90 Best Excel Shortcuts to Boost Your Productivity & Speed in 2025

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Do you want to work faster in Excel? Learning the top 90 Excel shortcuts is an easy way to save time and boost your productivity.

These shortcuts help you move through spreadsheets, format cells, and enter data more quickly. By mastering the best Excel keyboard shortcuts, you can simplify repetitive tasks like copying, pasting, and using formulas.

So check out our list of shortcuts to start working smarter in Excel.

Key Takeaways

  • Helpful Excel shortcuts let you work faster and reduce mouse usage, boosting your productivity.
  • The Excel top shortcut keys simplify tasks like navigating, formatting, and editing, helping you stay focused on your work.
  • Shortcuts like Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V, and Ctrl+Z make repetitive tasks like copying, pasting, and undoing much quicker.
  • Using shortcut Excel formulas, such as Ctrl+` to show formulas or Ctrl+Apostrophe to copy a formula, helps speed up formula-related tasks.
  • Whether you’re using Windows or Mac, learning these Excel tips and shortcuts will make your workflow smoother and less tiring.

What Are Excel Shortcuts & Why They Make Your Life Easier

What Are Excel Shortcuts?
Excel shortcuts are quick key combinations that help you get things done faster in Excel without using your mouse or clicking through menus.
With basic Excel shortcuts, you can handle tasks like editing, formatting, or navigating your spreadsheet much more easily. You can also make repetitive tasks quicker, which helps you stay focused on your work.

Whether you’re working with a small data set or a huge spreadsheet, helpful Excel shortcuts will save you time and effort.

Using Excel shortcuts is one of the easiest ways to speed up your work and get more done, especially when you’re working with huge spreadsheets or doing the same tasks over and over again.

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Whether you’re on Windows or Mac, knowing MS Excel shortcut commands helps you avoid relying too much on your mouse or trackpad.

Work Faster & Smarter
Excel shortcuts let you do everyday tasks like copying, pasting, or formatting much quicker. Instead of wasting time clicking through menus, you can get the job done instantly. This means less time searching for tools and more time focusing on your actual work.
Make Repetitive Tasks Easier
If you’re working on a complex project with lots of data, spreadsheet shortcuts can help you move between sheets or select large amounts of data without any hassle. This saves you time and keeps your workflow smooth, so you don’t get frustrated with constant interruptions.
Stay Focused
Using Excel keyboard shortcut keys allows you to stay focused on what matters — the data. You won’t need to stop and search for commands in the toolbar. This helps you stay in the zone and makes even the most data-heavy tasks easier to manage.
Reduce Physical Strain
Another great benefit of using MS Excel shortcut commands is that it helps reduce the strain on your hands and wrists, since you won’t need to use the mouse as much. This is a real plus if you spend a lot of time working in Excel.
[/su_accordion] In short, Excel shortcuts help you work faster, smarter, and more comfortably, no matter if you’re using Windows or Mac. They allow you to keep your focus on your work rather than getting bogged down by the software.

Top 90 Excel Shortcuts You Must Know in 2025

Excel is full of useful tools, and learning the right shortcuts can help you navigate your spreadsheets more quickly and easily.

Below, we’ve grouped the most popular Excel shortcuts into categories so you can easily find the best ones to suit your needs and speed up your work.

Navigating Worksheets & Workbooks

Here are some of the most common Excel shortcuts for navigating between worksheets and workbooks:

Action Windows Shortcut Mac Shortcut
Close a workbook Ctrl+W Cmd+W
Open a workbook Ctrl+O Cmd+O
Go to the Home tab Alt+H N/A
Go to the Insert tab Alt+N N/A
Go to the Page Layout tab Alt+P N/A
Go to the Data tab Alt+A N/A
Go to the View tab Alt+W N/A
Go to the Formula tab Alt+M N/A
Move to the previous item in a worksheet, dialog box, or interface Shift+Tab Shift+Tab
Move one cell up, down, left, or right Arrow keys Arrow keys
Move to the edge of the current data area Ctrl+Arrow key Cmd+Arrow key
Move to the last used cell on the worksheet Ctrl+End Control+Fn+Right arrow key
Move to the beginning of a worksheet Ctrl+Home Control+Fn+Left arrow key
Move one screen down in a worksheet Page down Fn+Down arrow key
Move one screen to the right in a worksheet Alt+Page down Fn+Option+Down arrow key
Move one screen up in a worksheet Page up Fn+Up arrow key
Move one screen to the left in a worksheet Alt+Page up Fn+Option+Up arrow key
Move to the previous sheet in a workbook Ctrl+Page up Option+Left arrow key
Move to the next sheet in a workbook Ctrl+Page down Option+Right arrow key

