Short Keys

 

1. Select Entire Column (Ctrl + Space)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Click on any cell within the column you want to select.
  2. Press Ctrl + Space → The entire column will be highlighted.

📌 Example:

  • Suppose you have data in Column B, and you want to select it entirely.
  • Click on any cell in Column B and press Ctrl + Space.
  • Now, the whole column is selected.

💡 Use Case: Quickly apply formatting or delete an entire column.

2. Select Entire Row (Shift + Space)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Click on any cell within the row you want to select.
  2. Press Shift + Space → The entire row will be highlighted.

📌 Example:

  • You have employee records in Row 5.
  • Click on any cell in Row 5 and press Shift + Space to select the row.

💡 Use Case: Useful when applying styles or inserting/deleting rows.

3. Delete Row or Column (Ctrl + -)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select a row using Shift + Space or a column using Ctrl + Space.
  2. Press Ctrl + - (minus key).
  3. Choose "Entire Row" or "Entire Column" and click OK.

📌 Example:

  • Select Row 6 and press Ctrl + -, then confirm deletion.

💡 Use Case: Quickly remove unwanted rows or columns without using the mouse.

4. Show Formulas in Cells (Ctrl + ` )

🔹 Steps:

  1. Press Ctrl + ` (tilde key, below Esc on the keyboard).
  2. Excel will now display formulas instead of calculated values.

📌 Example:

  • If Cell A1 = 10, Cell B1 = 20, and Cell C1 = A1 + B1, normally, C1 will show 30.
  • Press **Ctrl + **, and it will now display =A1+B1` instead of 30.

💡 Use Case: Helpful in debugging formulas in spreadsheets.

5. Hide Entire Row (Ctrl + 9)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select a row using Shift + Space.
  2. Press Ctrl + 9 → The row will be hidden.

📌 Example:

  • Select Row 7 and press Ctrl + 9 → The row disappears.

💡 Use Case: Hiding rows temporarily without deleting data.

6. Unhide Entire Row(s) (Ctrl + Shift + 9)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select the rows above and below the hidden row.
  2. Press Ctrl + Shift + 9 → The row will reappear.

📌 Example:

  • If Row 7 is hidden, select Rows 6 and 8, then press Ctrl + Shift + 9.

💡 Use Case: Quickly unhide data without using the ribbon menu.

7. Hide Entire Column (Ctrl + 0)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select a column using Ctrl + Space.
  2. Press Ctrl + 0 → The column will be hidden.

📌 Example:

  • Select Column C and press Ctrl + 0 → The column disappears.

💡 Use Case: Useful when working with large datasets and need to hide unnecessary columns.

8. Unhide Entire Column(s) (Alt + H + O + U + L)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select the columns adjacent to the hidden column.
  2. Press Alt → H → O → U → L → The column will reappear.

📌 Example:

  • If Column C is hidden, select Columns B and D, then use the shortcut.

💡 Use Case: Unhiding important columns without using right-click options.

9. Delete Entire Sheet (Alt + E + L)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select the sheet tab at the bottom.
  2. Press Alt → E → L.
  3. Click OK to confirm deletion.

📌 Example:

  • If "Sheet3" is not needed, select it and use the shortcut to remove it.

💡 Use Case: Helpful when cleaning up a workbook with multiple unnecessary sheets.

10. Insert New Sheet (Shift + F11)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Press Shift + F11 → A new sheet will be added before the active sheet.

📌 Example:

  • Pressing Shift + F11 while in "Sheet1" will create "Sheet2" before it.

💡 Use Case: Useful for quickly adding new sheets while working on reports.

11. Convert Text to Number Value (Alt + D + E + F)

🔹 Steps:

  1. Select the range of text-based numbers.
  2. Press Alt → D → E to open the Text-to-Columns wizard.
  3. Click Finish, and the text values will convert into numbers.

📌 Example:

  • Suppose "100" is stored as text.
  • After applying the shortcut, it will align to the right and become a number.

💡 Use Case: Fixing data imported from external sources where numbers are stored as text.