6 Excel Shortcuts to Speed Things Up

Yes, you do! You want to look like an Excel Pro!

12 Excel Formulas, Features & Keyboard Shortcuts Everyone Should Know, is the title Carly Stec, writer at Hubspot, gives to her Marketing article.

Here are some highlights that you might find useful.

• Selecting Columns and Rows – Everyone knows that the square at the apex of the spreadsheet (upper left corner) will select the entire spreadsheet. But what if you want to select just a column or row. Here’s two methods for each.
  • Select Data Column = Control + Shift + Down/Up (arrows), this selects to the point where the data begins or ends
  • Select Data Row = Control + Shift + Right/Left (arrows), this selects to the point where the data begins or ends
  • Select Entire Column = Control + SpaceBar, this selects the entire column without respect to data and is useful for deleting or formatting columns
  • Select Entire Row = Shift + SpaceBar, this selects the entire row without respect to data and is useful for deleting or formatting rows
  • The last two used together (1^st Control + SpaceBar, 2^nd Shift + SpaceBar) will highlight the entire spreadsheet
• Formatting the Tabs to identify each sheet of the spreadsheet
  • Right click on the tab will allow you to rename the tab from Sheet 1 to Holiday Card List or whatever.
  • You can move your sheet to another spreadsheet or to a new spreadsheet.
  • You can give a color to the tab to organize and coordinate sheets.
• Formatting numbers into currency
  • Highlight your number cells and the select Control + Shift + $
  • This will save much time.
• Insert current date and time into a cell
  • Current date = Control + ; (semi-colon)
  • Current time = Control + Shift + ; (semi-colon)
  • Both can be inserted in the same cell by inserting a space between.
• Clean up irregular spacing to enable accurate sorting and adding of data
  • Not a keyboard shortcut but a formula
  • =Trim(“text”)
  • This formula should be typed into the formula bar at the top, not the cell itself.
• Automatically fill columns or rows with data
  • Click and hold the lower right corner of a cell and drag down or across into adjacent cells. Upon release, Excel fills in with the same data from the cell first selected.
  • If you have a sequence of numbers (1,2,3…), highlight the sequence and drag as far as you wish to extend the sequence numerically.

Always on the lookout for working smarter, not harder, keystroke shortcuts are my favorite. Get the job done, and get it done quickly.