19. Keyboard Shortcuts and Function Cheat Sheet
19.1 Keyboard Shortcuts (Excel for Windows)
The shortcuts below were checked against Microsoft's official support article Keyboard shortcuts in Excel (support.microsoft.com, Windows tab, read in September 2026). They refer to the US keyboard layout; a comma (for example Alt, H, H) means press the keys one after another. A few very common shortcuts that the article lists only for other platforms are marked †.
Workbook, ribbon and general
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Open / Save / Close workbook | Ctrl + O / Ctrl + S / Ctrl + W |
| Save As | F12 |
| Undo / Repeat last action | Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y |
| Show ribbon Key Tips | Alt or F10 |
| Home / Insert / Page Layout / Formulas / Data / Review / View tab | Alt + H / Alt + N / Alt + P / Alt + M / Alt + A / Alt + R / Alt + W |
| Search box on the ribbon | Alt + Q |
| Expand or collapse the ribbon | Ctrl + F1 |
| Context (right-click) menu | Shift + F10 |
| Insert a new worksheet | Shift + F11 |
| Next / previous sheet | Ctrl + Page Down / Ctrl + Page Up |
| Go To dialog | F5 |
| Spelling | F7 |
| Zoom in / out | Ctrl + Alt + = / Ctrl + Alt + - |
Navigation and selection
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move to edge of data region | Ctrl + Arrow key |
| Select to edge of data region | Ctrl + Shift + Arrow key |
| Go to A1 / last used cell | Ctrl + Home / Ctrl + End |
| Select current region (press again for whole sheet) | Ctrl + A or Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar |
| Select current region around active cell | Ctrl + Shift + * |
| Select entire column / row | Ctrl + Spacebar / Shift + Spacebar |
| Add non-adjacent range to selection | Shift + F8 |
| Extend-selection mode on/off | F8 |
| Open a data-validation drop-down | Alt + Down Arrow |
Entering and editing data
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Edit active cell | F2 |
| New line in the same cell | Alt + Enter |
| Fill selected cells with current entry | Ctrl + Enter |
| Fill down | Ctrl + D |
| Fill right † | Ctrl + R |
| Current date / current time | Ctrl + ; / Ctrl + Shift + : |
| Copy formula / value from cell above | Ctrl + ' / Ctrl + Shift + " |
| Flash Fill | Ctrl + E |
| Insert / delete cells dialog | Ctrl + Shift + + / Ctrl + - |
| Paste Special dialog | Ctrl + Alt + V (then V = values, T = formats, F = formulas, W = column widths) |
| Insert hyperlink | Ctrl + K |
| New note / new threaded comment | Shift + F2 / Ctrl + Shift + F2 |
| Hide rows / hide columns | Ctrl + 9 / Ctrl + 0 |
| Find / Replace † | Ctrl + F / Ctrl + H |
Formatting
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Format Cells dialog | Ctrl + 1 |
| Bold / Italic / Underline / Strikethrough | Ctrl + B / Ctrl + I / Ctrl + U / Ctrl + 5 |
| Number format with thousands separator, 2 decimals | Ctrl + Shift + ! |
| Currency / Percentage / Date format | Ctrl + Shift + $ / Ctrl + Shift + % / Ctrl + Shift + # |
| General format | Ctrl + Shift + ~ |
| Outline border / remove border | Ctrl + Shift + & / Ctrl + Shift + _ |
| Fill colour (ribbon sequence) | Alt, H, H |
| Centre align (ribbon sequence) | Alt, H, A, C |
Formulas, data and analysis
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| AutoSum | Alt + = |
| Toggle absolute/relative reference | F4 (while editing a reference) |
| Insert Function dialog | Shift + F3 |
| Function Arguments dialog (after typing a function name) | Ctrl + A |
| Paste Name dialog | F3 |
| Define Name (ribbon sequence) | Alt, M, M, D |
| Show formulas / values | Ctrl + ` |
| Calculate all / active sheet | F9 / Shift + F9 |
| Create Table | Ctrl + T or Ctrl + L |
| Turn AutoFilter on/off † | Ctrl + Shift + L |
| Quick Analysis | Ctrl + Q |
| Embedded chart / chart on new sheet | Alt + F1 / F11 |
| Refresh data in current sheet / Refresh All | Ctrl + F5 / Ctrl + Alt + F5 |
| Open Power Query Editor | Alt + F12 |
| Macro dialog / VBA Editor | Alt + F8 / Alt + F11 |
| Show or hide outline symbols | Ctrl + 8 |
† Ctrl + R, Ctrl + F / Ctrl + H and Ctrl + Shift + L are standard in Excel for Windows and appear in Microsoft's Mac/web tables of the same article, but were not listed in its Windows tables at the time of checking.
Ravindra Bagale's Tip
Khup students ekdam 50 shortcuts path karaycha prayatna kartat aani athavdyat sagle visartat. Roj fakt 3 shortcuts nivda (udaharanartha Ctrl + Arrow, Ctrl + T, F4) aani mouse na vaparta tech vapra. Shortcut haatat basla ki pudhche 3 – asa vadhat jaa.