10 Excel Shortcuts That Will Make You Look Like a Wizard

When I published the post about the top 10 Excel formulas, I had no idea how much people respond to that. TONS of people have asked for videos, so being the man of the people that I am, I’m going to deliver on that….but not today.

Today is about Excel shortcuts.

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When I went to my first internship many years ago, I remember one of the finance managers telling me there’s no reason to ever touch the mouse when using Excel. I work with someone today who I’ve heard say the same almost verbatim. I guess some things never change.

Never might be a bit strong, but here are 10 ways to bypass the mouse to get results faster in Excel.

1. ALT, D, F, F

Highlight the header row of the table in question, enter ALT, D, F, F and voila – you can quickly toggle data filters on/off.

2. ALT, D, F, S

You ever find yourself in a massive spreadsheet with filtered rows but you can’t figure out where the filter is? This Excel shortcut clears data filter criteria but keeps the filters on the dataset.

3. CTRL + (-)

Enter this command when your cursor is anywhere in the spreadsheet and you get the delete menu, offering four options : 1) Shift cells left 2) shift cells up 3) entire row 4) entire column.

4. CTRL + R

Instead of copying and pasting or dragging for all eternity when you want a formula to fill to the right, highlight the range where you want the formula repeated (beginning with the cell with the formula in it) and key CTRL + R.

5. CTRL + D

You can also key in CTRL + D if you want a formula to fill down. It works exactly like CTRL + R, just going vertically instead of horizontally.

6. ALT, N, V

One of the most powerful tools in Excel is the pivot table (used for summarizing and analyzing data). This shortcut quickly takes you to the screen for your pivot table inputs.

7. CTRL + Page Up/Down

Flipping through workbook tabs is much easier using this Excel shortcut than it is pointing and clicking your mouse to view each tab.

8. CTRL + Arrows

Moving around in a spreadsheet can become cumbersome with you’re just scrolling with the mouse or using the arrows alone. CTRL + Arrow takes your cursor to the next open cell in the direction of the arrow you pressed. A bonus trick is to also press CTRL + SHFT+ Arrows, which will then highlight all of the cells or rows up to the next blank cell.

9. CTRL + Home/End

CTRL+Home/End takes your cursor to the beginning/end of the spreadsheet, respectively, regardless of whether there are blank cells in the spreadsheet.

10. CTRL + 1

This shortcut is simple yet indispensable because every time you use a workbook you’re going to need to format cells. Currency, date, and number are probably the formats I change most frequently, but this is also where you can play around with borders.

Start working these Excel keyboard shortcuts into your arsenal and watch how the time savings from not having to take your hands off the keyboard adds up. Every second counts.

To more efficient spreadsheeting!

I want to hear from you!

Have some favorite Excel shortcuts you think got snubbed from this list? Leave a comment with your favorite.