Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

Navigation & other commonly used commands

Ctrl + Pg
up/down
Ctrl + Shift +
Pg up/down

Alt + Enter
Ctrl + Enter
Alt + =

Ctrl + ;
Ctrl + Shift + ;
Ctrl + Shift + *
Alt + Down
Arrow

Go to the previous/next sheet

Selects multiple sheets simultaneously. This is usually indicated by [Group]
appearing after the name of the file on the top of the window. Whatever done
on one sheet (barring a few exceptions) will be filled across all sheets
simultaneously. Now you wont blame the Excel ghost for this commonly
encountered problem!
Wraps text when within a cell (i.e. Edit mode)
Fills the entire range with the formula in the active cell (a range must be first
selected)
Enters sum formula prompt (selects a range to the last non blank cell).
When done for >2 rows or columns it automatically adds, without prompting!
It may also be used for sub-totaling (when data above/to the left of the cell uses
multiple sum functions and is cohesive i.e. is without blank cells. Note: it will
also not work if the sign in any of the sum functions is deliberately changed!)
When used with filters it automatically subtotals
Enters current date in mm/dd/yyyy format (is not dynamic!)
Enters current time in hh:mm AM/PM format
Selects the active table alone (more usable for the purpose than the one above)
Selects drop-downs in situations like filtering, data validation and for autofilling
Does not work with form boxes!

Manipulating Rows, Columns & Cells

Alt, I, R/C or Ctrl
+ Shift + +
Alt, E, D or
Ctrl + Alt, O, R, E

'R' Adds a row above while 'C' adds a column to the left
Delete rows, columns or cells

Change Row height. Can be used for simultaneously changing heights of

multiple rows.
Alt, O, C, W or
Change Column Width. Can be used for simultaneously changing width of
Right Click, C, C, multiple columns.
Enter
Alt, O, C, S
Shows the Standard width. Apparently, for being copied and pasted to those
rows that are not of standard width. Of course, you may use Alt, E, S, W but
that may not give you the standard width!
Alt, O, R/C, A
Applies a best fit to the Row or Column. Alt, O, R, A also unhides rows!
Alt, O, R, H or
Hides a row/s
Ctrl + (
Alt, O, C, H or
Hides column/s
Ctrl + )
Alt, O, R, U or
Unhides row/s. To unhide, select one row above & below the row/s that are
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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

Ctrl + Shift + (
Alt, O, C, U or
Ctrl + Shift + )
Alt, D, G, G or
Shift + Alt +
Right arrow
Alt, D, G, U or
Shift + Alt + Left
arrow
Alt, D, G, H/S

Alt, D, G, A or
Ctrl + 8
Alt, D, G, E

hidden
Unhides column/s. To unhide, select one column before & after the column/s
that are hidden. At times this does not work, in such cases select the entire
sheet first
To group rows/columns
To ungroup rows/columns.

Toggle between showing and hiding detail within a group. The best part is
that you need not select the entire grouped area! You could also use
row/column hide/unhide to do this.
Auto Outline
Activates the Settings box. Can be used to change the direction of
grouping. I.e. Above/ below for row grouping and left/right for column
grouping

Workbook or Sheet related

Shift + F11 or Alt, I, W or
Alt + Shift + F1
Alt, E, L
Ctrl + N
Alt, O, H, R
Alt, E, M
Alt, O, H, H
Alt, O, H, U
Alt, O, H, B
Alt, O, H, T

Adds a sheet (to the left)

Deletes the active sheet
Creates a workbook
Rename a sheet
Activates the Move or copy box. Used for moving, copying,
exchanging sheets inter/intra workbook
Hides the active sheet
Unhides a sheet, or shows a Unhide box in case of multiple
hidden sheets
Change sheet background using pictures (while printing Excel
excludes the picture!)
Change color of the active sheet tab

Manipulating the view

Alt, V,
U
Alt, V,
Z

Fullscreen (to return to normal view hit Esc). Is best suited for presentations In this
mode, none of the accelerators are accessible!
Choose given magnification (or customize). Use the underlined letters combined with
Alt to choose magnification. E.g. Alt + 2 for 200% magnification and Alt + C for
custom magnification.
A trick to achieve this is to hit F6 (gets you down to the page view bar) and then watch
the highlighted area (in light orange) to navigate to the - or + sign followed by
hitting enter single or multiple times to get to the desired zoom level (in increment of
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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

Alt, V,
H
Alt, V,
P
Ctrl +
Shift +
U
Alt,
W, F
Alt, V,
V

Ctrl +
F1
Ctrl +
F10
Ctrl +
F9

10%age points)! You may also hit the percentage sign (usually showing 100%) to go
to custom magnification.
Sets the Print page layout and activates the header
Sets the gray screen i.e. page view
Toggles size of the formula bar

Hides the formula bar

Activates the Custom views box. It helps record a wide array of custom views (such
as freeze panes, custom magnifications, formula bars, hidden rows/columns/sheets,
ribbon etc.) and then may be used for quickly toggling between different views truly
awesome!)
Toggles between hiding/showing the ribbon
Maximizes current excel window (not the application!)
Minimizes the current excel window (not the application!)

