handle, in a more fluid way, a program such as Microsoft Excel .
If you have been using this tool for a long time, it is very possible that many of them already know them, but it is also true that some of them may have been forgotten or you did not knew it in the first place.
Let’s see which are the most used tricks and also a series of shortcuts that are very interesting to save time when working with this software from the company based in Redmond.
Shortcuts in Excel, thanks to the keyboard
To work with Excel we can use a series of shortcuts thanks to the keyboard that will make us perform certain tasks in a much faster way. The other way is to have to go to a menu to do them, in which case it is more time consuming.
In addition, with these shortcuts we will also gain comfort when we are working with a spreadsheet, since everything is done instantly and without having to search for anything. Let’s see what these shortcuts are:
| KEY COMBINATION | ACTION |
|---|---|
| Worksheet Navigation | |
| PgUp / PgDn | Move one screen up / down |
| Alt-PgUp / Alt-PgDn | Move one screen to the left / right |
| Ctrl-PgUp / Ctrl-PgDn | Move one worksheet tab to the left / right |
| Up / Down arrow key | Move one cell up / down |
| Tab | Move to the next cell to the right |
| Shift-Tab | Move to the cell to the left |
| Home | Move to the beginning of a row |
| Ctrl-Home | Move to the beginning of a worksheet |
| Ctrl-End | Move to the last cell that has content in it |
| Ctrl-Left arrow | Move to the word to the left while in a cell |
| Ctrl-Right arrow | Move to the word to the right while in a cell |
| Ctrl-G or F5 | Display the Go To dialog box |
| F6 | Switch between the worksheet, the Ribbon, the task pane and Zoom controls |
| Ctrl-F6 | If more than one worksheet is open, switch to the next one |
| Ribbon Navigation | |
| Alt | Display Ribbon shortcuts |
| Alt-F | Go to the File tab |
| Alt-H | Go to the Home tab |
| Alt-N | Go to the Insert tab |
| Alt-P | Go to the Page Layout tab |
| Alt-M | Go to the Formulas tab |
| Alt-A | Go to the Data tab |
| Alt-R | Go to the Review tab |
| Alt-W | Go to the View tab |
| Alt-Q | Put cursor in the Tell Me box |
| Alt-JC | Go to the Chart Tools / Design tab when cursor is on a chart |
| Alt-JA | Go to the Chart Tools / Format tab when cursor is on a chart |
| Alt-JT | Go to the Table Tools / Design tab when cursor is on a table |
| Alt-JP | Go to the Picture Tools / Format tab when cursor is on an image |
| Alt-JI | Go to the Draw tab (if available) |
| Alt-B | Go to the Power Pivot tab (if available) |
| Working with data | |
| Shift-Spacebar | Select a row |
| Ctrl-Spacebar | Select a column |
| Ctrl-A or Ctrl-Shift-Spacebar | Select an entire worksheet |
| Shift-Arrow key | Extend selection by a single cell |
| Shift-PgDn / Shift-PgUp | Extend selection down one screen / up one screen |
| Shift-Home | Extend selection to the beginning of a row |
| Ctrl-Shift-Home | Extend selection to the beginning of the worksheet |
| Ctrl-C | Copy cell’s contents to the clipboard |
| Ctrl-X | Copy and delete cell’s contents |
| Ctrl-V | Paste from the clipboard into a cell |
| Ctrl-Alt-V | Display the Paste Special dialog box |
| Enter | Finish entering data in a cell and move to the next cell down |
| Shift-Enter | Finish entering data in a cell and move to the next cell up |
| Esc | Cancel your entry in a cell |
| Ctrl-; | Insert the current date |
| Ctrl-Shift-; | Insert the current time |
| Ctrl-T or Ctrl-L | Display the Create Table dialog box |
| Ctrl-End | When in the formula bar, move the cursor to the end of the text |
| Ctrl-Shift-End | In the formula bar, select all text from the cursor to the end. |
| Alt-F8 | Create, run, edit or delete a macro |
| Formatting cells and data | |
| Ctrl-1 | Display the Format Cells dialog box |
| Alt-‘ | Display the Style dialog box |
| Ctrl-Shift-& | Apply a border to a cell or selection |
| Ctrl-Shift-_ | Remove a border from a cell or selection |
| Ctrl-Shift-$ | Apply the Currency format with two decimal places |
| Ctrl-Shift-~ | Apply the Number format |
| Ctrl-Shift-% | Apply the Percentage format with no decimal places |
| Ctrl-Shift-# | Apply the Date format using day, month and year |
| Ctrl-Shift-@ | Apply the Time format using the 12-hour clock |
| Ctrl-K | Insert a hyperlink |
| Ctrl-Q | Display Quick Analysis options for selected cells that contain data |
| Working with formulas | |
| = | Begin a formula |
| Alt-= | Insert an AutoSum function |
| Shift-F3 | Insert a function |
| Ctrl-` | Toggle between displaying formulas and cell values |
| Ctrl-‘ | Copy and paste the formula from the cell above into the current one |
| F9 | Calculate all worksheets in all workbooks that are open |
| Shift-F9 | Calculate the current worksheet |
| Ctrl-Shift-U | Expand or collapse the formula bar |
| Other useful shortcuts | |
| Ctrl-N | Create a new workbook |
| Ctrl-O | Open a workbook |
| Ctrl-S | Save a workbook |
| Ctrl-W | Close a workbook |
| Ctrl-P | Print a workbook |
| Ctrl-F | Display the Find and Replace dialog box |
| Ctrl-Z | Undo the last action |
| Ctrl-Y | Redo the last action |
| Shift-F2 | Insert or edit a cell comment |
| Ctrl-Shift-O | Select all cells that contain comments |
| Ctrl-9 | Hide selected rows |
| Ctrl-Shift-( | Unhide hidden rows in a selection |
| Ctrl-0 | Hide selected columns |
| Ctrl-Shift-) | Unhide hidden columns in a selection |
| F7 | Spell check the active worksheet or selected range |
Some of the main basic formulas that we have in Excel are the following:
- SUM: add the values of the cells we want.
- SUBTRACT: subtract the value of the cells we select.
- MULTIPLICATION: for which functions we must write the = symbol and then indicate the cells separated from the * symbol.
- DIVISION: we will write = after the dividend, the symbol / and the cell that will act as a divisor.
- EVEN: to check if a number is even.
- ODD: Same as above, but for odd numbers.
- GREATER THAN: the formula is = A> B. It will tell us if true or false, that is, if it is greater than.
- GREATER or EQUAL: the same as the previous one, but with the equal sign incorporated.
- LESS THAN: the same as the previous ones, but with a minus sign.
- LESS OR EQUAL: same as the previous one, but with the equal sign.
- EQUAL TO: let’s check if two values are equal = A1 = B1
- DIFFERENT FROM: To check if two values are different use A1 <> B2.
- MAJOR: the name of the function is MAX.
- MINOR: MIN function.
- IF: The IF function performs a true or false type check to be able to set a value based on the result.
