Most Useful Excel Shortcuts You Should Know
In this tutorial you learn the most useful Excel shortcuts to be able to work faster in Excel. There are many hidden features in Excel that are easily accessible with shortcut keys. Microsoft Excel is very useful and most commonly used application in the data analysis world. If you’re planning to work with excel or going to start then you need to know the shortcuts which makes the workflow easier.
For Automatic Summation
In the excel table we must have dataset for calculation and we use summation by using formula. But we can do it by shortcut. For this keep the cursor one cell below of the number set and press Alt + = (Equal Sign) which will automatically input sum function. But be aware about the range because it will calculate entire local range. The shortcut works great in column as well as row.
Select data in current / entire region
Click anywhere inside the dataset and press Ctrl + A To select the entire data in the current region. Now to data in entire region press Ctrl + AA. This will select whole document like Microsoft Word.
Select entire row and column
Press Shift + Space from keyboard to entire row and for selecting entire column press Ctrl + Space as shortcut.
Insert new row and column
Shift + Ctrl + Plus is the most useful excel shortcuts that is used for inserting new row and column. Let’s see how to use the shortcut easily. When you press the shortcut a dialog box appears on the screen then select Entire row or Entire column as your need.
But you can do it new way. First select entire row or column by pressing Shift + Space or Ctrl + Space then use Shift + Ctrl + Plus which will immediate insert row or column as your need without any popup or dialog box. Remember row always append above and column append left.
Delete entire row or column
Deleting row and column also easy as insert. Instead of pressing Shift + Ctrl + Plus you have to press Ctrl + Minus. The shortcut also popup a dialog box then you’ve choose Entire row or Entire column as your need. But now you know the tricks for bypassing the dialog box. First select entire row or column then press Ctrl + Minus to delete.
Formatting Excel Cells
One of the most useful Excel shortcuts is Ctrl + 1 which one commonly used for cell formatting. Before using the shortcut you have select the range of dataset then press the shortcut. This will popup Format Cells dialog box as follows:
Now you can the the cells as your desire. You can change format to Number, Currency etc. also you can change the text alignment, font size, border size, fill color etc. from here.
Filter Shortcut
Keep your cursor inside the dataset the press Ctrl + Shift + L to add filter to the entire region. Keep in mind the first row will be header of the filter. So always use header for smooth operation. If you don’t need the filter anymore after work done simply press the shortcut again to omit.
Create Table in Excel
To convert excel data into table like word you’ve to click anywhere inside the data set then use shortcut Ctrl + T. If your dataset has header then checkmark “My table has headers” otherwise keep it unchecked and press OK.
Now you can change table style from Table Design. You also have a lot of options to work with the newly created table. You can Summarize with PivotTable or Remove Duplicates or switch back to original format by clicking on Convert to Range.
New line in cell
Some time we need to add newline or line break or word break in the cell of Excel sheet. Simply press Alt + Enter to break wherever and whenever you want.
Hide column and row
Sometime you may need to hide row or column for work need. So you can do this easily using useful Excel shortcuts and these are Ctrl + 0 (number zero) to hide a column and to hide selected or current row just press Ctrl + 9 (number nine).
Group / Ungroup Columns
You may need to group date wise collection then you can group the selected rows or column by pressing Alt + Shift + Right arrow and to switch back press Alt + Shift + left arrow. Now you can expand or collapse the group as your need.
Date / Time / Timestamp
Most of the time you need to input date but We do it manually. But there is a shortcut for it that is Ctrl + ; (Semicolon). If you need to input times press Shift + Ctrl + ; (Semicolon) and for timestamp press F2 goto Edit Mode and insert date then press space and insert time. But you can create timestamp easily just using NOW() formula.
Move around sheets
You may have multiple sheets in the file. If you want to go next sheet from the current sheet then press Ctrl + Page Down and if want to go previous sheet from the current sheet then press Ctrl + Page Up
Here we’ve covered most commonly used shortcuts. If you need to know any other specific shortcuts then let us know by commenting.
Hope you have learned something new from this tutorial. If you find this tutorial helpful please share this article with friends so that they also can learn something new like you. If you haven’t already subscribed to our newsletter please put your email address and hit “Keep me Updated!” from below subscribe form to get notification mail of upcoming articles like this.
