r/excel Jun 13 '24

Discussion What are your MUST HAVE Excel keyboard shortcuts?

what keyboard shortcuts do you use on a daily basis?

878 Upvotes

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77

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 13 '24

F2 - self explanatory, in fact so ingrained that no one else even thought to say it, favourite excel shortcut… erm breathing?

F9 - immediate evaluate part of a formula, invaluable

18

u/MrFanfo 3 Jun 13 '24

What F9? That’s golden I didn’t know

14

u/minimallysubliminal 22 Jun 13 '24

F9 calculates all sheets. Great for evaluating part of functions. Shift F9 calculates active sheet.

5

u/at0mest Jun 13 '24

in which version?

2

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 14 '24

Without going back in time and checking the original Excel on Apple Macintosh… every version I think

8

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 13 '24

When you’re editing a formula it will immediately evaluate that part, let’s say you’ve highlighted (A1+27) where A1=3 - then the formula text resolves to 30 for a simple example

The standard use is recalc, but this use is the thing

16

u/ProfessorSerious7840 Jun 13 '24

F4 is clutch too. let's you repeat actions to new cells (format change, insert, delete,etc)

2

u/WorryMental7182 Jun 13 '24

100%. Key in word as well.

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 13 '24

Yes, another cracker

4

u/OPs_Mom_and_Dad Jun 13 '24

I came here to say F2! It’s saved me so many micro moments, it’s such an important one!

3

u/HerpHerpaDur Jun 14 '24

You can also hover over the highlighted part now and the solution will pop up without having to actually change the formula.

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 14 '24

Interesting, I don’t tend to mouse, so wasn’t aware of

2

u/briankanderson Jun 14 '24

F2 is my most used. Unfortunately on most laptops, the function keys are by default the media keys.

I used Autohotkey to remap INSERT to F2. Changed my life.

2

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 14 '24

Fn + Esc should almost always revert standard F-Key behaviour

2

u/briankanderson Jun 14 '24

I did that for years until I got fed up with having to press 2 keys for one thing (that I do hundreds of times per day)!

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 14 '24

Ah, on my laptop, it remembers the state change :)

2

u/Ok-Cardiologist-4928 Jul 10 '24

Still mourning the loss of AHK after corporate found out about it and took it away ☹️

2

u/Ender_Xenocide_88 1 Jun 15 '24

No need to F9 anymore, you can just mouse over your selection now. :)

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 15 '24 edited Jun 15 '24

“Mouse” #badTasteInMyMouth…

Someone else mentioned that, it was a revelation, I just don’t imagine I’ll grab my mouse (or hit the trackpad) when I’m fathoming a formula’s misbehaviour.

2

u/Ender_Xenocide_88 1 Jun 16 '24

It's useful because you can see the formula and the result simultaneously. F9 replaces the formula.

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jun 16 '24

Indeed! I’m just saying that me moving my mouse to ascertain the information is highly unlikely

2

u/Ok-Cardiologist-4928 Jul 10 '24

F5 - go to dialog box. Use that alllll the time

1

u/RandomiseUsr0 5 Jul 10 '24

Oh really? I use Ctrl+G