News and Notes

Nifty Selection Tricks in Excel

Excel is full of hidden selection tricks that can really speed up your work.

Start with the classic Click + Shift Click to select a range and Ctrl + Click to select independent cells.

Then try combining them to select multiple ranges of cells. Like this:
Excel Spreadsheet Selection

Click on cell A1 and Shift Click on cell E1.
Ctrl Click on cell A6 and Shift Click on cell E6.
Ctrl Click on cell A10 and Shift Click on cell E10.

If you find that you are constantly scrolling to select, try changing your zoom or adding a split to your worksheet.

You can use the row and column headers to select entire rows and columns quickly.

Excel Spreadsheet Selection

With entire rows or columns selected, you'll find it is simple to insert new rows and columns. Try using Ctrl and + to insert and Ctrl and - to delete.

And here's a nifty variation on the above. Instead of using Ctrl and Shift to select a range of columns, try using Ctrl and clicking on each column in the range individually. Like this:

Excel Selection

Now when you insert columns, you'll find that instead of inserting 4 columns in a block in front of column B, that 1 column will be inserted in between each of the selected columns. Like this:

Excel Selection

You can also combine the Shift key with the standard movement keys for quick selection. For example; Ctrl + Home moves to the beginning of the spreadsheet and Ctrl + End moves to the end of the working area of the spreadsheet. And, if you are at the beginning of your spreadsheet using Ctrl + Shift End will select the entire working area of the spreadsheet without any mousing around.

If you prefer, try using the GoTo dialog box:

Simply enter the address of the cell you'd like to select to and hold down the Shift key as you click the OK button.

News and Notes

Nifty Selection Tricks in Excel

Other News and Notes Articles