Excel Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

Excel Shortcuts Cheat Sheet for Finance

Excel shortcuts are a fundamental component of efficient financial modeling.

Quite simply, it’s well worth the time to learn them.

Here, Wall Street Prep has compiled the most important time-saving Excel shortcuts for both Windows and Mac.

The quick reference Excel shortcuts “cheat sheet” can be accessed by filling out the form below.

Windows shortcuts in blue.

Mac shortcuts in red.

Ribbon
Show ribbon accelerator keys	alt
Show/hide ribbon	ctrl+f1	⌘+opt+r

Clear
Clear cell data	delete	delete
Clear cell formats	althef
Clear cell comments	althem
Clear all (data, formats, comments)	althea

Selecting data in a worksheet
Select a cell range	shift+arrows	shift+arrows
Highlight a contiguous range	ctrl+shift+arrows	⌘+shift+arrows
Extend selection up one screen	shift+pgup	fn+shift+up
Extend selection down one screen	shift+pgdn	fn+shift+down
Extend selection left one screen	alt+shift+pgup	fn+shift+⌘+up
Extend selection right one screen	alt+shift+pgdn	fn+shift+⌘+down
Select all	ctrl+a	⌘+a

Data editing
Fill down from cell above	ctrl+d	ctrl+d
Fill right from cell left	ctrl+r	ctrl+r
Find and replace	ctrl+f	ctrl+f
Show all constants	f5altso
Highlight cells with comments	f5altsc

Data editing when inside cell
Edit the active cell (edit mode)	f2	f2
While editing cell, allow use of arrow keys to create reference	f2	f2
Confirm change and get out of cell	enter	enter
Cancel a cell entry and get out of cell	esc	esc
Insert line break within cell	alt+enter	option+enter
Highlight within a cell	shift+left/right	shift+left/right
Highlight contiguous items	ctrl+shift+left/right	ctrl+shift+left/right
Jump to beginning of cell contents	home
Jump to end of cell contents	end
Delete character to left	backspace	delete
Delete character to right	delete	fn delete
Accept autocomplete suggestion	tab	tab
Referencing a cell from another worksheet	ctrl+pgup/pgdn arrows	ctrl+fn+down/up arrows

Calculations
Start a formula	=	=
Insert autosum formula	alt+=	⌘+shift+t
Recalculate all worksheets	f9	f9
Anchor cells (A$1$), toggle anchors (edit mode)	f4	f4
Insert a function	shift+f3	shift+f3
Enter array formula (edit mode)	shift+ctrl+enter	shift+ctrl+enter

Auditing formulas
Inspect cell values (edit mode)	f9	f9
Switch to formula view	ctrl+~	ctrl+~
Select direct precedents	ctrl+[	ctrl+[
Select direct dependents	ctrl+]	ctrl+]
Trace immediate precedents	altmp
Trace immediate depedents	altmd
Remove tracing arrows	altmaa
Go to last cell	f5 enter	f5 enter

Moving inside Excel forms (format dialog, page setup, etc)
Move forward from control to control	tab	tab
Moving from tab to tab	ctrl+tab	ctrl+tab
Move backward from control to control	ctrl+shift+tab	shift+tab
Move within a list	arrows	arrows
Activate control	altunderlined letter
Toggle checkboxes	spacebar	spacebar
Close a dialog	esc	esc
Apply change	enter	enter

Excel Utilities
Recalculate all worksheets	f9	f9
Excel Options Dialog	altto	⌘ +,
Accessing data validation	altavv
Get inside a drop-down list	alt+up/down	option+up/down
Insert data table (must highlight cell first)	altawt
Sort a data range	altass	shift+⌘+r
Autofilter selection	altat
Insert a pivot table	altnv
Insert a chart	altnr
Record a macro	altlr
Name a cell or cell range	ctrl+f3	ctrl+l
Zoom	altwq	crtl+mouse scroll

Navigating across worksheets and panes
Jump to next worksheet	ctrl+pgdn	fn+ctrl+down
Jump to previous worksheet	ctrl+pgup	fn+ctrl+up
Change worksheet name	althor
Rearrange tab order	althom
Freeze pane	altwff
Split screen	altws
Toggle from tab, ribbon, task pane, status bar	f6
Close Excel Help (and other task panes)	ctrl+spacebarc