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20 Excel keyboard shortcuts that actually save time

beginnerShortcuts & ProductivityJuly 24, 2026

Shortcuts shown here are for Windows. On Mac, swap Ctrl for Cmd unless noted otherwise.

Getting around

  • Ctrl + Arrow — jump to the edge of the current block of data, in the direction of the arrow.
  • Ctrl + Home / Ctrl + End — jump to A1, or to the last cell that has ever held data on the sheet.
  • Ctrl + Page Up / Page Down — switch to the previous or next worksheet tab.

Selecting

  • Ctrl + Shift + Arrow — extend the selection to the edge of the current data block. Pairs naturally with Ctrl + Arrow above.
  • Ctrl + A — select the current data region on the first press, the whole sheet on the second.
  • Ctrl + Space / Shift + Space — select the entire column or row of the active cell.

Editing

  • F2 — edit the active cell in place instead of retyping it.
  • Ctrl + D — fill the selection down with the contents of the topmost cell — faster than copy-paste for repeating a formula down a column.
  • Alt + = — AutoSum: guesses the range above or beside the cell and inserts a SUM formula.
  • Ctrl + ; — insert today’s date as a static value (not a live formula like TODAY() — it won’t change tomorrow).
  • Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y — undo / redo.
  • Ctrl + Shift + “+” / Ctrl + “-” — insert or delete the selected cells, rows, or columns.

Formatting

  • Ctrl + 1 — open Format Cells — the single most useful formatting shortcut, since it covers number formats, borders, alignment, and fonts in one dialog.
  • Ctrl + B / Ctrl + I / Ctrl + U — bold, italic, underline.
  • Ctrl + Shift + $ — apply currency formatting to the selection.
  • Ctrl + Shift + % — apply percentage formatting to the selection.

Formulas

  • F4 — while editing a formula, cycles a cell reference through relative, absolute, and mixed (A1 → $A$1 → A$1 → $A1). Far faster than typing dollar signs by hand.
  • Ctrl + ` (grave accent, above Tab) — toggle between showing formula results and the formulas themselves. Useful for auditing a sheet someone else built.
  • Ctrl + Shift + Enter — legacy way to enter an array formula. Modern Excel’s dynamic arrays (like UNIQUE or FILTER) don’t need it, but you’ll still see it in older workbooks.

Worth singling out

Ctrl + D and F4 are the two most underused shortcuts on this list — between them they cover most of the tedious re-entering and re-referencing that eats up time in a spreadsheet.