Mastering Excel Shortcuts for PC and Mac

Cheat sheet of the most important Excel keyboard shortcuts to be familiar with

Written by CFI Team

Read Time 2 minutes

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List of Excel Shortcuts

Excel shortcuts[1] – It may seem slower at first if you’re used to the mouse, but it’s worth the investment to take the time and learn these important shortcuts. Below, you can find the top time-saving Excel shortcuts, including helpful Macabacus shortcuts.

To master such valuable skills, check out CFI’s Free Excel Crash Course and Macabacus Specialist Course.

Download CFI’s Free Excel Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Complete the form below to download our free Excel Keyboard Shortcuts Cheat Sheet!

List of Excel shortcuts on keyboard for PC and Mac

Essential Excel Shortcuts for PC & Mac

Editing Shortcuts


Edit active cell	F2	Ctrl U
Cut	Ctrl X	⌘ X
Copy	Ctrl C	⌘ C
Paste	Ctrl V	⌘ V
Paste Special	Alt E S	⌘ Option V
Paste name into formula	F3
Toggle references	F4	⌘ T
Start a new line within the same cell	Alt Enter	Ctrl Option Return
Insert or edit cell comment	Shift F2	Shift F2
Display shortcut menu (i.e. same as right click)	Shift F10	Shift F10
Insert worksheet	Shift F11	Shift F11
Define a name for a cell	Ctrl F3	Ctrl F3
Fill down (e.g. copy formula down in selected cells)	Ctrl D	Ctrl D
Fill right	Ctrl R	Ctrl R
Insert argument names and parentheses for a function after typing a function name in a formula	Ctrl Shift A	Ctrl Shift A
Insert row	Alt I R	Ctrl I
Insert column	Alt I C	Ctrl I

Formatting Shortcuts


Brings up format cells menu	Ctrl 1	⌘ 1
Bold	Ctrl B	⌘ B
Italic	Ctrl I	⌘ I
Undo	Ctrl Z	⌘ Z
Redo	Ctrl Y	⌘ Y
Repeat last action	F4	⌘ Y
Select all used cells (select entire worksheet if command is repeated)	Ctrl A	⌘ A
Number format	Ctrl Shift !	Ctrl Shift !
Date format	Ctrl Shift #	Ctrl Shift #
Percent format	Ctrl Shift %	Ctrl Shift %
Increase font size	Alt h fg	⌘ Shift >
Decrease font size	Alt h fk	⌘ Shift <
Increase decimal	Alt h O
Decrease decimal	Alt h 9
Increase indent	Alt h 6	Ctrl M
Decrease indent	Alt h 5	⌘ Shift m

Navigation Shortcuts


Move from cell to cell	Arrows	Arrows
Go to	F5	F5
Go to cell A1	Ctrl Home	Fn Ctrl Left
Go to beginning of row	Home	Fn Left
Select the adjacent cell	Shift Arrow	Shift Arrow
Select entire row	Shift Spacebar	Shift Spacebar
Select entire column	Ctrl Spacebar	Ctrl Spacebar
Select all to the start of the sheet	Ctrl Shift Home	Ctrl Shift Home
Select all to the last used cell of the sheet	Ctrl Shift End	Ctrl Shift End
Select to the end of the last used cell in row/column	Ctrl Shift Arrow	Ctrl Shift Arrow
Select the last used cell in row/column	Ctrl Arrow	Ctrl Arrow
Move one screen up	PageUp	Fn Up
Move one screen down	PageDown	Fn Down
Move one screen left	Alt PageUp	Fn Option Up
Move one screen right	Alt PageDown	Fn Option Down
Move to the next or previous worksheet (Move between tabs if you are in a menu window)	Ctrl PageUp/Down	Ctrl PageUp/Down
Move to next workbook (while in spreadsheet) Move to next divider (when in menu options)	Ctrl Tab	Ctrl Tab
Move to the next cell (Move between items within a menu window)	Tab	Tab

File Shortcuts


New	Ctrl N	⌘ N
Open	Ctrl O	⌘ O
Save workbook	Ctrl S	⌘
Save As	F12	⌘ ⇧ Shift S
Print	Ctrl P	⌘ P
Open print preview window	Ctrl F2
Go to next workbook	Ctrl Tab	⌘ -
Close file	Ctrl F4	⌘ W
Close all open Excel files	Alt F4	⌘ Q

