Useful Excel Shortcuts
At the speed in which business moves today, useful productivity enhancers can make the difference between getting work out the door on time and fighting with endless tight deadlines. Certainly, we’ve all heard about software tools and programs that promise to make us twice as productive as we already are. Oddly enough I’ve never really had one of those programs do anything but waste my time. However, one timesaving tool I’ve never had fail me is learning how to use quick and simple keyboard shortcuts. So, because I’m a big fan of Excel (and wanted to learn a few new keyboard shortcuts) I thought I’d share a few with you.
| Action | Shortcut |
| Insert a new line within a cell | [Alt] [Enter] |
| Enable editing within a cell | [F2] |
| Add a comment to a cell | [Shift] [F2] |
| Open Print Preview | [Ctrl] [F2] |
| Fill selected cells with an entry you typed in one cell | [Ctrl] [Enter] |
| Fill data down or to the right through selected cells | [Ctrl] D or [Ctrl ] R |
| Create a name | [Ctrl [F3] |
| Insert the current date or time | Ctrl] and ; (semicolon) or Ctrl and : (colon) |
| Create a chart from a range of data | [F11] |
| Toggle the display of formulas | [Ctrl] ~ |
Another method I’ve used in the past to help me learn the “ins” and “outs” of a program is to use a quick reference guide. For Microsoft Office programs, I’ve found the ones at Brainstorm.com to be quite good, however, you can find them at many different resellers.