Most Commonly Used Excel Shortcuts for Beginners: Top Excel Shortcuts

excel shortcuts

What makes Microsoft Excel so important?

With over 750 million users, Microsoft Excel is the most widely used tool for presenting and analyzing data. From planning your monthly expenses to crafting NASA’s latest exploration spacecraft’s intricate path, it is useful for all kinds of tasks. 

Many of you may find it tough to get hold of the tool, and following the conventional ways to perform the Excel operations is going to drain a significant amount of your time and energy. Hence, to compute things a little faster and efficiently, there are various Excel shortcuts that you can use to make your work easier. You can also go for a Free excel course to learn better.

What makes this article a must-read for Excel learners?

The article here extensively speaks about:

  1. Top reasons why you should learn Excel shortcuts
  2. The significance of Excel in the life of a Product Manager
  3. Top Excel Shortcuts you must know!
  4. Most Useful Excel Shortcuts
  5. Most Commonly Used Excel Shortcuts
  6. Excel Shortcuts for Editing Cells
  7. Excel Shortcuts for Formatting Cells
  8. Want to learn more productivity tools similar to Excel?

Top reasons why you should learn Excel shortcuts

  • Excel is a universal tool and makes computation easier. 
  • It can handle enormous amounts of data
  • Helps in maintaining accuracy and consistency
  • Increased productivity and reduced work burden

Check out our free course on Excel tips and tricks, this course will increase your productivity while working on MS excel.

The significance of Excel in the life of a Product Manager

Product managers are professionals who are responsible for the functionality, design and go-to-market strategy of a product. For making their tasks easier, they follow a systematic approach called product roadmap. 

A product roadmap is one of the most significant aspects of a product as it depicts the flow of a product right from its conception to delivery with a clear vision at every stage of the product. Also, to prepare the product roadmap, they needed a software/tool that was easy to share, visual, and at the same time- strategic, and they found their solace in Microsoft Excel.

Advanced level Excel provides the user the power to organize, calculate, and evaluate quantitative data, allowing the entire team and senior management related to the product to have the information they need to make important decisions.

Top Excel Shortcuts you must know!

From beginners to professionals, this guide will be handy for every Excel user out there, and here we have the most important shortcuts in Excel listed down for you. 

Most Useful Excel Shortcuts

Copy, Cut, PasteCTRL + C,X,V
Paste SpecialCtrl + Alt + V
Select AllCtrl + A
Repeat Last ActionF4 / CTRL + Y
Automatic Sum FunctionALT + =
Start New Line in the Same CellALT + Enter
Display Formula of the CellCTRL + ‘
Apply Border to CellsCTRL + SHIFT + &

Most Commonly Used Excel Shortcuts

CTRL + NNew Workbook
CTRL + SSave a workbook
CTRL + WClose the Workbook
CTRL + F4Close Excel
CTRL + YPerform the action again
CTRL + ZUndo an action
F7Check Spelling
F9Calculate all the worksheets open in all the workbooks
CTRL + FSearch, Find & Replace
CTRL + TabSwitch between open workbooks

Excel Shortcuts for Editing Cells

F2Edit the cell
Alt + H + D + CDelete Column
EscCancel a cell entry
EnterComplete a cell entry

Excel Shortcuts for Formatting Cells

CTRL B/I/UBolding/ Italicizing/ Underlining Selected Cells
ALT + H + HSelect a color to fill
ALT + H + BApply Border
CTRL + 5Apply/Remove Strikethrough
CTRL + SHIFT + %Apply Percentage Format
CTRL + SHIFT + $Apply Currency Format

While the above listed are just a few of the hundreds of shortcuts Excel has, these can come in handy for most of the regular Excel operations you perform on this tool, or even if you are about to attend an interview that questions your knowledge of Excel shortcuts.

Want to learn more productivity tools similar to Excel?

Your interest to learn the quickest and most efficient way to perform tasks has brought you here, and that is exactly the trait organizations look for in a product manager. And if you are an individual looking forward to a challenging job role, the product manager profile will be the right fit for you.

If you are planning to upskill in the product management domain, check the PG Program in Product Management and Analytics. The program provides extensive knowledge and hands-on experiences on various productivity tools like Google Analytics, Balsamiq, Trello, Excel, Tableau, and SQL.

→ Explore this Curated Program for You ←

Neil Dcruz
Neil is a content wizard who enjoys his passion turned into a profession lifestyle. He loves to talk, listen and travel. During his free time, you could either find him in the gym or with his pet dachshund watching movies, series, and documentaries. Football, cars, and music move his soul. Psychology and paranormal activities excite him. Calm, composed, and energetic are his traits.

Recommended MBA Courses

Online MBA from Great Lakes

Launch your career with a PGDM, an MBA equivalent for working pros. 24 months of live online classes, AICTE approved, with career support.

4.68 ★ (1,804 Ratings)

Course Duration : 24 months

Study MBA in USA at Walsh College

Advance your career with Walsh College's hybrid MBA—no GRE/GMAT required. Benefit from online and in-person learning, a 3-year STEM OPT visa, and a 95% placement rate.

Professional Certificate

Course Duration : 2 Years

Scroll to Top