The Top 36 Excel Shortcuts You Need to Know

One of the easiest ways to save yourself time in Excel is with shortcuts. Yes, it may take a little time upfront to learn the shortcuts but once you have them down you’ll save yourself hours in the long run. 

Here are 36 shortcuts you can use when working in an Excel spreadsheet. Keep in mind that most of these shortcuts work regardless of the version of Excel, but these were specifically compiled for the most updated version. (Note: if you use Mac, you’ll need to use the Command key instead of control.)

36 Excel Shortcuts You Need to Know

1. Ctrl + W closes a spreadsheet
2. Ctrl + W opens a spreadsheet
3. Ctrl + S saves a spreadsheet
4. Ctrl + C copies
5. Ctrl + V pastes
6. Ctrl + Z undoes your last action
7. Ctrl + X cuts
8. Ctrl + B bolds text
9. Ctrl + I italicizes text
10. Ctrl + U underlines text
11. Ctrl + 9 hides selected row
12. Ctrl + 0 hides selected columns
13. Ctrl + Alt + V opens Paste Special dialog box
14. Ctrl + right arrow moves your cursor to the right edge of the data range
15. Ctrl + left arrow moves your cursor to the first cell on the left in the data range
16. Ctrl + up arrow moves your cursor to the first cell on the top in the data range
17. Ctrl + down arrow moves your cursor to the bottom edge in the data range
18. Ctrl + Home brings you back to cell A1
19. Ctrl + End brings you to the last cell of your worksheet
20. Ctrl + F activates the Find function
21. Alt + Enter adds a new line inside a cell
22. Ctrl + + enters the current date
23. Ctrl + Shift + enters the current time
24. Ctrl + D copies a value from the cell above
25. Ctrl + R copies a value from the cell to the left
26. Ctrl + Shift + ~ formats the number in the cell as General
27. Ctrl + Shift + $ formats the number in the cell as Currency
28. Ctrl + Shift + % formats the number in the cell as Percentage
29. Ctrl + Shift + ^ formats the number in the cell as Scientific
30. Ctrl + Shift + # formats the number in the cell as Date
31. Ctrl + Shift + @ formats the number in the cell as Time
32. Ctrl + Shift + ! formats the number in the cell as Number
33. ​​​​​​​Alt + H goes to the Home tab
34. Alt + N goes to Insert tab
35. Alt + A goes to Data tab
36. Alt + W goes to View tab

Why Excel Shortcuts Matter

We all wish we had more time in the day, and using Excel shortcuts actually makes that happen. If you use Excel regularly, implementing shortcuts could save you more than 10 minutes a day. Maybe that doesn’t sound like much, but that adds up to more than 40 hours a year! 

Basically, you can add an entire work week to your year simply by using Excel shortcuts. Imagine how much more time you can add by really learning Excel? Learning advanced Excel skills could be the key to boosting your productivity – and maybe you could even use those extra hours for something fun, like taking a vacation! 

If you’re ready to get serious about Excel, consider taking an Excel training course or even getting certified. The only thing you have to lose is time.