Excel Keyboard Shortcuts: The Complete List (Windows & Mac)

Every shortcut below shows the Windows and Mac key at once, grouped by what you’re actually doing in the sheet — not by an alphabetical wall of key combinations. If you’d rather build the muscle memory than just read the list, our free Excel shortcut trainer quizzes you on the same shortcuts until they’re automatic.

Most shortcut lists make you choose: a Windows list, or a Mac list, or a giant table where you have to scan sideways to find your platform. Command Lab’s own shortcut data already tracks both, so every row here does too — though a few shortcuts genuinely don’t follow the simple Ctrl-to-Cmd swap; see Excel shortcuts: Windows vs Mac for those exceptions specifically.

Basic operations

Open, save, copy, cut, paste, find and replace — the handful of shortcuts you’ll use in literally every session.

Action	Windows	Mac
Open book	Ctrl + O	Cmd + O
Save the book	Ctrl + S	Cmd + S
Copy	Ctrl + C	Cmd + C
Paste	Ctrl + V	Cmd + V
Undo	Ctrl + Z	Cmd + Z
Cut	Ctrl + X	Cmd + X
Find	Ctrl + F	Ctrl + F
Replace	Ctrl + H	Ctrl + H
Break in the same cell	Alt + Enter	Alt + Enter

Formatting

Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, and borders — the shortcuts that save you the most clicks per hour once they’re automatic.

Action	Windows	Mac
Make text bold (or remove bold formatting)	Ctrl + B	Cmd + B
Make text italic (or delete italic)	Ctrl + I	Cmd + I
Underline (or remove underline) text	Ctrl + U	Cmd + U
Strikethrough (or remove strikethrough)	Ctrl + 5	Ctrl + 5
Apply outline border to selected cells	Ctrl + Shift + &	Cmd + Alt + 0
Remove the outer border from the selected cells	Ctrl + Shift + _	Cmd + Alt + –

Navigation

Jumping across a large sheet by holding an arrow key is one of the slowest habits to unlearn — these shortcuts jump to the edge of your data instead of scrolling one row at a time. See Excel navigation & cell selection shortcuts for the full breakdown of this cluster, including how it pairs with the selection shortcuts below.

Action	Windows	Mac
Move to right cell	Tab	Tab
Move to left cell	Shift + Tab	Shift + Tab
Move to the first row in the current data area	Ctrl + ↑	Cmd + ↑
Move to the leftmost column in the current data area	Ctrl + ←	Cmd + ←
Move to the last row in the current data area	Ctrl + ↓	Cmd + ↓
Move to the rightmost column in the current data area	Ctrl + →	Cmd + →

Cell selection

Pair these with the navigation shortcuts above: hold Shift while you move, and the selection extends with you instead of resetting.

Action	Windows	Mac
Select cell below	Enter	Enter
Select cell above	Shift + Enter	Shift + Enter
Extend selection up one cell	Shift + ↑	Shift + ↑
Extend selection right one cell	Shift + →	Shift + →
Extend selection down one cell	Shift + ↓	Shift + ↓
Extend selection left one cell	Shift + ←	Shift + ←
Extend selection to the first row in the current data area	Ctrl + Shift + ↑	Cmd + Shift + ↑
Extend selection to the leftmost column in the current data area	Ctrl + Shift + ←	Cmd + Shift + ←
Extend selection to the last row in the current data area	Ctrl + Shift + ↓	Cmd + Shift + ↓
Extend selection to the rightmost column in the current data area	Ctrl + Shift + →	Cmd + Shift + →

Row and column operations

Insert, delete, hide, and group rows or columns without ever right-clicking.

Action	Windows	Mac
Hide the selected row	Ctrl + 9	Cmd + 9
Hide the selected column	Ctrl + 0	Cmd + 0
Extend the selection to the entire column	Ctrl + Space	Ctrl + Space
[With columns selected] Add a blank column	Ctrl + Shift + +	Cmd + Shift + ;
[With column selected] Delete column	Ctrl + –	Cmd + –
Extend the selection to the entire row	Shift + Space	Shift + Space
[With row selected] Add a blank row	Ctrl + Shift + +	Cmd + Shift + ;
[With row selected] Delete row	Ctrl + –	Cmd + –
Group rows/columns	Alt + Shift + →	Alt + Shift + →
Ungroup rows/columns	Alt + Shift + ←	Alt + Shift + ←

Techniques

The shortcuts that don’t fit a neat category but come up constantly once you’re editing formulas and data instead of just formatting them.

Action	Windows	Mac
Open the list of validation rule options	Alt + ↓	Alt + ↓
Edit the active cell and move the cursor to the end of its content	F2	F2
Repeat the previous command or operation	Ctrl + Y	Cmd + Y
Insert new sheet	Shift + F11	Shift + F11
Expand or collapse the formula bar	Ctrl + Shift + U	Ctrl + Shift + U
Cancel input in the cell or formula bar	Esc	Esc
Enter the same data as the cell above	Ctrl + D	Cmd + D
Enter the same data as the cell to the left	Ctrl + R	Cmd + R
Switch reference type (relative/absolute)	F4	F4
Check spelling in the selected range	F7	F7
Enter the current time	Ctrl + :	Cmd + ;
Enter the current date	Ctrl + ;	Ctrl + ;
Add a cell comment	Shift + F2	Shift + F2
Create an embedded chart from the current data range	Alt + F1	Alt + F1

Windows and dialog boxes

Jump straight to the dialog box you need instead of hunting through ribbon tabs.

Action	Windows	Mac
Open the Format Cells dialog box	Ctrl + 1	Cmd + 1
Open the Font tab of the Format Cells dialog box	Ctrl + Shift + P	Ctrl + Shift + P
Open the Insert dialog box	Ctrl + Shift + +	Cmd + Shift + ;
Open the Delete dialog box	Ctrl + –	Cmd + –
Open the Paste Special dialog box	Ctrl + Alt + V	Cmd + Alt + V
Open the Insert Hyperlink dialog box	Ctrl + K	Cmd + K

Filters

Action	Windows	Mac
Apply filter	Ctrl + Shift + L	Cmd + Shift + F
Remove filter	Ctrl + Shift + L	Cmd + Shift + F

Number formatting

Action	Windows	Mac
Apply the currency format	Ctrl + Shift + $	Ctrl + Shift + 4
Apply the percentage format	Ctrl + Shift + %	Ctrl + Shift + 5
Apply the date format	Ctrl + Shift + #	Ctrl + Shift + 3

Macros

Action	Windows	Mac
Open the macro list (create, run, edit, or delete)	Alt + F8	Alt + F8
Open the Visual Basic for Applications editor	Alt + F11	Alt + F11

You’ve read the list. Now make it stick.

Reading through 68 shortcuts once won’t make any of them automatic — that only happens with repetition. If you want a system for actually remembering these instead of re-searching this page every time, see how to memorize Excel shortcuts faster. Or just try it right here — this is the same trainer as the full tool, quizzing you on the shortcuts above: