Shortcut keys can save you little bits of time when working with data in Excel. Many of these shortcuts also apply to other Microsoft software applications like Word. Some of these you probably know. There are a couple we did not learn about until later in life that are neat also. These are some of the basic ones. In later sessions we will cover others.
These involve clicking two keys at once, usually the Ctrl key (use your pinky) and the letter key mentioned.
| Shortcut- | Use |
| Ctrl and C | Copy data |
| Ctrl and X | Cut data. |
| Ctrl and V | Paste the data you just copied or cut. |
| Ctrl and Z | Undo the step that you just did |
| Ctrl and Y | Redo the step that you just undid. |
| Ctrl and D | Copy the contents of the cell above into the current cell. For example if you have a column called City. If the people in both row 5 and row 6 live in San Francisco, use this shortcut to paste San Francisco in row 6 instead of having to reinput or copy/paste. |
| Ctrl and A | Highlight an entire worksheet |
| Ctrl and spacebar | Select an entire column (if on more than one cell going across, you will select multiple columns) |
| Shift and spacebar | Select an entire row (if on more than one cell going down, you will select multiple rows) |
| Ctrl and 9 | Hide columns |
| Ctrl and 0 (zero) | Hide rows |
| Ctrl and O (letter) | Open a file |
| Ctrl and S | Save your file |
| Ctrl and P | Print your worksheet |
| Ctrl and B | Bold on or off |
| Ctrl and I | Italic on or off |
| Ctrl and U | Underline on or off |
| Ctrl and Home | Move to start of worksheet (if you have frozen panes, then will move to start of unfrozen area of worksheet) |
| Ctrl and End | Move to end of worksheet |
Give these shortcut keys a try. You might find as you get faster with these than having to go to the icons.