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25. All Excel Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows and Mac)

25.6 Tables, Filter and Data Shortcuts

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Example first. Raja pastes the 10 orders and presses Ctrl+T (same on Mac): a Table with filter arrows. He selects the City header, presses Alt+Down arrow (Mac: Option+Down arrow), ticks only Pune and sees 4 rows totalling ₹544. Ctrl+Shift+L turns the arrows off and on.

Table and filter shortcuts — in 30 seconds

What: These shortcuts turn data into a Table, switch filters on and off, open a column's filter list, reapply a filter and open Power Query, all from the keyboard.

Why: Filtering is the most repeated action in daily reporting. Doing it from the keyboard keeps your hands on the data and makes checks quick.

Tiny example: Ctrl+T, then Alt+Down arrow on City › Pune: 4 rows, total ₹544. Ctrl+Alt+L reapplies the filter after you change data.

First look at the data (before → after):

Table and filter shortcuts: before and after tables, fictional Blinkit Maharashtra data

Expected result — After filtering City = Pune

Order ID City Amount (₹)
BLK-1001 Pune 64
AMN-1003 Pune 110
BLK-1006 Pune 150
BLK-1009 Pune 220
Total (Total Row) — 544
Before table and formula as text

Before — Sheet Orders (A1:I11), active cell A1

A: Order ID B: Date C: City … G: Amount (₹) … I: Status
BLK-1001 02-11-2026 Pune … 64 … Delivered
BLK-1002 02-11-2026 Nashik … 270 … Delivered
AMN-1003 03-11-2026 Pune … 110 … Delivered
… … … … … … …
BLK-1010 08-11-2026 Nashik … 90 … Delivered

Formula / click path

Ctrl+T › My table has headers › OK
Select C1 › Alt+Down arrow   (Mac: Option+Down arrow)
Tick only Pune › Enter

Do it step by step:

  1. Click inside the data and press Ctrl+T (Mac: Cmd+T or Ctrl+T), then Enter.
  2. Click the City header and press Alt+Down arrow (Mac: Option+Down arrow).
  3. Untick (Select All), tick Pune, press Enter.
  4. Change one Pune amount, then press Ctrl+Alt+L (Windows) to reapply the filter.
  5. Press Ctrl+Shift+L to remove the filter arrows (Mac: Cmd+Shift+F).

Table and filter shortcuts: Windows and Mac side by side

To do this Windows Mac
Create a Table Ctrl+T or Ctrl+L Cmd+T or Ctrl+T
Turn filter arrows on or off (Microsoft lists Ctrl+Shift+L in its Mac and Excel for the web tables) Ctrl+Shift+L Cmd+Shift+F or Ctrl+Shift+L
Open the filter list of the selected header Alt+Down arrow Option+Down arrow
Reapply the filter after data changes (listed in Microsoft's Excel for the web table) Ctrl+Alt+L (menu: Data › Sort & Filter › Reapply)
Open the Sort dialog box (menu: Data › Sort & Filter › Sort) Cmd+Shift+R
Quick Analysis Ctrl+Q (menu: Control-click the selection › Quick Analysis)
Flash Fill Ctrl+E (menu: Data › Data Tools › Flash Fill)
Open the Power Query Editor Alt+F12 Option+F12
Show or hide outline symbols Ctrl+8 Ctrl+8
Group / ungroup selected cells (menu: Data › Outline › Group / Ungroup) Cmd+Shift+K / Cmd+Shift+J
Refresh data in the current worksheet Ctrl+F5 (menu: Data › Refresh All ▾ › Refresh)
Refresh all data in the workbook Ctrl+Alt+F5 (menu: Data › Refresh All)

Tables, sorting and filtering are taught in Module 6; Power Query in Module 10.

Practice task (try it before you open the answer):

  1. Turn the orders into a Table with one shortcut.
  2. Filter Status to Delivered from the keyboard and read the Total Row.
  3. Remove the filter arrows.
Answer

Ctrl+T (Mac: Cmd+T). Alt+Down arrow on Status (Mac: Option+Down arrow), tick Delivered: 7 rows, total ₹2,215. Ctrl+Shift+L (Mac: Cmd+Shift+F).

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Always look at the status bar after filtering: "4 of 10 records found" tells you a filter is on before you copy or total anything.