Ribbon Shortcuts


Show ribbon accelerator keys	Alt
Show/hide ribbon	Ctrl F1	⌘ ⌥ R

Paste Special Shortcuts


Paste Special formats	Ctrl Alt V t	Ctrl ⌘ V t
Paste Special values	Ctrl Alt V v	Ctrl ⌘ V v
Paste Special formulas	Ctrl Alt V f	Ctrl ⌘ V f
Paste Special comments	Ctrl Alt V c	Ctrl ⌘ V c

Clear Shortcuts


Clear cell data	Delete	Delete
Clear cell formats	Alt h e f
Clear cell comments	Alt h e m
Clear all (data, formats, comments)	Alt h e a

Selection Shortcuts


Select a cell range	Shift Arrows	Shift Arrows
Highlight a contiguous range	Ctrl Shift Arrows	Ctrl Shift Arrows
Extend selection up one screen	Shift PageUp	Fn Shift Up
Extend selection down one screen	Shift PageDown	Fn Shift Down
Extend selection left one screen	Alt shift PageUp	Fn Shift ⌘ Up
Extend selection right one screen	Alt shift PageDown	Fn Shift ⌘ Down
Select all	Ctrl A	⌘ A

Data Editing Shortcuts


Fill down from cell above	Ctrl D	Ctrl D
Fill right from cell left	Ctrl R	Ctrl R
Find and replace	Ctrl F	Ctrl F
Show all constants	F5 Alt s o
Highlight cells with comments	F5 Alt s c

Data Editing (inside cell) Shortcuts


Edit the active cell (edit mode)	F2	F2
While editing cell, allow use of arrow keys to create reference	F2	F2
Confirm change and get out of cell	Enter	Enter
Cancel a cell entry and get out of cell	Esc	Esc
Insert line break within cell	Alt Enter	Option Enter
Highlight within a cell	Shift Left/Right	Shift Left/Right
Highlight contiguous items	Ctrl Shift Left/Right	Ctrl Shift Left/Right
Jump to beginning of cell contents	Home	Fn Left
Jump to end of cell contents	End	Fn Right
Delete character to left	Backspace	Delete
Delete character to right	Delete	Fn Delete
Accept autocomplete suggestion	Tab	Tab
Referencing a cell from another worksheet	Ctrl PageUp/Down Arrows	Ctrl Fn Down/Up Arrows

Calculation Shortcuts


Start a formula	=	=
Insert autosum formula	Alt =	⌘ Shift T
Recalculate all worksheets	F9	F9
Anchor cells (A$1$), toggle anchors (edit mode)	F4	F4
Insert a function	Shift F3	Shift F3
Enter array formula (edit mode)	Shift Ctrl Enter	Shift Ctrl Enter

Other Shortcuts


Enter date	Ctrl ;	Ctrl ;
Enter time	Ctrl Shift :	Ctrl Shift :
Show formula/show values (key to the left of 1)	Ctrl `	Ctrl `
Select cells which refer to the active cell (useful before deleting a cell in a worksheet)	Ctrl ]	Ctrl ]
Drives menu bar	Alt
Next open program	Alt Tab	⌘ Tab
Autosum	Alt =	⌘ T

Why Master Excel Shortcuts?

To be more productive, faster, and more efficient when building financial models or performing financial analysis, it’s important to know the main keyboard shortcuts in Excel. These are critical for careers in investment banking, equity research, FP&A, finance, accounting, and more.

The first thing you’ll do if you’re hired as an investment banking analyst is take a series of intense Excel training courses. Your mouse will be taken away and you’ll be expected to learn financial modeling with only keyboard shortcuts. If you follow our tips and tricks below you’ll be able to master these shortcuts on Windows or Mac operating systems.

You may also want to check out our section on Excel formulas cheat sheet. Excel is quite robust, meaning there are a lot of different tools that can be utilized within it, and therefore there are many skills one can practice and hone.

Free Excel Course

If you want to learn these keyboard shortcuts with your own personal online instructor, check out CFI’s Free Excel Crash Course! You’ll receive step-by-step instructions and demonstrations on how to avoid the mouse and only use your keyboard.

Additional Resources

Thanks for reading CFI’s guide to Excel shortcuts for your PC and Mac keyboard! By taking the time to learn and master these keys, you’ll significantly speed up your financial analysis. To learn more, check out these additional CFI resources:

Article Sources

Excel Shortcuts