Excel shortcuts let you quickly maneuver through your window, perform procedures, access user forms or help you preform some excel action with the press of a few keystrokes.
Here is a full list of shortcuts, published by Microsoft. However, if reading through pages of information isn't your thing, here is a shortened list of all the single press shortcuts.
If an Excel shortcut does not already exist for something you do regularly, you can record a macro that does that something and assign a particular code to it.
For example, let's say you have a workbook with multiple worksheets and you always find yourself having to go to a particular sheet (maybe because that is where you keep all your assumptions). You could record a macro that always takes you to the first sheet.
In Excel 2007, you will need to make the "Developer" ribbon available by going into Home > Excel Options > Show Developer Tab in Ribbon. Before you begin recording make sure you are on a different sheet than the one you will want to always switch to. Start the record wizzard:
Give your macro a name ("AssumptionSelect") and enter a shortcut key ("CTRL" + SHIFT + H). [NOTE: be careful not to pick a shortcut that exists because you will overwrite it] Then select whether you want this macro to live ONLY in this workbook or in your instance of excel (so you can always use it, for the specific thing we are recording here you should save it to the workbook only). Click OK to start recording. Select the "Assumption" tab of your workbook and stop recording.Now whenever you want to go to your assumption tab, just enter your shortcut keys and you are there.
Attached is a workbook that has this macro stored into it.
As always leave me your questions/comments/and future blog ideas.
-Danny
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Thanks for the post! This is great if you want to make your own shortcuts, but there are some things I can't seem to figure out how to do, like formatting cycles...
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Simple Shortcuts? It looks like it adds a lot of cool time saving shortcuts, including formatting cycles, which is huge. Their site says they're working on a new version called Smart Shortcuts that is supposed to be even better.
Thoughts / recommendations?
Hey Matt,
ReplyDeleteIts good to know there is actually someone out there reading these (and for the record, I'm assuming about 5% of readers actually post a comment, so there are at least 20 more of you :)).
As for your question/recommendation for formats, I would first ask you to check and see if there is not already some keystrokes that will get you there. Instead of clicking where you want to go, hit the alt button and watch your options light up. Learning key strokes will always work. The most elegant solution is using what's already made available by Microsoft, because when they wrote it they were certainly aware of optimizing performance.
For example, refer to http://freeexcelhelp.blogspot.com/2010/06/custom-formats-doing-math-with-text-and.html and you will notice there are already shortcuts to some of the number formats the tool was built to do.
Also if you would like to establish a few custom preset formats, you can always consider using the Cell Styles feature. This feature allows you to predefine a cell style and apply it to a cell with a few keystrokes as well. ie Yellow filled dollar currency with a bold border.
If you find yourself needing more than a few custom formats, you should step back and ensure you aren't over loading your workbooks with too much visual stimulation. Plus it will also lead to workbook consistency.
Thanks for your question and comment, I will be sure to create a future blog entry on the advantages of using Cell Styles.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
-Danny