A - Z of Excel Shortcuts (Except E,J,M,Q,T)

It can be a daunting task to remember all the shortcut keys in Excel. Although Office 2007 has brought in a new feature called Access keys which are for the people who have a terrible memory and can't remember the shortcut keys but I still like my old shortcut keys and feel privileged that I have been blessed with a excellent memory ONLY to remember the Office shortcut keys! When it comes to remembering where I have kept my keys unfortunately I don't have a shortcut key that can help me retrieve them!

I think the trick with remembering the shortcut keys is that you have to keep on using them on a regular basis in order for you not to forget them. In my case, I am a trainer and everyday I have to let people know the shortcut keys for them to be more productive.

I would like to share my invaluable knowledge and experience of the Excel shortcut keys.

My suggestion is that the best way to remember the shortcut keys is to print out the list of most common ones and stick it next to your workstation. Whenever you want to use the feature simply refer to the list until you don't have to look at the list at all! It is similar to driving but of course not exactly the same. Can you imagine every time you have to change the gear you stare at it. Who on earth will be keeping eye on the road? the Driving Instructor!!!

KEY	DESCRIPTION
CTRL+(	Unhides any hidden rows within the selection.
CTRL+)	Unhides any hidden columns within the selection.
CTRL+&	Applies the outline border to the selected cells.
CTRL+_	Removes the outline border from the selected cells.
CTRL+~	Applies the General number format.
CTRL+$	Applies the Currency format with two decimal places (negative numbers in parentheses).
CTRL+%	Applies the Percentage format with no decimal places.
CTRL+^	Applies the Exponential number format with two decimal places.
CTRL+#	Applies the Date format with the day, month, and year.
CTRL+@	Applies the Time format with the hour and minute, and AM or PM.
CTRL+!	Applies the Number format with two decimal places, thousands separator, and minus sign (-) for negative values.
CTRL+-	Displays the Delete dialog box to delete the selected cells.
CTRL+*	Selects the current region around the active cell (the data area enclosed by blank rows and blank columns). In a PivotTable, it selects the entire PivotTable report.
CTRL+:	Enters the current time.
CTRL+;	Enters the current date.
CTRL+`	Alternates between displaying cell values and displaying formulas in the worksheet.
CTRL+'	Copies a formula from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the Formula Bar.
CTRL+"	Copies the value from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the Formula Bar.
CTRL++	Displays the Insert dialog box to insert blank cells.
CTRL+1	Displays the Format Cells dialog box.
CTRL+2	Applies or removes bold formatting.
CTRL+3	Applies or removes italic formatting.
CTRL+4	Applies or removes underlining.
CTRL+5	Applies or removes strikethrough.
CTRL+6	Alternates between hiding objects, displaying objects, and displaying placeholders for objects.
CTRL+7	Displays or hides the Standard toolbar.
CTRL+8	Displays or hides the outline symbols.
CTRL+9	Hides the selected rows.
CTRL+0	Hides the selected columns.
CTRL+A	Selects the entire worksheet. If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+A selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+A a second time selects the entire worksheet. When the insertion point is to the right of a function name in a formula, displays the Function Arguments dialog box. CTRL+SHIFT+A inserts the argument names and parentheses when the insertion point is to the right of a function name in a formula.
CTRL+B	Applies or removes bold formatting.
CTRL+C	Copies the selected cells. CTRL+C followed by another CTRL+C displays the Microsoft Office Clipboard.
CTRL+D	Uses the Fill Down command to copy the contents and format of the topmost cell of a selected range into the cells below.
CTRL+F	Displays the Find dialog box. SHIFT+F5 also displays this dialog box, while SHIFT+F4 repeats the lastFind action.
CTRL+G	Displays the Go To dialog box. F5 also displays this dialog box.
CTRL+H	Displays the Find and Replace dialog box.
CTRL+I	Applies or removes italic formatting.
CTRL+K	Displays the Insert Hyperlink dialog box for new hyperlinks or theEdit Hyperlink dialog box for selected existing hyperlinks.
CTRL+L	Displays the Create List dialog box.
CTRL+N	Creates a new, blank file.
CTRL+O	Displays the Open dialog box to open or find a file. CTRL+SHIFT+O selects all cells that contain comments.
CTRL+P	Displays the Print dialog box.
CTRL+R	Uses the Fill Right command to copy the contents and format of the leftmost cell of a selected range into the cells to the right.
CTRL+S	Saves the active file with its current file name, location, and file format.
CTRL+U	Applies or removes underlining.
CTRL+V	Inserts the contents of the Clipboard at the insertion point and replaces any selection. Available only after you cut or copied an object, text, or cell contents.
CTRL+W	Closes the selected workbook window.
CTRL+X	Cuts the selected cells.
CTRL+Y	Repeats the last command or action, if possible.
CTRL+Z	Uses the Undo command to reverse the last command or to delete the last entry you typed. CTRL+SHIFT+Z uses the Undo or Redo command to reverse or restore the last automatic correction when AutoCorrect Smart Tags are displayed.

