Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Shortcut Keys' topic. Click the article''s title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

   A Shortcut for Switching Focus
While not technically an Excel-only tip, the shortcuts described in this tip will help you switch focus from your workbook to the Windows desktop. These shortcuts will make working in the Windows environment easier.

   Canceling a Command
Need to cancel a command you've already started? It is as easy as pressing a single keystroke.

   Changing Font Size Using a Shortcut Key
Want to adjust the font size used in a cell or range of cells? It's easy to do by using the shortcut described in this tip.

   Closing All Open Workbooks
Excel provides a handy (but little-known) shortcut for closing all the workbooks you have open. This tip explains how easy it is to use this shortcut.

   Defining Shortcut Keys for Symbols
Do you need to use symbols frequently in your Excel data? The common way to insert them is by using the Symbol dialog box. Here are some other, quicker ways to use the symbols you need.

   Going to the Corners of a Selected Range
When you select a range of cells (particularly if it is a large range of cells), you may not be quite sure if you've selected everything you needed to. One way to check is to move around the corners of the selected range, using the shortcut key described in this tip.

   Keyboard Shortcut for Comments
Adding comments to the cells in your worksheets can help to document different aspects of that worksheet. Adding a comment is easy enough, but you may want to make it even easier by using one of the shortcuts provided in this tip.

   One Shortcut for Two Macros
Excel allows you to assign shortcut keys to macros. Given two different workbooks each containing different macros, it is possible that a macro from each workbook could use the same shortcut. Here's how that apparent conflict plays out in Excel.

   Quickly Inserting a New Worksheet
Want a quick way to insert a worksheet? There's nothing faster than using the handy shortcut.

   Shortcut for Selecting a Data Range
Want to select all the data in a contiguous section of a worksheet? The shortcut discussed in this tip makes it very easy.

   Shortcut for Viewing Formulas
If you need to switch between viewing formulas and viewing the results of those formulas, you'll love the keyboard shortcut introduced in this tip. It's much easier to use than the normal menu method of toggling the display.

   Shortcut to Merge Cells
Need to merge a bunch of cells together on a regular basis? You'll love the two macros in this tip which can make short work of merging.