Excel is well known for its many tabs, groups, and menus on its ribbon. As a result, it can be difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for. As a daily Excel user, I’ve become accustomed to using various keyboard shortcuts that allow me to work much more efficiently.

Switching between your mouse and keyboard can become tiresome, and overusing your mouse can lead to “mouse pain” in your shoulder. So, learning how to make better use of your keyboard not only helps you to centralize and stabilize your posture, but it can also speed up your workflow.

The keyboard shortcuts in this article apply to Windows computers.Mac keyboard shortcutsin Excel can often follow the same principle, though the Alt key on a Windows keyboard is often replaced by the Options key on a Mac, and the Windows Ctrl key can be substituted for a Mac’s Cmd key.

Essential Shortcuts

Aside from thewell-known Excel keyboard shortcuts, these are the ones I use the most often and save me the most time.

Select cells manually

Shift+arrow keys

Select row

Shift+Space

After selecting the row, hold Shift and use the up and down arrow keys to select more.

Select column

Ctrl+Space

After selecting the column, hold Shift and use the left and right arrow keys to select more.

Insert row or column

Alt+I, then R to add a row, or C to add a column

This inserts a row underneath or a column to the right.

Delete row or column

Ctrl+-

If the whole row or column is not selected first, you’ll see a dialog box that lets you choose what you want to delete.

Switch betweenrelative, absolute, and mixed references

F4

For this to work, you’ll first need to select the cell containing the formula, and click the cell reference in the formula bar.

Format your data as a table

Ctrl+T

Make sure you select a cell in the table before using this shortcut. When the dialog box opens, press Tab and then Spacebar if your table does not contain headers, then press Enter. If it does, skip that middle step and just hit Enter.

Paste Special

We all know that Ctrl+V is the shortcut for pasting the last thing that wasadded to the clipboard. However, this pasteseverything, including the values, the formatting, and any comments or notes. Excel lets you choose more specifically which elements you want to paste into the selected cell. To access these choices, you need to first launch the Paste Special dialog box, which is why all the shortcuts in the table below start with Ctrl+Alt+V.

Paste formatting only

Ctrl+Alt+V, then T, then Enter

Useful if you have applied lots of formatting rules to a cell, and you want to duplicate this elsewhere.

Paste values only

Ctrl+Alt+V, then V, then Enter (or Ctrl+Shift+V)

This is handy for duplicating data onto another worksheet without the formulas.

Transpose your data

Ctrl+Alt+V, then E, then Enter

Using the transpose tool means that all rows in a table will switch to columns, and vice versa.

Paste formula only

Ctrl+Alt+V, then F, then Enter

Alternatively, you can press F2, Ctrl+A, and Ctrl+C in the cell containing the formula you want to copy, and then F2 and Ctrl+V where you want to paste it.

These shortcuts are especially useful if you have a large workbook with many sheets containing lots of active rows and columns, or if you plan to work in more than one workbook at a time.

Switch to the next tab

Switch to the previous tab

Go to cell A1

Open a new workbook

Open a new tab

Close the selected workbook window

Ctrl+F4

If you have not named and saved your work, this will first launch the Save dialog box. If you have, this shortcut will close the current workbook, while leaving Excel open.

Find and Replace

Another way to navigate your workbook is to search for specific items.

Find

Ctrl+F

The dialog box that opens lets you search by value and formatting, and you can also force Excel to search the whole workbook, rather than just the active sheet.

Find and replace

Go to

Ctrl+G

you’re able to alsouse the Name Box to locate named itemsor go to a specific cell reference. The keyboard shortcut for this is Alt+F3.

Formatting

Since most formatting options in Excel are accessible through the Home tab on the ribbon, you need to use the keyboard shortcut key to activate this option. For this reason, all the commands in this section start with you pressing Alt+H.

Increase the number of decimal places

Alt+H, then 0

Decrease the number of decimal places

Alt+H, then 9

Apply borders to a cell

Alt+H, then B

You’ll then need to press the key that corresponds to the border you want to use.

Align text or numbers in a cell

Alt+H Then AT, AM, or AB for top, middle or bottom, or AL, AC, or AR for left, center, or right.

Merge and center

Alt+H, then M

First, use Shift+arrow keys to select the cells you want to merge and center.

Useful Formulas

Yes, you’re able to type=sum,=average, and so on, but for some of the more commonly used formulas, it’s handy to know their shortcuts. First, activate the cell directly to the right or underneath the array you want to apply the calculation to. So, for example, if you’re creating a calculation of the values in cells A1 to A3, activate cell A4, and then use the following keyboard shortcuts.

Alt+M, then U, A, and Enter

Alt+M, then U, M, and Enter

Alt+M, then U, I, and Enter

Alt+M, then U, C, and Enter

Insert a chartin the current worksheet

Alt+F1

Make sure you select a cell within the relevant data before using this shortcut.

Insert a chart in a new tab

F11

Begin thepivot tablecreation process

Alt+D, then P

Make sure you select a cell within the relevant data first. This shortcut will launch the Pivot Table And Pivot Chart Wizard window.

Other Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Here are some miscellaneous shortcuts that I also find helpful when working in Excel.

Result

Ctrl+A

Selects the array containing the active cell, and then selects all cells in the worksheet.

Tab

Moves the cell pointer to the next cell in the row. Tab can also be used to toggle between options in a dialog box, or move through the ribbon after pressing Alt.

F9

Performs any calculations in all worksheets that are open.

Using these keyboard shortcuts isn’t a skill you can add to your workflow overnight—they take time and repetition before they become second nature. However, once you have mastered them, learning someWindows keyboard shortcut keysmight be the logical next step, as many can be applied to different programs on your computer.