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25 Excel Navigation and Selection Shortcuts You May Not Know

April 6, 2021 thefreelancerslife 1979 Views Excel for business, Excel shortcuts, how to use Excel

One of the best ways to speed things up when working in Excel is to learn helpful keyboard shortcuts for navigating within the program and selecting data. There are hundreds of keyboard shortcut combinations you can use in Excel. In this article, I’ll share 25 of my most frequently used navigation and selection shortcuts.

I’ve also included a table that summarizes all the shortcuts in this article for Windows and Mac computers.

Moving Around in a Worksheet

Move to the First Cell in Worksheet

This keyboard combination will take you to the first cell in a worksheet. If any rows or columns in the worksheet are frozen, you will be placed in the first cell below and to the right of the frozen panes; otherwise, you will be taken to cell A1.

Move to the Last Cell in Worksheet

This keyboard combination will take you to the last cell in a worksheet that contains data or formatting. If you had data or formatting in a cell and removed it, Excel will still remember that as the last cell, even if it looks like it’s empty.

How to Reset the Last Cell in Worksheet

If you’d like to reset the worksheet so that Excel recognizes the actual last cell in the worksheet, follow these steps:

Delete empty rows and columns.
Save the workbook.
Reopen the workbook.

The last cell in the worksheet should be reset to the last one that has data or formatting.

Move Up or Down One Screen

Figure 1 – Move one screen up or one screen down, respectively.

Use this keyboard combination to get to the next screenful of data (up or down) within your worksheet.

Move Right or Left One Screen

Figure 2 – Move one screen right or one screen left, respectively.

Use this keyboard combination to get to the next screenful of data (right or left) within your worksheet.

Move Through and Between Data Regions

When you have data in an Excel worksheet, each contiguous set of cells that contains data is called a data region. With these keyboard shortcuts, you can quickly move around within and between data regions.

Move to the Top of a Region

Move to the top cell in the current data region. If you are already at the top of the region, you will move to the next region’s bottom cell or the worksheet’s top cell if there are no other regions.

Move to the Bottom of a Region

Move to the bottom cell in the current region. If you are already at the bottom of the region, you will move to the top cell of the next region down or to the worksheet’s bottom cell if there are no other regions.

Move to the Right in a Region

Move to the right-most cell in the current region. If you are already at the right-most cell of the region, you will move to the left-most cell of the next region to the right or the right-most cell of the worksheet if there are no other regions.

Move to the Left in a Region

Move to the left-most cell in the current region. If you are already at the region’s left-most cell, you will move to the right-most cell of the next region to the left or the left-most cell of the worksheet if there are no other regions.

Move to the Beginning of a Row

With this shortcut, you can move to the beginning of the current row (column A of the selected row).

Turn on End Mode

With this shortcut, you turn on End Mode. When End Mode is turned on, you can use your arrow keys to move to the end of the data in the direction of the arrow key. You’ll need to press the end key each time you want to use End Mode. Using End Mode is similar to other keyboard shortcuts, like using the Ctrl key with the arrow keys, but when you use End Mode, you can press the End key and then press the desired arrow key, instead of having to hold two keys (the Ctrl key plus an arrow key) at the same time.

Selecting Cells

Select an Entire Row

With this keyboard shortcut, you can select all the cells within an entire row or within a row of a table, no matter what cell is selected in the row.

Select an Entire Column

With this keyboard shortcut, you can select all the cells within an entire column or within a column of a table, no matter what cell is selected in the column.

Select a Region or Worksheet

With this keyboard combination you can select part or all of your worksheet. Where the active cell is located, what data is around the active cell, and how many times you press the keyboard combination will determine what is selected.

See the table below for the details.

Cycle Through Corners

When you have a group of cells selected, this keyboard combination (Control key plus a period) can be used to cycle the active cell to the corners of that selection. You can also use this keyboard shortcut if you are within a table; the shortcut will then cycle you through the corners of the table.

Select the Active Cell of a Selection

If you have one or more groups of cells selected, use this keyboard shortcut to deselect everything but the active cell. The active cell is the one cell in your selection that has a white background and its cell reference is listed in the Excel Name Box.

Extending a Selection

Extend Selection by One Cell

If you want to extend the cells you have selected in a worksheet, you can use these keyboard shortcuts to add the cell above, below, to the left, or to the right of the current selection.

Extend Selection to Remaining Cells in Region

If you want to extend the cells you have selected in a worksheet to the remainder of the cells in one direction (within the row or column) within a region of data, use these shortcuts.

Shortcuts Summary

Below, is a table that summarizes all of the shortcuts in this article.

Figure 5 – Summary of keyboard shortcuts.

Conclusion

There are quite a few other shortcuts within Excel, but these are some of my favorites. Hopefully, you learned some new tricks for working with Excel.

Do you have any favorite shortcuts in Excel? Share them below.

For more Excel help check out the following articles:

5 Excel Shortcuts to Drastically Speed Up Data Entry

3 Ways Excel Can Help You Track Your Freelance Income and Expenses

Top Excel Features Every Freelancer Needs To Know

Brenda Keller is a software coach who helps people feel comfortable with and learn how to use software. She has been an Excel user since it was first introduced in 1985 and has taught the program in various settings. Her new Microsoft Excel: Quick Start course was designed to help those new to Excel or those wanting a refresher to get a handle on Excel’s key features quickly. Check out her course on Udemy here or view her YouTube channel here to get more help with Excel. To learn more about Brenda Keller, check out her official website here.