I receive a lot of reports in excel, and the data is not always in the format I want it in. Whenever possible, I don’t like to use the mouse. Here are my favorite shortcuts for moving around a worksheet and getting the data in the format you want.

1. CTRL + arrow

This will move you to the last cell with the same formatting. For instance, if you have a range of values, ctrl + down arrow will take you to the last cell with text in it, if you were to ctrl + down arrow again, it would take you to the next cell with text in it.

2. CTRL + SHIFT + arrow

The same function as above, except this will highlight the cells as you move through the worksheet

3. CTRL + Home

Takes you to cell A1

4. CTRL+ End

Takes you to the last cell in a worksheet

5. CTRL + PageUp/ Page Down

Moves you through the different tabs in a workbook

6. CRTL + Alt + V

Everyone knows CTRL + V, the paste function. CRTL + Alt + V is for Paste Special. If you want to keep data in the same format as your worksheet is in, copy it, then hit CRTL + Alt + V, and select text from the dialogue box. This will keep your formatting.

7. CTRL + space bar

Highlights and entire column

8. SHIFT + space bar

Highlights an entire row

9. CTRL + “-“/ “+”

Deletes or adds a cell, row, or column. If you hit CTRL + space bar and highlight an entire row, you can easily add or delete a row by using
CTRL + “-“ to delete, or “+” to add.

10. ALT + A + E

Text to columns
Often times, I receive CSV (comma separated values), so I have to get the data in the format I want. The texts to columns wizard will help separate any text you have. Highlight a column of data, hit ALT + A + E, then select Delimited (in most cases), then next, then you can separate the data by tabs, semicolons, commas, spaces, or any other character.

Try using these simple excel shortcuts to navigate around your workbook. You should be able to do almost anything in excel without using the mouse. The more you practice these shortcuts, the more time you will save in the long haul.