What is the Function of the Function keys?

Answer:

KEY	DESCRIPTION
F1	Displays the Help task pane. CTRL+F1 closes and reopens the current task pane. ALT+F1 creates a chart of the data in the current range. ALT+SHIFT+F1 inserts a new worksheet.
F2	Edits the active cell and positions the insertion point at the end of the cell contents. It also moves the insertion point into the Formula Bar when editing in a cell is turned off. SHIFT+F2 edits a cell comment.
F3	Pastes a defined name into a formula. SHIFT+F3 displays the Insert Function dialog box.
F4	Repeats the last command or action, if possible. CTRL+F4 closes the selected workbook window.
F5	Displays the Go To dialog box. CTRL+F5 restores the window size of the selected workbook window.
F6	Switches to the next pane in a worksheet that has been split (Windowmenu, Split command). SHIFT+F6 switches to the previous pane in a worksheet that has been split. CTRL+F6 switches to the next workbook window when more than one workbook window is open. NOTE When the task pane is visible, F6 and SHIFT+F6 include that pane when switching between panes.
F7	Displays the Spelling dialog box to check spelling in the active worksheet or selected range. CTRL+F7 performs the Move command on the workbook window when it is not maximized. Use the arrow keys to move the window, and when finished press ESC.
F8	Turns extend mode on or off. In extend mode, EXT appears in the status line, and the arrow keys extend the selection. SHIFT+F8 enables you to add a non-adjacent cell or range to a selection of cells by using the arrow keys. CTRL+F8 performs the Size command (on the Control menu for the workbook window) when a workbook is not maximized. ALT+F8 displays the Macro dialog box to run, edit, or delete a macro.
F9	Calculates all worksheets in all open workbooks. F9 followed by ENTER (or followed by CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER for array formulas) calculates the selected a portion of a formula and replaces the selected portion with the calculated value. SHIFT+F9 calculates the active worksheet. CTRL+ALT+F9 calculates all worksheets in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last calculation. CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+F9 rechecks dependent formulas, and then calculates all cells in all open workbooks, including cells not marked as needing to be calculated. CTRL+F9 minimizes a workbook window to an icon.
F10	Selects the menu bar or closes an open menu and submenu at the same time. SHIFT+F10 displays the shortcut menu for a selected item. ALT+SHIFT+F10 displays the menu or message for a smart tag. If more than one smart tag is present, it switches to the next smart tag and displays its menu or message. CTRL+F10 maximizes or restores the selected workbook window.
F11	Creates a chart of the data in the current range. SHIFT+F11 inserts a new worksheet. ALT+F11 opens the Visual Basic Editor, in which you can create a macro by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). ALT+SHIFT+F11 opens the Microsoft Script Editor, where you can add text, edit HTML tags, and modify any script code.
F12	Displays the Save As dialog box.

