Want to become more efficient using Excel? Let me show you the best Excel shortcuts that I personally use every day.
If you’ve ever attended one of my training sessions, or even just read some of my other blog posts about shortcut keys, you’ll know I’m a huge fan of anything that saves time. I love using shortcuts to improve efficiency and streamline the way I work, especially when I’m multi-tasking (which is often!).
If you’re just getting started with Excel shortcuts, my advice is to start small. Don’t try to learn them all at once. Pick a few that you’ll use regularly, get comfortable with those, and then gradually add more to your shortcut toolkit. Before long, you’ll be using keyboard shortcuts like a pro!
Below I’ve listed some of my absolute favourite Excel shortcuts. No need to scribble them down, you’ll find a link to download a handy PDF with all my keyboard shortcut lists at the bottom of this post.
My Favourite Shortcut Keys
| Shortcut Keys | Description |
| Ctrl + N | Create a New workbook |
| Ctrl + O | Open an existing workbook |
| Ctrl + F12 | Display the Open dialog box |
| Ctrl + S | Save current workbook |
| Ctrl + P | Print current workbook |
| Ctrl + W | Close current workbook |
| Ctrl + A | Select entire worksheet |
| Ctrl + Z | Undo. Undo. Undo. Need I say more? |
| Ctrl + Y | Redo the last action you undid |
| Ctrl + X | Cut |
| Ctrl + C | Copy |
| Ctrl + V | Paste |
| Ctrl + B | Apply Bold formatting |
| Ctrl + I | Apply Italics formatting |
| Ctrl + U | Apply Underline formatting |
| Ctrl + F | Find text or formatting within the current workbook |
| Ctrl + H | Find and replace text or formatting within the current workbook |
| Ctrl + G | Use the Go To feature |
| Ctrl + K | Insert a hyperlink |
| Ctrl + E | Use Flash Fill |
| Ctrl + 1 | Display the Format Cells dialog box |
| Alt + = | Insert the AutoSum function |
| TAB | Move one cell to the right |
| Ctrl + mouse wheel | Scroll the mouse wheel up to zoom in and down to zoom out |
| Alt + Tab | Switch between open program windows |
| F1 | Launch Help |
| F2 | Edit the current cell |
| F4 | Repeat the last action |
| F7 | Spell Check |
| F11 | Create a quick chart |
| F12 | Save As |
| Ctrl + Home | Move the cursor to cell A1 |
| Ctrl + End | Move the cursor to last cell containing data |
| Ctrl + Shift + ~ | Apply a General number format |
| Ctrl + Shift + $ | Apply a Currency number format |
| Ctrl + Shift + % | Apply a Percentage number format |
| Ctrl + Space Bar | Highlight the current column |
| Shift + Space Bar | Highlight the current row |
| Shift + Home | Highlight from the current cell back to column A of the row |
| Ctrl + Shift + Home | Highlight from the current cell back to cell A1 |
| Ctrl + Shift + End | Highlight from the current cell to the last cell containing data |
| Ctrl + Page UP | Move between worksheets (Right to Left) |
| Ctrl + Page Down | Move between worksheets (Left to Right) |
That wraps up my list of favourite Excel shortcuts! If you’d like to see the full range of keyboard shortcuts available in Microsoft Excel, check out the Keyboard shortcus in Excel article on the Microsoft website.
If you’re enjoying learning shortcuts, make sure you check out my other posts where I cover more shortcuts to use in Microsoft PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Word.
For those using Mac or other platforms, check out the official Microsoft Excel shortcuts page.
I always love discovering your favourite shortcut combinations, so if you have a go-to Excel shortcut that’s not on my list, drop it in the comments below.
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