Excel Shortcuts That You Should Know in 2023

What is Microsoft Excel? 

Although many of you already know about Excel, let’s give a short introduction Microsoft Excel is an application developed by Microsoft that is used to record, analyses or visualize data.

Excel, a spread sheet application, was launched by Microsoft in 1985.

Data in Excel is in the form to rows and columns. Excel is commonly used to record, analyze data save the data, perform mathematical operations, and visualize structured data in charts, graphs. Finally, another great application of Excel helps to automate tasks through Excel Macros.

To quickly perform the above mentioned tasks, Excel has a set of shortcuts. Various operations can be accomplished with a few simple keyboard strokes. Let us dive deep into the Excel shortcuts that help us work better in the Excel spreadsheet.

Need for Excel Shortcuts

Excel supports keyboard shortcuts that help you work efficiently and increase productivity. Instead of accessing the toolbar with the mouse, two or three keystrokes are used to perform significant functions. Isn’t it easy and time saving? Using Excel shortcuts drastically increases speed and thus reduces work time. 

 Now the question is, should you remember these shortcuts, the answer is no. However, it would be an advantage if you remember some of them. With regular practice, you will be able to memorize common Excel shortcuts.

Now let’s take a look at the cheat sheet of Excel shortcuts that you should know while working in Microsoft Excel. In this article, we have categorized 51 Excel shortcuts based on their operations. First, we’ll look at workbook shortcut keys.

Read Also : Mastering Excel Basics: 10 Essential Tips for Spreadsheet Success

Cell Formatting Shortcut Keys 

A cell in Excel contains all the data you are working with. A number of different shortcuts can be applied to a cell, such as editing a cell, aligning cell contents, adding a border to a cell, adding an outline to all selected cells, and more. 

Here’s a sneak peek of these Excel shortcuts.

To create a new workbook	Ctrl + N
To open an existing workbook	Ctrl + O
To save a workbook/spreadsheet	Ctrl + S
To close the current workbook	Ctrl + W
To close Excel	Ctrl + F4
To move to the next sheet	Ctrl + PageDown
To move to the previous sheet	Ctrl + PageUp
To go to the Data tab	Alt + A
To go to the View tab	Alt + W
To go the Formula tab	Alt + M
To edit a cell	F2
To copy and paste cells	Ctrl + C, Ctrl + V
To italicize and make the font bold	Ctrl + I, Ctrl + B
To center align cell contents	Alt + H + A + C
To fill color	Alt + H + H
To add a border	Alt + H + B
To remove outline border	Ctrl + Shift + _
To add an outline to the select cells	Ctrl + Shift + &
To move to the next cell	Tab
To move to the previous cell	Shift + Tab
To select all the cells on the right	Ctrl + Shift + Right arrow
To select all the cells on the left	Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow
To select the column from the selected cell to the end of the table	Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow
To select all the cells above the selected cell	Ctrl + Shift + Up Arrow
To select all the cells below the selected cell	Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow
To add a comment to a cell	Shift + F2
To delete a cell comment	Shift + F10 + D
To display find and replace	Ctrl + H
To activate the filter	Ctrl + Shift + L Alt + Down Arrow
To insert the current date	Ctrl + ;
To insert current time	Ctrl + Shift + :
To insert a hyperlink	Ctrl + k
To apply the currency format	Ctrl + Shift + $
To apply the percent format	Ctrl + Shift + %
To go to the “Tell me what you want to do” box	Alt + Q
To select the entire row	Shift + Space
To select the entire column	Ctrl + Space
To delete a column	Alt+H+D+C
To delete a row	Shift + Space, Ctrl + -
To hide selected row	Ctrl + 9
To unhide selected row	Ctrl + Shift + 9
To hide a selected column	Ctrl + 0
To unhide a selected column	Ctrl + Shift + 0
To group rows or columns	Alt + Shift + Right arrow
To ungroup rows or columns	Alt + Shift + Left arrow
To group pivot table items	Alt + Shift + Right arrow
To hide pivot table items	Ctrl + -
To create a pivot chart on the same sheet	Alt + F1
To create a pivot chart on a new worksheet	F11
To Evaluate formula box	Alt+M+V
To Evaluate formula box	Alt+M+V

Conclusion

Excel shortcuts continue to be an essential tool for efficient data manipulation and analysis in 2023. Mastering these shortcuts can significantly enhance productivity, saving valuable time and effort. By familiarizing oneself with commonly used shortcuts such as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+Z, users can quickly copy, paste, and undo actions.

Furthermore, advanced shortcuts like Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Keys, Ctrl+Home, and Ctrl+Page Up/Down facilitate seamless navigation and selection within large datasets. Excel’s wide range of keyboard shortcuts empowers users to perform complex tasks effortlessly, increasing overall productivity and proficiency. As technology advances, staying updated with the latest Excel shortcuts remains crucial for maximizing efficiency and effectiveness in data-driven tasks.

Mastering Excel Basics: 10 Essential Tips for Spreadsheet Success