Selecting & Editing Data

Here are some of the best Excel keyboard shortcuts that will help you streamline data management:

Action Windows Shortcut Mac Shortcut
Copy selection Ctrl+C Cmd+C
Paste selection Ctrl+V Cmd+V
Undo recent action Ctrl+Z Cmd+Z
Clear cell contents Delete Delete
Cut selection Ctrl+X Cmd+X
Repeat the last command or action Ctrl+Y Cmd+Y
Select the current region if the worksheet has data. Press again to expand the selection Ctrl+A Cmd+A
Delete column Alt+H, D, C N/A
Hide the selected rows Ctrl+9 Cmd+Left parenthesis
Hide the selected columns Ctrl+0 Cmd+Right parenthesis
Select the active tab on the ribbon and activate the access keys Alt or F10 N/A
Switch focus between the worksheet, ribbon, task pane, status bar, and commands in the add-in pane Tab key F6
Move up, down, left, or right on the ribbon Arrow keys N/A
Open the context menu Shift+F10 Shift+F10
Select the current and next sheet in a workbook Ctrl+Shift+Page down N/A
Select the current and previous sheet in a workbook Ctrl+Shift+Page up N/A
Extend the selection of cells by one cell Shift+Arrow key Shift+Arrow key
Extend the selection to the last non-blank cell in the same row or column or to the next non-blank cell Ctrl+Shift+Arrow key Shift+Cmd+Arrow key
Add a non-adjacent cell or range to the selection using arrow keys Shift+F8 Shift+F8
Select an entire column Ctrl+Spacebar Control+Spacebar
Select an entire row Shift+Spacebar Shift+Spacebar
Select all objects on a worksheet when an object is selected Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar N/A
Extend the selection of cells to the beginning of the worksheet Ctrl+Shift+Home Control+Shift+Fn+Left arrow key

Working With Data

This is a list of the most common Excel shortcuts related to working with data:

Action Windows Shortcut Mac Shortcut
Refresh data in the current worksheet Ctrl+F5 N/A
Refresh all data in the workbook Ctrl+Alt+F5 N/A
Show the Quick Analysis options for selected cells Ctrl+Q N/A
Open the Create Table dialog box Ctrl+T Cmd+T
Use Paste Special Ctrl+Alt+V Cmd+Control+V
Open the Insert dialog box to add blank cells Ctrl+Shift+Plus sign Cmd+Shift+Plus sign
Open the Delete dialog box to remove selected cells Ctrl+Minus sign Cmd+Minus sign
Define a name to use in references Alt+M, M, D Control+L
Insert the AutoSum formula Alt+Equals sign Shift+Cmd+T
Open the Insert hyperlink dialog box Ctrl+K Cmd+K
Check spelling in the active worksheet or selected range F7 F7
Use Flash Fill to detect patterns and fill the current column Ctrl+E Control+E
Create an embedded chart from the selected data Alt+F1 N/A
Create a chart in a separate sheet from the selected data F11 F11

Formulas & Functions

Here’s a list of shortcut Excel formulas to save you time and effort:

