Sparks Fly
[Home] [PBS VideoDatabase] [Social Studies] [TSU] [UVA]

 

Navigating Excel

Keyboard Shortcuts

Get comfortable with the numeric keypad on your keyboard.  To use it for entering numbers the NumLock must be turned on.  This is a toggle switch so pressing once turns the lock on (light over the keypad will be on). To turn it off press again and the light goes out and the keypad is again directional rather than numeric.  To move around your Excel worksheet you will use many of the same shortcut key combinations used in other Microsoft programs.  You will find that due to its location on the keyboard, the Tab key to move from left to right is faster to use than the arrow keys.  When you are ready for the next row/record press Home, Enter and you are at the beginning of the next row.  Key shortcuts are listed in the table below. 

To Do This Press These Shortcut Keys
Move one cell to the left, right, up, or down Arrow keys
To move from left to right, one cell at a time, while entering data Tab
To move to the cell directly below the active cell Enter
To move from right to left, one cell at a time, while entering data Shift+Tab
Move to the beginning of the row you are in  Home
Move to cell A1, from anywhere in the worksheet Control+Home
Move down one screen Page Down
Move up one screen Page Up
Move to the right, one full screen Alt+Page Down
Move to the left, one full screen Alt+Page Up
Move to the next sheet in the workbook Control+Page Down
Move to the previous worksheet Control+Page Up
Move to the last cell in the current row Control+right arrow
Move to the last cell in the current column Control+down arrow
Move to the last cell that contains data Control+end
To move to a particular cell address Control+G or F5 (this opens the Go To box where you type the address of the cell you want to use then Enter or OK)

    

 

Return to Spreadsheets Handout

This page was updated on:  04/10/02