Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for Beginners (The Ones Worth Learning)
You don't need to memorise hundreds of shortcuts. Learn a couple of dozen and you'll work noticeably faster in Excel — and spend a lot less time dragging the mouse around a huge spreadsheet.
On a Mac: most shortcuts use Command (⌘) where Windows uses Ctrl. Where it's different, the Mac version is shown.
The basics (you probably know some of these)
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + C / X / V | Copy / cut / paste |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo |
| Ctrl + S | Save |
| Ctrl + F | Find |
| Ctrl + H | Find and replace |
Move around quickly
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Arrow key | Jump to the edge of your data (last filled cell in that direction) |
| Ctrl + Home | Go back to cell A1 |
| Ctrl + End | Go to the last used cell |
| Ctrl + Page Down / Page Up | Next / previous sheet (Mac: Option + → / Option + ←) |
Ctrl + ↓ is a revelation on a sheet with thousands of rows — you're at the bottom in an instant.
Select data fast
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Shift + Arrow key | Select everything from here to the edge of the data |
| Ctrl + Space | Select the whole column |
| Shift + Space | Select the whole row |
| Ctrl + A | Select the current block of data (press again for the whole sheet) |
Tip: Click a heading, then press Ctrl + Shift + ↓ to select the whole column of data without scrolling.
Everyday essentials
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Alt + = | AutoSum — adds up the numbers above (Mac: ⌘ + Shift + T) |
| Ctrl + ; | Insert today's date |
| Ctrl + Shift + ; | Insert the current time |
| F2 | Edit the selected cell (Mac: Control + U, or F2 on some keyboards) |
| Alt + Enter | New line inside a cell (Mac: Option + Return) |
| Ctrl + D | Fill down — copy the cell above |
| Ctrl + Enter | Fill every selected cell with what you typed |
Formatting and tidying
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + 1 | Open Format Cells |
| Ctrl + B / I / U | Bold / italic / underline |
| Ctrl + Shift + $ | Currency format |
| Ctrl + Shift + % | Percentage format |
| Ctrl + T | Turn your data into a table |
| Ctrl + Shift + L | Turn filters on or off |
Formulas
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| F4 | While editing a formula, cycles a reference through A1, $A$1, A$1, $A1 (Mac: ⌘ + T) |
| Ctrl + ` | Show formulas instead of results (the ` key is left of 1) |
| Ctrl + E | Flash Fill |
Flash Fill: the hidden gem
Say column A has full names and you want just first names in column B.
1. In B2, type the first name from A2.
2. Move to B3 and press Ctrl + E.
2. Move to B3 and press Ctrl + E.
Excel spots the pattern and fills the whole column. It works for splitting names, pulling out postcodes, reformatting phone numbers and much more.
Rows, columns and sheets
| Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + + | Insert row/column (select a row or column first) |
| Ctrl + - | Delete row/column |
| Shift + F11 | Insert a new sheet |
A bonus: find any command
Press Alt on Windows and letters appear on the ribbon. Press them in order to reach any button without the mouse — for example Alt, H, B, A adds all borders.
Or press Alt + Q (or click the Search box at the top) and just type what you want to do, like "freeze" or "remove duplicates".
Wrapping up
Start with three: Ctrl + Arrow to move, Ctrl + Shift + Arrow to select, and Alt + = for AutoSum. Once they're second nature, add a few more each week.