Other Useful Shorcut keys:

KEY	DESCRIPTION
ARROW KEYS	Move one cell up, down, left, or right in a worksheet. CTRL+ARROW KEY moves to the edge of the current data region in a worksheet. SHIFT+ARROW KEY extends the selection of cells by one cell. CTRL+SHIFT+ARROW KEY extends the selection of cells to the last nonblank cell in the same column or row as the active cell. LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW selects the menu to the left or right when a menu is visible. When a submenu is open, these arrow keys switch between the main menu and the submenu. DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW selects the next or previous command when a menu or submenu is open. In a dialog box, arrow keys move between options in an open drop-down list, or between options in a group of options. ALT+DOWN ARROW opens a selected drop-down list.
BACKSPACE	Deletes one character to the left in the Formula Bar. Also clears the content of the active cell.
DELETE	Removes the cell contents (data and formulas) from selected cells without affecting cell formats or comments. In cell editing mode, it deletes the character to the right of the insertion point.
END	Moves to the cell in the lower-right corner of the window when SCROLL LOCK is turned on. Also selects the last command on the menu when a menu or submenu is visible. CTRL+END moves to the last cell on a worksheet, in the lowest used row of the rightmost used column. CTRL+SHIFT+END extends the selection of cells to the last used cell on the worksheet (lower-right corner).
ENTER	Completes a cell entry from the cell or the Formula Bar, and selects the cell below (by default). In a data form, it moves to the first field in the next record. Opens a selected menu (press F10 to activate the menu bar) or performs the action for a selected command. In a dialog box, it performs the action for the default command button in the dialog box (the button with the bold outline, often theOK button). ALT+ENTER starts a new line in the same cell. CTRL+ENTER fills the selected cell range with the current entry. SHIFT+ENTER completes a cell entry and selects the cell above.
ESC	Cancels an entry in the cell or Formula Bar. It also closes an open menu or submenu, dialog box, or message window.
HOME	Moves to the beginning of a row in a worksheet. Moves to the cell in the upper-left corner of the window when SCROLL LOCK is turned on. Selects the first command on the menu when a menu or submenu is visible. CTRL+HOME moves to the beginning of a worksheet. CTRL+SHIFT+HOME extends the selection of cells to the beginning of the worksheet.
PAGE DOWN	Moves one screen down in a worksheet. ALT+PAGE DOWN moves one screen to the right in a worksheet. CTRL+PAGE DOWN moves to the next sheet in a workbook. CTRL+SHIFT+PAGE DOWN selects the current and next sheet in a workbook.
PAGE UP	Moves one screen up in a worksheet. ALT+PAGE UP moves one screen to the left in a worksheet. CTRL+PAGE UP moves to the previous sheet in a workbook. CTRL+SHIFT+PAGE UP selects the current and previous sheet in a workbook.
SPACEBAR	In a dialog box, performs the action for the selected button, or selects or clears a check box. CTRL+SPACEBAR selects an entire column in a worksheet. SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects an entire row in a worksheet. CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects the entire worksheet. · If the worksheet contains data, CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects the current region. Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR a second time selects the entire worksheet. · When an object is selected, CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR selects all objects on a worksheet. ALT+SPACEBAR displays the Control menu for the Excel window.
TAB	Moves one cell to the right in a worksheet. Moves between unlocked cells in a protected worksheet. Moves to the next option or option group in a dialog box. SHIFT+TAB moves to the previous cell in a worksheet or the previous option in a dialog box. CTRL+TAB switches to the next tab in dialog box. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB switches to the previous tab in a dialog box.

I hope you found these shortcut keys useful. I would request you to go to Mouse Training Website and download all your Office 2003 and 2007 manuals with some quick reference cards FREE OF CHARGE! Office 2010 manuals will be uploaded in the near future! I know Free doesn't always sound right! It sometimes sounds too good to be true! Don't worry we are there to make money like any other business but by providing FREE Manuals we are doing our bit for the society!

If you want to see the shortcut keys for the other packages please go to the relevant blog e.g. MS Word, PowerPoint and Outlook!

Any constructive criticism will be appreciated!

Slicing Pivot Table without a knife

We all, who have been using Pivot tables, know that we can easily use the filter arrows to easily narrow the no. of records and type or records that we wish to see.