Formatting & related

Shift + F10
Ctrl + 1 or
Alt, O, E

Ctrl + Shift +
P or Ctrl +
Shift + F
Ctrl + Shift +
&
Ctrl + Shift +
_
Alt, E, S
or
Ctrl + Alt +V
Ctrl + R/D

Right click, In case your keyboard does not have one! (between the Alt & Ctrl
keys on RHS)
Activates the Format cells box. Contrary to popular belief the arrow keys cannot
always be used to move between the 6 tabs! To do that, it is best to use Ctrl +
pg up or pg dn within the box. Tip: Within the number tab, use the first letter
of the number format as the shortcut.
For e.g. typing c once takes you to currency and twice gets you to custom
format
Directly gets you to the Font tab within the Format cells box. You may use
Tab or the underlined letters as shortcuts!
Adds an outer border to the selected cell/region
Removes all borders in the selected region
Activates the Paste Special Box. The box has 3 categories of functions, unless
there is a logical breach the three CAN be used in combination! For e.g. you
may use v (Values), m (multiply) & e (transpose) together! Did you know that
the Link option within the box does not require an Enter?
Ctrl + R Copies everything (formats & formulas) to the right side while Ctrl + D
copies the same down. It is best used when the range is first selected. In case
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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

you do not want the formats you may use Ctrl + Enter, after selecting the range
(you may have to press F2 to activate the cell which you want copied). Ctrl +
Enter works in all directions! Ctrl + L/U do not do what they should!
Alt, E, I, U/L Where U copies data upwards while L does the same downwards.
Alt, E, I, S
Activates the Series box. It can be used to create a running series of numbers
E.g. 1,2,3.. or 1,3,5 It may also be used to do a quick trend forecast
(regression) or to create a series of dates with specific intervals. If you have
created a custom list you may use the series feature to complete it. For e.g.
Instead of typing out the format of the Income Statement you could simply do it
once and store it in custom list (Alt, F, I followed by Alt, O now you may add
or import a list). Now simply type Income Statement, select it along with an
approximate range of cells to fill up the line items and hit Alt, E, I, S followed
by Alt, F (for Autofill) and you have the format ready!
Ctrl + G
Activates the Go to Special box. Takes you to all/specific formulas (variables),
followed by
hard coded values (constants), comments, visible cells (used to format filters),
Alt + S
conditional formats, validations & more!
Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift + ~ (~ is called tilde) applies general format, 1 = number with two
~6
decimals, 2 = Time, 3 = Date, 4 = Currency, 5 = Percentage with no decimals, 6
= displays the number in millions
'A' Deletes everything, while 'F' deletes formats (number formats, colors,
Alt, E, A, A/F borders etc.)
Alt, I, P, C
Toggles between displaying and hiding the Clip art box
Alt, E, B
Activates the office clipboard. Who cares! But now you wont have to reach
for the mouse to close the clipboard! Keyboard Fanatics are you listening?
Alt, O, D
Activates the Conditional formatting Rules Manager
Alt, O, S
Activates the Style box. Displays the style applied to a cell segregated into
Number, alignment, font, border, fill & protection.

Filtering, Sorting, Lists, Tables & Pivot table related

Alt, D, F, F or Ctrl
+ Shift + L
Ctrl + L or
Ctrl + T or
Alt, D, I, C

Alt, D, I, T
Alt, A, A
Alt, A, D
Alt, D, S

Creates Filters when used anywhere within a cohesive range of cells. Alt +
Down/up arrow can be used to activate drop downs.
Creates a Table. Tables are used to make quick calculations (Total,
Average, Count etc.) When adding rows/columns within a table,
formatting is automated and so is filling down of formulas.
Did you know that when in an active table, scrolling down (beyond one
screen size), automatically applies a freeze pane at the Column itself? I.e.
Column A, B, C will be replaced by the table headers!
Adds a Total row to a Table(List). Customizable to select Sum,
Average, count etc.
Sorts A to Z when applied to text and low to high for numbers
Sorts Z to A when applied to text and high to low for numbers
Activates the Sort box. Did you know one could sort horizontally as
well? It is especially useful when you want to reverse the sequence of
columns within a table!
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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

Activates the Subtotal box. Combined with the above accelerator you can
create subtotals in under 10secs!
Activates the Text to Column Wizard. Makes copying numbers from
PDFs a far more pleasant task!
Activates data form. Makes data entry more organized and can also be
used to perform an unbelievable feat!
Activates the Advanced Filter box. Use this to filter out unique values or
apply multiple filters per criteria simultaneously!
Creates automatic outlines (that is, groups data when subtotals exist!)

