Excel shortcuts list
The full list of Excel shortcuts, in English. Versions in Spanish and French are linked under the shortcuts below.
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Financial modelling relies on keyboard shortcuts. Without them you fall back on the mouse, which is slower for the same tasks. These ten shortcuts save time on every model.
The five most popular Excel shortcuts
- Select an area or everything: Ctrl+A. Inside an area, Ctrl+A selects that area. Outside one, it selects the whole worksheet.
- Bold, italics and underline: Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I and Ctrl+U. A quick way to apply basic formatting. For control and consistency across a model, styles are usually the better choice.
- Cut, copy and paste: Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V. It often helps to select an area with Ctrl+A first, then cut or copy it and paste it elsewhere.
- Undo and redo: Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Y. Undo is one of the most used commands, because it takes the model back to an earlier state.
- Find and replace: Ctrl+F and Ctrl+H. Opens the Find or Replace dialog box directly, to find or change text across a worksheet.
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Five shortcuts to work faster
- Fill down or across: Ctrl+Shift+Down, then Ctrl+D. Far faster than copying a cell and dragging it. Select the target area with Ctrl+Shift+Down, then fill the formula down with Ctrl+D. Across a row, select with Ctrl+Shift+Right and fill with Ctrl+R.
- Select a row or a column: Shift+Space and Ctrl+Space. Selects the whole row or column in one step.
- Styles: Alt+’. Opens the Style dialog box directly, so styles can be applied consistently across a model.
- Go to the last used cell: Ctrl+End. A quick check on whether unused cells far beyond the model’s content are padding out the file size.
- Spell check: F7. A surprising number of models arrive with spelling errors. Run it before anything goes out.
Excel shortcuts list in Spanish and French
The full list is also available in Spanish (opens in a new tab) and French (opens in a new tab).
Excel shortcut questions
Which Excel shortcuts save the most time in financial modelling?
Selection and filling: Ctrl+A to select an area, Ctrl+Shift+Down or Right to select a range, Ctrl+D or Ctrl+R to fill a formula into it and Ctrl+End to check a file is not padded with unused cells.
What is the fastest way to fill a formula down a column?
Select the target range with Ctrl+Shift+Down, then fill the formula down with Ctrl+D. It is much faster than copying one cell and dragging it down a long column.
Why use keyboard shortcuts instead of the mouse?
Building a model means repeating the same few operations hundreds of times. The mouse is slower for repetitive tasks, and the time adds up across a full model build.
Is there a list of Excel shortcuts to download?
Yes. The full list is available from this page in English, Spanish and French.