You may think you know all the Word and Excel keyboard shortcuts you need, but check this list first: These 10 will help everyone work faster. Shortcuts have evolved into an onscreen, menu-driven template with multiple options for each command in the program, also known as Ribbon shortcuts or access keys. But don't worry, the original simultaneous and combination shortcut keys are still available and working great! Please note that in this article, the letter 'F' followed by a number (1 through 12) refers to the function keys. Sartain Press the Alt key to access the Ribbon shortcuts. Commands (also called key tip badges) are displayed in black boxes. Click to view full image. The 5 essentials for Excel and Word No matter what you do, these shortcuts will serve you well.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Font & Fill Colors. So I developed an add-in that allows you to create keyboard shortcuts to change the font & fill colors. This add-in also lets you create keyboard shortcuts to apply other cell formatting properties like number formatting, borders, font size, protection alignment, etc. Replace text dialog Ctrl + H Create a chart automatically on new sheet F11 Edit a cell comment Shift + F2 Main Jaws Keystrokes In Excel Description Shortcut Key Say Version of Excel Ctrl + Shift + V Move to Next Sheet Ctrl + Page Down Move to Prior Sheet Ctrl + Page Up Go to a cell command Ctrl + G.
1. Undo and Redo Because we all make a lot of typos and errors while working, the first ones on this list have to be Undo and Redo: Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y. The Ribbon shortcuts are on the Quick Access Toolbar. Undo is depicted by an arrow curved to the left in both Word and Excel.
However, in Word, Redo is shown as a circular arrow, and in Excel, it’s an arrow that curves to the right. SARTAIN Undo! There's a ribbon shortcut for that and Redo, plus Find & Replace.but the buttons look different in Excel and Word. Click to view full image. Find & Replace Corrections are a nightmare without Find (Ctrl+F) and Replace (Ctrl+H). Ribbon shortcuts are Alt+H-F-D-F for Home, Find, Find in both Word and Excel. Replace in Word is Alt+H-R for Home, Replace.
In Excel, it’s Alt+H-F-D-R for Home, Find, Replace. Cut, Copy, Paste You can copy and paste a paragraph using the original shortcut keys: Ctrl+C for copy (or Ctrl+X for Cut), and then Ctrl+V for paste. The Ribbon shortcuts are Alt+H-C for Home, Copy (or Alt+H-C-C for Home, Copy, Copy in Excel) and Alt+H-X for Home, Cut in both Word and Excel. For Paste, it’s Alt+H-V-K for Home, Paste, Keep Source Formatting in Word, and Alt+H-V-P for Home, Paste, Paste in Excel. Note that Excel provides 14 additional Paste options and Word offers four. Sartain You can make faster work of Cut, Copy and Paste using the Ribbon shortcut keys. Click to view full image.
Select or Select All Another shortcut that’s often used with Cut, Copy, Paste is Ctrl+A, which means Select All: That is, select the entire document, spreadsheet, or file. On the Ribbon, it’s ALT+H-S-L-A (Home, Select, All). But you don't have to go wild. In Word, place your cursor on any word and click twice to highlight/select that word. Click three times to select the entire paragraph. In Excel, place your cursor on any cell and click twice to edit the cell contents.
Print and Print Preview Print is simple, but many users go straight to Print Preview as a final sanity check on margins and layout. For Print, it’s Ctrl+P or Ctrl+Shift-F12. Print Preview is Ctrl+F2.
The Ribbon version is Alt+F-P for both File, Print and Print Preview, because when you select Print, the Preview displays as well. Sartain You save constantly (or you should), which is why you'll want to use these ribbon shortcuts for Save and Save As, plus Print and Print Preview. Click to view full image. Navigation shortcuts The bigger your document or spreadsheet is, the harder it is to move within it. These keyboard shortcuts make it easier to get where you need to go. GoTo The only Navigation command on the Ribbon menu is the GoTo feature, which means go to a specific cell address (formula, object, region, etc.) or go to a specific page (section, line, graphic, etc.).
It’s Ctrl+G or F5, followed by a dialog box that opens for additional input—the same dialog boxes as the Ribbon shortcuts. For the Ribbon commands, it’s Alt+H-F-D-G (Home, Find, GoTo). Sartain The GoTo feature can take you to a specific cell address or specific page. Click to view full image. Home In Word, Home moves the cursor to the beginning of the line or row of your cursor’s current location. For example, if your cursor is on the ninth word of the third line, Home moves the cursor to the beginning of that line. Ctrl+Home moves the cursor to the Home position—that is, the beginning of the document. In Excel, Home moves the cursor at the current cell address (e.g., K19) to the beginning of that line or row.
It also moves the cursor to the beginning of a line or formula inside a cell while in Edit Mode. Ctrl+Home moves the cursor to cell A1. Ctrl In Word, Ctrl+Right Arrow moves the cursor across the document one word and/or punctuation mark at a time. Ctrl+Left Arrow does the same from right to left. Ctrl+Down Arrow moves the cursor down one carriage return/line break at a time. Ctrl+Up Arrow does the same from bottom to top.