Action Windows Shortcut Mac Shortcut
Go to the Formula tab Alt+M N/A
Switch between showing cell values or formulas Ctrl+Grave accent (`) Control+Grave accent (`)
Copy a formula from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the formula bar Ctrl+Apostrophe (‘) Control+Apostrophe (‘)
Insert a function Shift+F3 Shift+F3
Add argument names and parentheses when the cursor is next to a function name in a formula Ctrl+Shift+A N/A
Cycle through all combinations of absolute and relative references in a formula F4 F4
Calculate all worksheets in all open workbooks F9 Control+Option+F9
Calculate the active worksheet Shift+F9 Shift+F9
Check dependent formulas and calculate all cells in open workbooks, including those not marked for calculation Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F9 Control+Option+Shift+F9
Expand or collapse the formula bar Ctrl+Shift+U Control+Shift+U
Edit the active cell F2 F2
Cancel an entry in the cell or formula bar Esc Esc
Complete an entry in the formula bar and move to the cell below Enter Enter
Move the cursor to the end of the text when in the formula bar Ctrl+End N/A

Formatting Cells

Here, we have a list of the basic Excel shortcuts for formatting cells:

Action Windows Shortcut Mac Shortcut
Center align cell contents Alt+H, A, C Cmd+E
Choose a fill color Alt+H, H N/A
Italicize text or remove italics Ctrl+I Cmd+I
Bold text or remove bold formatting Ctrl+B Cmd+B
Underline text or remove underline Ctrl+U Cmd+U
Apply or remove strikethrough Ctrl+5 Shift+Cmd+X
Add an outline border to the selected cells Ctrl+Shift+Ampersand sign Cmd+Option+Zero
Remove the outline border from the selected cells Ctrl+Shift+Underscore Cmd+Option+Hyphen
Open the Format Cells dialog box Ctrl+1 Cmd+1
Format fonts in the Format Cells dialog box Ctrl+Shift+F N/A
Apply the General number format Ctrl+Shift+Tilde sign (~) Control+Shift+Tilde (~)
Apply the Currency format with two decimal places (negative numbers in parentheses) Ctrl+Shift+Dollar sign Control+Shift+Dollar sign
Apply the Percentage format with no decimal places Ctrl+Shift+Percent sign Control+Shift+Percent sign
Apply the Scientific number format with two decimal places Ctrl+Shift+Caret sign (^) Control+Shift+Caret (^)
Apply the Date format with the day, month, and year Ctrl+Shift+Number sign (#) Control+Shift+Number sign (#)
Apply the Time format with hour, minute, and AM or PM Ctrl+Shift+At sign (@) Control+Shift+At sign (@)
Apply the Number format with two decimal places, a thousand separator, and a minus sign for negative values Ctrl+Shift+Exclamation point (!) Control+Shift+Exclamation point (!)
Switch between hiding objects, showing objects, and showing placeholders for objects Ctrl+6 Control+6

Excel Shortcuts Cheat Sheet

To create this Excel shortcuts cheat sheet, we’ve focused on the most practical and commonly used actions for daily Excel tasks.

Excel offers many shortcuts, but you will obviously not use all of them daily. Therefore, the list below leaves out more advanced ones. Instead, we are providing an Excel tips and tricks cheat sheet that can help users work faster and more efficiently every day.

We chose the most useful Excel shortcuts based on the following criteria:

  • Core functionality: Tasks like copying, pasting, undoing, saving, moving between sheets, and basic formatting are important for most users.
  • Time-saving shortcuts: Shortcuts that let you avoid using the mouse and help you work faster, such as selecting entire rows or columns, quickly formatting cells, and moving around worksheets.
  • Universal utility: Shortcuts that are useful to many types of Excel users, whether they’re creating reports, handling data, or doing calculations.

The Bottom Line

Learning the top 90 Excel shortcuts is a great way to work faster and get more done in less time. These Excel tips and shortcuts help you skip repetitive steps like copying, pasting, or switching between sheets. Plus, you won’t need to use the mouse as much, so you can stay focused on your work.

Overall, using shortcuts makes Excel simpler and helps you be more productive, no matter your skill level.

FAQs

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Maria Webb
Technology Journalist
Maria Webb
Technology Journalist

Maria is Techopedia's technology journalist with over five years of experience with a deep interest in AI and machine learning. She excels in data-driven journalism, making complex topics both accessible and engaging for her audience. Her work is also prominently featured on Eurostat. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Honors in English and a Master of Science in Strategic Management and Digital Marketing from the University of Malta. Maria's background includes journalism for Newsbook.com.mt, covering a range of topics from local events to international tech trends.