Alt, D, B
Alt, D, E
Alt, D, O
Alt, D, F, A
Alt, D, G, A or Ctrl
+8
Shift + Alt + Right
Arrow/Left Arrow
Alt, D, P

Right arrow to group, left to ungroup. Used to create manual outlines.

Activates the Pivot table box. Did you know you could enable the drag
and drop interface (like in Excel 2003) by Going to Pivot Table Options
>> Display >> Classic Pivot Table Layout
Activates the AutoFormat box. Provides different templatized
formatting options for regular tables (17 options with an option to focus
on one styling parameter) and Pivot tables (22 options).
Now you can apply standard formats under 5 secs!

Alt, O, A

Manipulating Comments
Right Click + M or
Shift + F2 or Alt, I, M
Ctrl + Shift + O
Alt, V, C
Right click, O

Inserts a comment. Right Click + M may also be used to delete a

comment!
Selects all comments (you could also use the Go to Special box for
this)
Toggle between hiding/showing all comments. Can be used to quickly
review all comments before a presentation!
In edit mode, after hitting Esc once, Right click, O will enable you to
format it (change colors, gradients, shapes, add pictures & more)

Naming ranges
Right Click, R or
Ctrl + F3
Alt, I, N, D or
Ctrl + F3
Alt, I, N, P or F3
Alt, I, N, C or
Ctrl + Shift + F3
Alt, I, N, A

Creates a Named reference. Use this as a more intuitive alternative to a

formula or cell number
Activates the Name manager. Use this to create, edit, delete & filter names
Activates the Paste Name box. Use this to paste a list of all names as a
reference (which is static!)
Activates the Create Names from Selection box. Use this to simultaneously
create names for rows, columns and the entire table!
Activates the Apply Names box

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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

Chart Related
Alt + F1
Alt, I, H
F11
Ctrl + 6

Creates a default (as saved earlier) chart (on the same sheet in Excel 2007/10)
Activates the Insert Chart box. Enables you to choose chart type before creating one
Creates a chart on a new sheet (occupying the entire sheet)
Hide/Unhide a chart or object

Inserting Objects
Alt, I, O

Insert objects like equations, PDF files, other MS Office documents etc. For
those getting Nostalgic there is an option of 2003 like charts/graphs too!
Insert Hyperlink

Ctrl + K or
Alt, I, I
Alt, E, H
Alt, I, P, F
Alt, I, S

Pastes as a hyperlink (The source needs to be copied first)

Insert Picture from an external source
Inset a symbol

Protecting
Alt, T, P, W
Alt, T, P, P
Alt, T, P, A
Alt, T, P, S

Activates the Protect Structure and Windows box

Activates the Protect Sheet box
Activates the Allow users to edit ranges box
Activates the Protect Shared Workbook box

Error Proofing and Auditing

Alt, T, A
Alt, T, S or
F7
Alt, T, K
Alt, T, U, T
Alt, T, U, D

Activates the Auto correct box. Best used for efficient use of shorthand!
Used as scenarios earlier. However, in 2007/10 it performs a spell check

Activates the Error Checking box

Traces Precedents. Shows arrows to show direction and dots to show references
Traces Dependents. Best used to check whether a particular cell is used as an input
elsewhere before deleting it. This will help you avoid the dreaded #Ref! error
Alt, T, U, E Points to all errors causing cells
Alt, T, U, A The only way of removing arrows created by the above three!
Ctrl + [
Traces direct precedents and dependents.
& Ctrl + ]
Use Ctrl + G followed by Enter to return to original position
Alt, T, U, F Activates the formula Evaluate feature. Best used to break down a complex
formula into its components to make error detection easier. You may step in to get
still more detail
Alt, T, U,
Activates the Watch Window box. Add a range you want to track and it stays
W
with you while navigating across sheets & workbooks!
Alt, T, U,
Shows all cells in formula mode. The ` sign is called Acute Accent!
M or Ctrl +
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Compiled By Rahmat Ullah, FCA (Future Chartered Accountant), KPMG-RRH

`

Others
Alt, D, L
Alt, T, G
Alt, T, E
Alt, D, T
Alt, D, N
Alt, E, I, A
Alt, D, D, W

Activates the Data Validation Box. Prevention is better than cure, they say!
Activates the Goal Seek box. An iterative process to problem solving
Activates the Scenario Manager. Use multiple inputs to create multiple
scenarios
Activates the Data Table box. At best, can accept just two variables
Activates the Consolidate box. Use this to merge results from several
worksheets/workbooks
Activates the Fill across worksheets box (only when multiple sheets are
selected!)
Activates the New Web query box. Use this to download data dynamically
from the internet. Of course, you will need to do some heavy post processing to
make it usable!

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