The column width or row height windows can be opened with keyboard shortcuts as well. Alt,O,R,E is the keyboard shortcut to open the Row Height window. Alt,O,C,W is the keyboard shortcut to open the Column Width window. The row height or column width will be applied to the rows or columns of all the cells that are currently selected. Navigation Basics. Navigate one cell at a time in any direction. Ctrl+Arrow Keys. There are two keys on our keyboard that aid in navigation and selection: CTRL and Shift. The CTRL key tells Excel to move the cursor (the green box) to the end of the currently selected data set.; The Shift key tells excel to highlight cells.; When used with the arrow keys, we can perform very rapid movements and highlights. Using the CTRL Key. If you have a large data set, using CTRL. To quickly highlight the current row, the current column or the entire spreadsheet use the following keyboard shortcuts: “Shift” + “Space”: Highlights the current row “CTRL” + “Space”: Highlights the current column “CTRL” + “A”: Highlights the entire spreadsheet if the currently sel. This is also a shortcut to highlight a row in excel. Select the cell in the row you wish to select. Press Shift+ Space key to select the row on the selected cell (release the keys, if the row is selected). If you wish to select the adjacent rows with the selected row, press Shift+ Up/down arrow key (s) to select the UP or DOWN to that row.
Excel Shortcuts for selecting Rows Columns and Cells
Jump to: Navigation Basics, Select Basics, Select Columns and Rows, Insert Rows, Columns and Duplicate Content, Duplicate Content, Extend Selection Mode and select non-adjacent Cells, Shortcuts for Editing Cells, Edit Cells with Multiple Cells Selected
Microsoft Excel Highlight Shortcut
Arrow Keys | Navigate one cell at a time in any direction |
Ctrl+Arrow Keys | Move to the edge of data region (cells that contains data) |
Page Down/Page Up | Move one screen down/ up |
Alt+Page Down/Page Up | Move one screen right/ left |
Tab/Shift+Tab | Move one cell to the next/ previous cell in worksheet |
Home | Move to beginning of row |
Ctrl+Home | Move to the beginning of worksheet |
Ctrl+End | Move to the last cell with content of worksheet |
Ctrl+G | Display the GoTo dialog box |
Ctrl+G then type e.g. A50 | Go to line 50, Column A |
Ctrl+G then type e.g. G1 | Go to column G, Line 1 in Excel |
Ctrl+Backspace | Set focus back to active cell after e.g. scrolling away from it |
Shift+Arrow Keys | Extend selection by one cell |
Shift+Page Down/Page Up | Extend selection one screen down/ up |
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Keys | Extend selection to next non-blank cell |
Shift+Home | Extend selection to beginning of the row (unfortunately, there is no Shift+End equivalent) |
Ctrl+A with empty cells around current cell | Select all |
Ctrl+A with filled cells around current cell | Select all cells inExtend Selection' texts at in Excel Status Bar. Press Escape to exit Extend Selection MOde |
Shift+F8 | Enter Locked Selection Extend Mode. Now you can add non-adjacent cells to a selection. There is an 'Add or Remove Selection' text at bottom of Excel Window |
Shift+F8, then click on cells or click+drag cell ranges | Add non-adjacent cells or ranges to locked selection |
Shift+F8, then Arrow Keys, then 2x Shift+F8 on a single cell | Add non-adjacent single cells to locked selection |
Shift+F8, then Arrow Keys, then Shift+Arrow Keys, then 1x Shift+F8 selected range. | Add non-adjacent cell ranges to locked selection |
These assume you are inside a cell, typically after pressing F2
F2 | Edit cell. Press Escape to cancel |
F2, then Shift+Home | Select Cell Content. Selects from current end of cursor to beginning |
Home/End | Jump to beginning/ end of cell |
Arrow Keys | Navigate by one character left/ right or one line up/ down |
Ctrl+Arrow Left/Arrow Right | Navigate by one word left/ right |
Shift+Arrow Keys | Select one character to the left/ right (or one line up/down) |
Shift+Home/End | Select from the insertion point to beginning/ end of cell |
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Left/Arrow Right | Select or unselect one word to the left/ right |
Delete/Backspace | Delete one character to the right/ left of cursor |
Ctrl+Delete | Delete from cursor to end of cell |
Alt+Enter | Start a new line inside cell |
Enter/Shift+Enter | Complete cell entry and move one cell down/ up |
Tab/Shift+Tab | Complete cell entry and move one cell right/ left |
Ctrl+Enter | Complete cell entry and don't move selection |
Ctrl+' | Duplicate value from Cell above into current cell at cursor position |
Ctrl+; | Insert current date at cursor position |
Ctrl+Shift+; | Insert current time at cursor position |
Excel Shortcut For Highlighting Rows
All these shortcuts assume multipe cells have been selected. Try with at least 2-3 columns and rows.
Tab/Shift+Tab | Move active cell right/ left in selection |
Enter/Shift+Enter | Move active cell down/ up in selection |
Shift+Backspace | Select only the active cell when multiple cells are selected |
Ctrl+Backspace | Show active cell within selection; helps with large selections when active cell is off screen |
Ctrl+. | Move clockwise between the four courners of a selection |
Ctrl+Alt+Arrow Right/Arrow Left | Move to the right/ to the left between non-adjacent selections (with multiple ranges selected) |
Arrow Keys with active Selection | Cancel Selection |
Created by max on 12/18/2020. Last updated by max on 1/14/2021