The best example of a hybrid shortcut is right clicking the mouse, then typing the shortcut key with your left hand. For some reason, although some hybrid shortcuts are blazing fast, most people aren’t even aware of them. Hybrid shortcuts are shortcuts that incorporate mouse and keyboard action into one shortcut. For example, right clicking and clicking on Clear Contents is faster than clicking on the Ribbon, in part because your mouse doesn’t have to travel the distance to the Ribbon and back (but also because you don’t have to worry about being on the right tab, as you do with Ribbon items). Clicking on a menu option there is often faster than clicking on the Ribbon. Right-clicking on the mouse brings up a context menu (see below for an example). Then the shortcut will be, for example, Alt-1 (or Alt-2, or Alt-3, etc.), which is easy for the left hand to execute by itself quickly. Thus for your high frequency tasks where you have no fast shortcut available, it makes sense to put those on the far left of the QAT. You can determine exactly which icons are where on the QAT. Unlike the Ribbon Alt shortcuts, you have a lot of flexibility for customizing the QAT shortcuts. As mentioned above, the QAT menu is activated by hitting the Alt key (it is activated in the picture below), and the shortcuts for the QAT are typically numbers (vs. Second, you can use the QAT for Alt shortcuts. This is often faster than clicking on the icon on the Ribbon. The Quick Access Toolbar (below) is highly customizable and lends itself to two types of shortcuts.įirst, you can just simply click on an icon that’s on the QAT. To get out of the key tips just type Alt or ESC until they disappear. So if you ever end up in a mouse-less emergency, this is the way to go. In effect, typing Alt-A-T first lights up the key tips (Alt), then takes you to the Data tab (A), then selects Filter once you’re on that tab (T). Once you type “A” for Data, you’re taken to the Data tab where you now see the next level and corresponding set of letter shortcuts:Ībove, “T” is for filter, so the complete sequence for activating the Filter would be Alt-A-T (see the animation above). Here, you would type “A” (for example) to go to the Data tab. Each pop-up letter (or “key tip”) represents a keyboard shortcut. This means everything on the Ribbon (and QAT) has a keyboard shortcut (though there’s no guarantee that these shortcuts represent the fastest choice for each task).īelow is what appears when you hit Alt (and above is a short animation). Basically, by hitting Alt, you activate a comprehensive keyboard-driven shortcut system that allows you to drill down to every action on the ribbon (and Quick Access Toolbar (or QAT)).
EXCEL SHIFT CELLS DOWN RIGHT SERIES
These shortcuts involve involve hitting the Alt key, followed by a series of letters, to navigate the Ribbon without the mouse. If you are determined to leave your mouse behind and use use only your keyboard, then Alt shortcuts are your best friend. Ctrl+Shift+→ selects everything from where you are to the next blank cell (or if you’re already in or in front of a blank cell, it will select everything from where you are to the next non-blank cell). For example, Ctrl+Shift+End selects everything from where you are to the farthest used cell. The most popular of this group are the navigation shortcuts. There are also shortcuts that combine Ctrl and Shift. Just as Ctrl helps you “jump” on the worksheet, Shift enables you to select cells. You can use this with the other arrow keys as well. For example, Shift+F11 opens a new worksheet and Shift+→ selects an expanding range of cells as you keep typing → or just hold → down. While not as common as Ctrl shortcuts, there are some useful Shift shortcuts. Use Ctrl shortcuts that involve the right hand only when doing so is faster than the alternatives (for example, Ctrl+End to jump to the farthest used cell).
For purposes of speed, I highly recommend that you use any Ctrl shortcuts that can be accomplished by the left hand (such as those just mentioned).
For example, Ctrl+C for Copy, Ctrl+V for Paste and Ctrl+S for Save. Many of the most popular Excel shortcuts involve typing Ctrl and a letter or number (or an arrow or an F-key).