Microsoft Excel Shortcuts For Dallas Business Professionals
Microsoft Excel is a powerful application that allows you to process your spreadsheets conveniently. Its first version came into the limelight as early as 1984, and the consequent ones have been better and improved. However, while the application allows you to accomplish various functions, clicking around with your mouse is a waste of time.
Luckily, Excel comes with numerous shortcuts that can make your work easier. Also known as hotkeys, they are a combination of two or more keys that you press together simultaneously. You can easily use them to complete various tasks without moving your hand off the keyboard.
You may not remember all of these keys off-head, but having a list close to you will help you learn as many as possible. Let's delve into some essential Microsoft Excel shortcuts to make your work easier.
General Microsoft Excel Shortcuts
This is a list of the frequently used shortcuts by most Excel users:
- Opening a workbook: Ctrl + O
- Closing an entire workbook: Ctrl + W
- Saving a workbook: Ctrl + S
- To navigate to the Home Tab: Alt + H
- Copy a section in a workbook: Ctrl + C
- Cut a section from a workbook: Ctrl + X
- Paste: Ctrl + V
- Bold: Ctrl + B
- Remove contents from a cell: Delete
- Undo an action: Ctrl + Z
- Choose a fill color: Alt + H, H
- Navigate to the Insert Tab: Alt + N
- Hide some selected columns: Ctrl + 0
- Hide some selected rows: Ctrl + 9
- Shift to the Formula Tab: Alt + M
- Delete a column: Alt + H, D, C
- Add borders to a section: Alt + H, B
- Open Context menu: Shift + F10. Alternatively, you can use the Context Key
- Shift to the View tab: Alt + W
- Navigate to the Data Tab: Alt + A
- Go to the Page Layout Tab: Alt + P
- To align cell contents to the center: Alt + H, A, C
Ribbon Keyboard Shortcuts
The ribbon puts together all the connected options on tabs. For example, the Number group on the Home tab includes the Number Format option. Pressing the Alt key displays the ribbon shortcuts, also known as Key Tips. They will appear as letters captured in small images next to the tabs and options.
Combining the Key Tips with the Alt key creates shortcuts known as Access Keys for the ribbon options. For example, Alt + H will open the Home Tab, while Alt + Q will help you navigate the Tell Me or Search Field. When you press Alt again, you will see KeyTips for the selected tab options.
Most of the old Alt key menu shortcuts are still functional in Office 2013 and Office 2010. However, you must know the full shortcut for it to be effective. For example, press Alt + I to insert, Alt + E to edit, and Alt + V to view. A notification pop-up will appear, telling you that you're using an access key from a previous version of Microsoft Office. If you don't know the entire sequence in these shortcuts, press Esc and use Key Tips instead.
Using the Ribbon Tabs Access Keys
If you want to move straight to one of the tabs on the ribbon, you can press one of the access keys below. Other tabs may appear depending on the selection you make in the worksheet.
- Open the File page to allow you to use Backstage view: Alt + F
- Open the Home Tab, format numbers and text, and use the Find Tool: Alt + H
- Navigate to The Search field or Tell me on the ribbon and look for Help content: Alt + Q and type the search term.
- Open the View Tab to preview page breaks and layouts, manage windows and panes, set zoom magnification, show and hide gridlines, and view macros: Alt + W
- Open the Review tab to protect sheets and workbooks, add notes and threaded comments, and check spelling: Alt +R
- Open the Data Tab to analyze, filter, sort, and work with data: Alt + A
- Navigate to the Formulas Tab and trace, insert, customize calculations and functions: Alt + M
- Go to the Page Layout: to work with the alignment, scale, page set up, and themes functions: Alt + P
- Go to the Insert Tab to insert text boxes, shapes, pictures, Sparklines, PivotTables, add-ins, and charts: Alt + P
Using the Keyboard to Work in the Ribbon
- To activate a selected button: press Enter or Spacebar
- Use the arrow keys to move up, down, left, or right among the items on the ribbon.
- Use the F10 or Alt key to activate the access keys after selecting the active tab on the ribbon. If you want to shift to a different tab, use the arrow keys or access keys.
- The Tab key or Shift + Tab will shift the focus to commands on the ribbon
- Use the Down arrow key to open the list for a selected command
- Press the Alt + Down arrow key to open the menu for a selected button
- Ctrl + F1 will expand or collapse a ribbon
- Alt + Down arrow key will open the menu for a selected button
- Use the left arrow key to move to the submenu when you have already opened or selected the submenu
Entering Data in a Spreadsheet
- If you want to repeat the most recent action you just performed, press Ctrl + Y.
- When the clipboard is not empty, but you want to copy-paste an item, pressing Ctrl + Shift + V will open the "Paste Special dialog.
- To copy the contents and format of the cell that appears first in a selected range into a compartment below, press Ctrl + D. If there is more than one column in the selection, the contents of the topmost cell in every column will be copied downwards.
- Press F2 to edit the current cell.
- Alt + Enter will enter a new line into a cell when in cell editing mode
- Ctrl + Enter will fill the selected cells with the contents of the current cell.
Microsoft Excel Support In Dallas By Velocity IT
You don't have to waste time clicking away on your mouse when using Microsoft Excel. Shortcuts exist to make your work easier. If you find a shortcut you'd like to add to your list, consider making your hotkey using the quick guide from Microsoft.
If the work is too hard for you to do, an expert can help you. At Velocity IT, we help businesses in Dallas to optimize their technology for maximum productivity. Contact us today, and let's discuss how we can offer Microsoft support and consulting for your business.
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