But wouldn't it be better if we didn't have to tick and untick every time we had to expand or narrow our selections. Slicers are the perfect answer to this type of situation. Slicers are floating

Please refer to the following figure where we have created a Pivot table for some staff of a fictitious company called ABC travels Ltd.

Lets see how Slicer can help in easily analyzing our data.

Step 1: Choose Insert and click on the Slicer button

Step 2: Choose the fields you would like for the slicing by putting a tick mark in front of them and then press OK button.

Once the Floating Slicers are on the screen you can easily choose the Dept or Region in our example to quickly slice the data you are looking for. If however, you are seeking multiple Depts or Regions then you can easily keep the CTRL button pressed and then click on the relevant selection on the slicers.

I would like to leave you with the last thought. From the two figures below which is easier and simpler to understand. Figure 1 with filters or the Figure 2 with the Slicers:

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

The beauty of Slicers is that like many other features of 2007 and 2010 you can instantly see the changes you make.

Hope this was helpful for you and that you will vist this website for other new features and tipand tricks!

Don't forget to download your free manuals for all the Microsoft office packages and many more applications from MTC website. Office 2010 manuals are on their way really soon!

Excel 2010 - Introduction of Sparklines

Have you ever tried to analyze data in rows or columns? The answer is Yes Of course!! But How long will it take you to see how well or unwell have you performed if you had twenty columns of data?


Those who are familiar with Conditional Formatting feature of Excel would appreciate the enhancement made in Excel 2007 comparatively to Excel 2003. Conditional formatting is very effective when you are looking at one instance of the data. But what if you are trying to see a Even better feature called Sparklines are introduced in Excel 2010


Sparklines are a great new addition in Excel 2010. These are effectively charts that can fit in a cell that allows you to easily analyze your data.


Following are some samples of Sparklines:

As you see from above figures how easily you can analyze data Monthly, Quarterly or Annually.

You can even highlight the High points or low points in different colours.


There are mainly three types of Sparklines: Line, Column and Win/Loss



To create spraklines please follow these steps:


Step 1: Select all the data you wish to create the sparklines for. In our example mentioned above the selected data would be A1: D5.


Step 2: Choose Insert on the ribbon. Select the sparkline of your choice i.e. Line, Column or Win/Loss




Step 3: In the Create Sparklines dialog box select the location range by selecting the cells where you would like to place the sparklines. In our examples above it will be E1: E5.

Step 4: Press OK

I hope you enjoyed this article and would strongly advice you to got to MTC website to get free downloadable course manuals for any of the office packages and other products. Please click Free Manuals Link to directly go to the free manuals section. Course manuals for Office 2010 will be available in the near future.

Conditional Formatting Entire Row

Conditional Formatting kills two birds with one stone! ( Not that I would like to be an efficient hunter)! First of all it makes your Spreadsheet look pretty and more importantly it provides you visual effect on which you can make instant decisions.

A time comes when you want the entire rows to change the colour based values on certain cells.

In our example above let's say that we want to make all the rows specific colours

1. Select the cells that you want to format.

2. In the menu bar, choose Format > Conditional Formatting...

3. In the Conditional Formatting dialog box, from the first drop-down list, choose Formula Is

4. In the text box, enter a formula that refers to the active cell in the selection. In this example, we selected A3:K27, and cell A3 is the active cell. So, in the formula, we'll refer to cell B3, because it's in the active row.

In this example, the formula is: =$E3<100000

In this example, we use an absolute reference to column E ($E), to ensure that the conditional formatting in all columns refers to the value in column E.

If we simply use a relative reference (E), the formula will be adjusted in each column, and won't work properly. Each cell will refer to the cell to its right, instead of refering to the cell in column E. Therefore we have to fix the Column E but not the Row 3 as we want that to change relatively.

5. Click the Format button. 6. In the Format Cells dialog box, select the formatting options that you want. You can choose Font format, Fill format and a Border format. 7. Click OK to close the Format Cells dialog box. 8. If you want to add more conditions, click the Add button, and repeat steps 3-8, for that condition. 9. Click OK, to close the Conditional Formatting dialog box. The final screen should look similar to the picture below.

I hope you benefited from this topic.

