Using Excel for the first time can be overwhelming, but just know that you can take it one cell at a time! Whether you’re using Excel for the first time, or you’re a novice and you want to improve, keyboard shortcuts are something you’re going to want to know. Using a mouse in Excel, like hard coding formulas, is a dead giveaway that you’re new to Excel. It works fine, but if you want to step it up, it’s good to learn keyboard shortcuts (it’s faster and looks good to employers!). Just start here with this cheat sheet and one day you’ll be using Excel….wait for it…MOUSE-LESS! #goals
- Cell– a rectangle/block housed in a worksheet, any data is put in here and cells can display text, numbers, formulas, etc. for whatever you want to do (a cell is “active” when it is being edited)
- Cell reference– a set of coordinates that identifies a specific cell e.g. A1 (column A, row 1)
- Cell range– a collection of cells that have been identified as a group e.g. A1:A12
- Formula– a sequence inside of a cell that is used to produce a value, it must start with an equal (=) sign
- Worksheet– aka a spreadsheet, there can be multiple in a workbook (tabs at the bottom indicate how many worksheets you have)
- Workbook– the Excel spreadsheet file that houses all the data you have entered
Shortcut for paste formulas Is there a way to create a shortcut for paste formulas in excel 2011 for Mac (or perhaps a work around)? I have already created shortcut keys for paste values and paste formats but I don't see the option to create shortcut keys for paste formulas. Excel Shortcuts List for Mac and PC (Searchable) How to Use this Shortcut List: + Indicates to hold the previous key, while pressing the next key. Indicates to tap the previous key, releasing it before pressing the next key. In Excel 2011 Mac, you have to create your own shortcut. Go to toolscustomize keyboard. Select edit under categories, you'll find 'paste values' on the right (a couple items under paste special). Just press a shortcut sequence (command+d for example) and add that as a new shortcut. My life has improved so much since. Paste Special Shortcut in Mac In mac, we use CTRL+COMMAND+V key combination to open the paste special dialog. To select an option from the list, we use the COMMAND+letter key in mac. Let's have some examples to see the paste special shortcuts in action. Question: How do I create a superscript value in a cell in Microsoft Excel 2011 for Mac? Answer: Select the text that you wish to convert to superscript. This can either be the entire cell or only a character in the cell. While your mouse is over the selected text, right-click and then select 'Format Cells' from the popup menu.
*shortcuts in bold pertain to Mac commands, and those in teal pertain to both*
Navigating
- Arrow to navigate left, right, up and down
- Ctrl/command + arrow to get to the edge of a data set
- Ctrl + home or Ctrl + Fn + left arrow to move to the beginning of a sheet
- Ctrl/command + end to get to the end of a worksheet
- Ctrl + page down/up or Option + right/left arrow to go between sheets
Selecting
- Shift + arrow to highlight cells
- Ctrl/command + a to select all
- Command + shift + k to group selected cells
- Command + shift + j to ungroup selected cells
- Shift + home or Shift + Fn + left arrow to extend the selection to the beginning of the row
- Ctrl + shift + home or Ctrl + shift+ fn+ left arrow to extend the selection to the beginning of the sheet
- Ctrl to shift + end or Ctrl + shift + fn + right arrow to extend the selection to the last cell used on the sheet (lower-right corner)
- Ctrl + spacebar to select the whole column
- Shift + spacebar to select the whole row
Formatting
- Ctrl/command + 9 to hide selected cells
- Ctrl/command + 0 to hide selected columns
- Command + ) to hide a column
- Command + shift + ) to unhide a column
- Command + ( to hide a row
- Command + shift + ( to unhide a row
- Ctrl/command + D to fill down (highlight cells first)
- Ctrl/command + R to fill to the right
- Ctrl/command + enter to fill the selected cell range with the current entry
- Ctrl/command + x to cut
Editing
- F2 to make a cell active (can also double click or edit in the formula space up top)
- Ctrl/command + 1 to edit cells (outlines, color, type, etc.) which allows you to edit…
- Number- how the number is formatted (the default is general)
- Alignment- horizontal and vertical
- Ctrl/command + E to align center
- Ctrl/command + L to align left
- Font- type and size
- Ctrl/command + shift + > to increase font size
- Ctrl/command + shift + < to decrease font size
- Border- outline and weight
- Fill- color or pattern
- Protection- lock or hide cells
Past Value Shortcut Excel 2011 For Mac Shortcut
Other
- Ctrl + grave accent (‘) alternates between displaying cell values and cell formulas
- E.g. A cell formula is = 4+5 and a cell value is 9 (it’s useful to alternate when you have more complicated formulas and you want to edit specific parts)
- Shift + F11 to open a new sheet
- Ctrl/command + W to close a workbook
- Ctrl/command + O to open a workbook
* Pressing alt for a Pc opens up the ribbon at the top of excel which you can use to navigate between tabs*
Shortcut Keys For Excel
Opens up…
- Insert (to insert pivot tables, images, charts, etc.)- Alt + N
- Page layout (to change size, orientation, margins, etc.)- Alt + P
- Formulas (to insert and customize functions)- Alt + M
- Data (to sort, filter, do data validation, etc.)- Alt + A
- Review (to protect and share your workbook)- Alt + R
- View (to preview page layout, line breaks, etc.)- Alt + W
Example: creating a Pivot Table (Alt + N + V)
Here is sales data for an online retailer. To analyze relationships between different factors, pivot tables are extremely useful! To insert one, first press Alt then N to get to the Insert Tab.
Press V for a pivot table.
A dialog box will pop up where you can enter your data range (note you can have the pivot table pop up in a new worksheet or existing one).
Manipulate your pivot table by dragging different variables into the filters, columns, rows, and values boxes. Here, I have day under filters, region under columns, gender under rows, and values as count. This shows the number of females vs. males split up by region and filtered by day (it’s currently set on Sunday).
Excel Shortcuts List
*Remember, practice makes progress! Find a combination of keyboard and mouse navigation that works for you.*