5 Common Keyboard shortcut alternatives in Excel

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For this week’s quick lesson, we will be providing you with 5 common keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Excel 365. 

SAVE:

  • MENU OPTION #1 (MOUSE) – Go to the “File” tab and choose “Save” or “Save As” from the options along the left side of the screen.  Choose your location and file name and click on “Save”.
  • MENU OPTION #2 (MOUSE) – You should have the “Save” icon (picture of a computer disk) on your Quick Access Toolbar at the top of your screen.  Click the icon to save. You will have to choose your location and file name if you haven’t previously saved the document.
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-S) – Hold down the Control key (CTRL) and hit the “S” key to save.  You will have to choose your location and file name if you haven’t previously saved the document.

COPY:

  • MENU OPTION #1 (MOUSE) – Highlight the data you want to copy.  Go to the “Home” tab and choose the “Copy” Icon from the “Clipboard” group. The icon looks like 2 stacked pieces of paper.  The data has now been copied to your Clipboard for pasting in another location.
  • MENU OPTION #2 (MOUSE) – Highlight the data you want to copy.  Right click anywhere inside the area you highlighted. Click on the “Copy” option (The icon is the same as the icon from the Clipboard group). The data has now been copied to your Clipboard for pasting in another location.
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-C) – Highlight the data you want to copy. Hold down the Control key (CTRL) and hit the “C” key to add the data to the Clipboard. 

CUT:

  • MENU OPTION #1 (MOUSE) – Highlight the data you want to move to a new location.  Go to the “Home” tab and choose the “Cut” Icon from the “Clipboard” group. The icon looks like a pair of scissors.  The data has now been removed from its current location and added to your Clipboard for pasting in a new location.
  • MENU OPTION #2 (MOUSE) – Highlight the data you want to move to a new location.  Right click anywhere inside the area you highlighted. Click on the “Cut” option (The icon is the same as the icon from the Clipboard group).  The data has now been removed from its current location and added to your Clipboard for pasting in a new location.
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-X) – Highlight the data you want to copy. Hold down the Control key (CTRL) and hit the “X” key to add the data to the Clipboard. 

PASTE:

After you have added your selected data to the Clipboard using the Copy or Cut options above, you can now paste your data in a new location. 

  • MENU OPTION #1 (MOUSE) –Choose your new data location in your Excel document and left click on the top left cell of the area you want your data to be pasted. Go to the “Home” tab and choose the “Paste” Icon from the “Clipboard” group. The icon looks like a clipboard with a piece of paper stacked on top of it.  You should see your data added to your new location.
  • MENU OPTION #2 (MOUSE) –Choose your new data location in your Excel document and right click on the top left cell of the area you want your data to be pasted. Click on the “Paste” option (The icon is the same as the icon from the Clipboard group).   You should see your data added to your new location.
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-V) – Left click on the top left cell of the area where you want to paste your data. Hold down the Control key (CTRL) and hit the “V” key to add the data to the Clipboard. 

FORMAT PAINTER: –

If you want to copy only the formatting of certain data to another area, but do not want to copy the actual data in the cell, use one of the following options.

  • MENU OPTION #1 (MOUSE) – Highlight the cell(s) containing the formatting you want to copy.  Click on the “Format Painter” icon in the “Clipboard” group of the “Home” tab.  Now your format has been copied.  Highlight all the cells where you want to paste the formatting and it will be copied after you release the mouse button.  No need to click again, but the formatting will no longer be saved to paste again.
    • Bonus – to copy the formatting to multiple locations, double click on the “Format Painter” icon.
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-SHIFT-C) – Highlight the cell(s) containing the formatting you want to copy. Hold down the Control key (CTRL), hold down the Shift key, and hit the “C” key to add the formatting to the Clipboard. 
  • KEYBOARD SHORTCUT (CTRL-SHIFT-V) – After you add the formatting to the Clipboard, highlight all the cell(s) where you want to paste the formatting. Hold down the Control key (CTRL), hold down the Shift key, and hit the “V” key to paste the formatting from the Clipboard. 

We hope you found this lesson to be helpful and informative and we look forward to seeing you in future lessons.