Ctrl+Page Down and Ctrl+Page Up move the cursor up and down one page at a time. In Excel, Ctrl+Arrow key performs the same function as the End-Arrow keys. Ctrl+Page Up and Ctrl+Page Down move through the tabs (additional inserted worksheets) one at a time: Page Up for left-to-right, and Page Down for right-to-left.
(Note: End-Arrow is a combination keystroke executed in sequence, not a simultaneous keystroke like Ctrl+Arrow). Shift In Word, Shift+End highlights from the cursor position to the end of the line, and Shift+Home highlights to the beginning of the line. Shift+End+Down Arrow extends the highlight to the next line, and you can keep pressing Down Arrow to extend the highlight line by line. Shift+Home+Up Arrow does the same in reverse, going to the beginning of the line and up. Shift+Page Up and Shift+Page Down move the cursor up and down one screen at a time (about one third of a page).
In Excel, Shift+End+Down Arrow and Shift+End+Up Arrow highlight from the cursor position down or up to the end or beginning of the matrix/range row. Shift+End+Right Arrow and Shift+End+Left Arrow highlight from the cursor position right or left to the end or beginning of the matrix/range column. Shift+Home highlights from the cursor position to the beginning of any row (with or without data). End In Word, the End key moves the cursor to the end of a line. Ctrl+End moves the cursor to the end of a document, which includes any additional line or page breaks, tabs, spaces, etc. In Excel, End has broader responsibilities. When you’re in Edit Mode, it moves the cursor to the end of a line only inside a text or formula cell.
For the overall spreadsheet, the End key works with the cursor keys to determine direction. End plus any arrow key moves the cursor to the last occupied cell in a column or row of data just before a blank, empty cell. For example, if the cursor is in A1 and the entire column contains empty cells, End-Down Arrow moves the cursor to the bottom of the entire workbook. The same rule applies horizontally: If an entire row is full of blank cells, your cursor is located at A1, and you select End-Right Arrow, the cursor moves to column XFD, row 1.
(Note: End-Down Arrow is a combination keystroke executed in sequence, not a simultaneous keystroke like Ctrl+End). Consider a grid of data that occupies cells A1 thru G11.
Regardless of the current cursor position, when you press Ctrl+End, the cursor moves to the last, bottom, right cell of the matrix—in this case, G11. If, however, you’ve formatted your cells outside of the original matrix or have anything (even a space or a comma) in any cell outside the matrix range, Ctrl+End will move to the cell at the end of the last column and row that contains any data or formatting. SARTAIN D14 has no data, but it’s formatted for a date; therefore, the matrix range is extended through G14. Using Ctrl-End moves the cursor to G14.
Click to view full image. In the example above, the grid has data in cells A1 through G11, but D14 has been formatted as a date. Even though there's no data in that cell, it’s still considered an active cell, so it changes the matrix range from A1 through G11 to A1 through G14. Therefore, Ctrl+End moves the cursor to the last row and column of the matrix that contains an active cell (or G14). And that is the end.
Did we miss anything that you couldn't live without? Let us know in the Comments. And stay tuned for more keyboard shortcuts, moving on to ones that are more obscure but amazingly handy.
Tip: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (.), tilde — in your search criteria. Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds 'sat' and 'set'. Use the asterisk (.) to find any number of characters — for example, s.d finds 'sad' and 'started'. Use the tilde followed by?,., or to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91? Finds 'fy91?' . Press the Return key.
To specify additional search options, do any of the following: To Do this Search a sheet or a whole workbook In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Search in Sheet or Search in Workbook. Search by rows or by columns In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Advanced Search, and then on the Search pop-up menu, click By Rows or By Columns. Search only for specific types of information In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Advanced Search, and then on the Look in pop-up menu, click Formulas, Values, or Comments. Search for case-sensitive content In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Advanced Search, and then select the Match case check box. Search for exact matches only In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Advanced Search, and then select the Find entire cells only check box. To find the next instance of the item that you're searching for, click in the search field and press RETURN, or in the Find dialog box, click Find Next. Tip: You can use wildcard characters — question mark (?), asterisk (.), tilde — in your search criteria.
Use the question mark (?) to find any single character — for example, s?t finds 'sat' and 'set'. Use the asterisk (.) to find any number of characters — for example, s.d finds 'sad' and 'started'. Use the tilde followed by?,., or to find question marks, asterisks, or other tilde characters — for example, fy91? Finds 'fy91?' .
In the search field, click the magnifying glass, and then click Replace. To specify additional search options, do any of the following: To Do this Search a sheet or a whole workbook On the Within pop-up menu, click Sheet or Workbook. Search by rows or by columns On the Search pop-up menu, click By Rows or By Columns. Search for case-sensitive content Select the Match case check box. Search for exact matches only Select the Find entire cells only check box.
In the Replace with box, type the replacement characters. To replace the characters in the Find what field with nothing, leave the Replace with field empty. Click Find Next. To replace the highlighted occurrence, click Replace.
To replace all occurrences of the characters in the sheet without reviewing them first, click Replace All.