Please go to Mouse Training Website to get FREE Manuals for all the Office 2003 and 2007. Office 2010 is under construction and will be available in the near future.

Restrict data on cells for Invalid Data Using Data Validation!

Have you ever had a situation where you send a file or share a file with someone and they enter data that they weren't supposed to. Or may be enter too much data on a cell?

In Excel you have a feature called Data Validation that will help you in setting up the spreadsheet in such as way that users will not be able to enter any invalid data.

Looking at the following screen you can figure out that we need to restrict data on certain cells depending on the heading:

1. In the Initial field (Column) we want user to enter NO MORE than 1 character


2. In the Surname we want the data to be restricted to 15 characters only


3. DOB field shoudl only contain dates between 01/01/1948 and 31/01/98 only


4. No. of Laptops sold should be a Whole number and decimals should not be alowed

In order to restrict the cells with the above mentioned restrictions we need to highlight (select) the the relevant data.

• So we select A2: A19.


• From the menu bar we select Data > Validation...

• Click on the Drop down arrow for the Allow: and then choose Text Length
• From the Drop down of Data: choose Equal to
• In the length box type in 1 as we need users to ONLY enter one character in this field. Please note that there are many other options such as Greater than or equal to, Less than or Equal to , etc..
• Press OK.

I hope you get the idea how it works.

Following are the options that are available for various validations:

• Whole Number: This is if you wanted user to enter ONLY whole numbers and not Decimals. In our example it will be No. of Laptops field as you can not sell 1.5 laptops. Once you have mentioned whole number you can again set it to be between two values or greater than, less than, Equal to, etc...
• Decimal places: is where you want user to enter certain values meeting your specific criteria
• List: You can have drop down arrow appear in the cells that can show you various entries you would like to appear in the cells. You just have to enter the data separating them by a comma. In our example the Dept. field will have this type of data Validation.
• Date: This is for restricting cells to contain the dates meeting the specific requirements that you enter in the data validation dialog box.

You can also have specific messages appear on the screen if the user don't follow the guidelines that you set in the data validation dialog box.

For further details on this topic as well as other interesting topics please refer to the MOUSE Training link

Thank you for visiting and hope this topic was helpful!

Raj

Showing Millions in M on Cells

Ever wondered how you could have a figure such as 2,265,450 displayed as 2.26 M?

It is very simple to do.

1. Select all the cells that contain the values
2. Choose Format > Cells...
3. Ensure that you have Number tab selected
4. Choose Custom on the left hand side
5. Type the following in the Type: box (You can copy and paste it if you're feeling a bit lazy :)
[>=1000000]0.00,,"M"

And WALLAW! You get what you want! If you do want to see more numbers you can use the Increase and Decrease decimal buttons!

For downloading more tiops and trick and shortcust download FREE Manuals from http://www.mousetraining.co.uk/ms-office-training-manuals.html

Hope you have a nice day and thanks for visiting my blog!!

Conditional Formatting has been revamped in Excel 2007

Hi everyone

Ever wondered how you can get boring numerical data to be vibrant i.e. how can you make data like the one on the left hand to look like the one on the right hand side?

It is very simple and effective way to represent your data as mentioned above.

Please follow these steps:

• Highlight the cells that you wish to apply the conditional Formatting to


• On the Home Tab on the ribbon choose Condional Formatting and you will see various options available

• Chooose any relevant options. Following are some of the options:

• You can change the settings of the Conditional formatting such as the your specific criteria, Icons or bar only, etc... by choosing Conditional Formatting and then Manage Rules... and chosing Edit Rule... button on the Manage Rules Dialog box


• If you wish to clear all teh Conditional Formatting Rules from specific cells then you can choose Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules > Clear rules from Selected cells or you can clear them from the entire sheet


• If you have applied various rules such as Data bar and Icon Sets and wish to delete one of the rules then you need to go to the manage rule dialog box and then select the rule and choose the Delete rule button.

If you found this to be helpful then please download your Free copy of the Excel Advanced Manual from www.mousetraining.co.uk/training-manuals/Excel2007adv.pdf

Cheers

Raj