Learn These 200 Excel Shortcuts For An Easier Worklife

Excel has a bit of a reputation for being a tedious and fiddly pain in the arse. However, most of its foibles come down to user error. If you take the time to learn these 200 keyboard shortcuts (or just print out this cheat sheet) your life among the spreadsheets will become far rosier.

The shortcuts below were painstakingly compiled by online learning company GoSkills. They cover all aspects of Excel spreadsheet creation, from row and column selection to formatting text and numbers. In short, it offers all of the shortcuts you need to open, navigate between, and control every conceivable option.

Worksheets and Workbooks

“Within excel you can conduct calculations on multiple worksheets and workbooks open at the same time. Each workbook acts as its own separate window on your PC or Mac, while each worksheet acts as a tab within a workbook with separate cells. This section of the Excel Guide offers all shortcuts you need to open, navigate between, and control all of these options.”

View

“Excel offers a diverse set of ways you can view your spreadsheets. From hiding select cells to entire rows and columns, there are a number of shortcut options you can take advantage of to get the most optimal view to complete your work.”

Row and Column Selection

“Mass edits can save you incredible amounts of time within Excel. Often you will want to control entire rows or columns in order use the data to create charts/graphs, or simply to move and edit many cells at once. Shortcuts within this section will help you control large quantities of data with ease.”

Ribbon Control

“The ribbon, which is located at the top of your Excel spreadsheet, includes tabs that can be accessed to control various aspects of your work within Excel. These simple shortcuts can be used to access the ribbon, navigate its features, and change the cells your ribbon is controlling or editing.”

Pivot Tables

“Pivot tables allow you to extract information and significance from massive sets of data within Excel. Although operating within them can be difficult, using these shortcuts to navigate within them and control data points can turn even novices in pivot table aficionados.”

Operating within a Cell

“Cells are where the magic happens within Excel. They hold your data and text, can be grouped to create beautiful graphs, and are truly the organizational cornerstone of your spreadsheet. Each shortcut in this section will help you better move within a cell, as well as add and extract data.”

Navigating and Selecting Cells

“Once cells are selected, Excel users are presented with a plethora of options that take full advantage of all cells in the selected range. These shortcuts will allow you to navigate to the cell you wish to select with ease no matter where it is within your spreadsheet. Additionally, you will be able to select everything from words to individual data points and characters.”

Help and Menus

As with all Microsoft Office products, Excel offers a number of helpful tools that can help you to organize and optimize your spreadsheet and all it contains. Simple shortcuts for tools such as spell-check and thesaurus and be a accessed with the touch of a button, as well as more complex tools such as the cell modification menu.

Group Selection

When cells are grouped together, you can do everything from creating graphs and pivot tables to extracting numerous other forms of both visual and text-based information. Shortcuts within this section will help you add cells to your selection whether they are adjacent to the active cell, or on the opposite side of the spreadsheet.

General Excel

“The most of basic but useful of shortcuts within excel can be found in this section. Save your work, close it out safely, or even print a file; we’ve got you covered.”

General Cell Control

“The data and text you input into Excel can do much more than act as placeholders within cells. Shortcuts in this section will expand your capabilities of cell control far beyond what your mouse is capable of. You will be able to do everything from locating cell matches to creating tables.”

Formulas and Functions

“By adding formulas and functions to your Excel sheet, you instantly gain access to a wealth of information regarding your data and can conduct complex calculations with ease. These shortcuts can help Excel beginners and even advanced users begin building formulas and functions, as well as receive help where necessary.”

Formatting Text and Numbers

“Your text and data should look exactly the way you want it to. Simple shortcuts in this section will help you edit your content down to the last character. Options include bold, italics, underscore, numeric options, and much more.”

Dialog Boxes

“In Excel, a dialog box is a form that can help you add information and make decisions about different aspects of your current worksheet and its content such as data, charts, or graphic images. Shortcuts in this section will help you both open and work within these dialog boxes like a pro.”

Borders

“The design and aesthetics of your Excel spreadsheet is important. With these simple shortcuts you will be able to add custom borders to any cells you choose.”

Advanced Selection

“Navigating Excel to find certain cells based on data-driven criteria is a skill available even to Excel beginners. Try implementing shortcuts within this section to find cells such as dependents, precedents, and other advanced criteria.”

Adding Content to Cells

“Cells are nothing without the data and text you add to them. These shortcuts are the perfect tools to begin entering content efficiently and accurately down to the last character.”

[Via GoSkills]