10 obscure Excel tricks that can expedite common chores
8: Love your [Ctrl] key--for three reasons
This three-fer will demonstrate why you should love and use your [Ctrl] key:
Reason 1--Fast navigation.
When you press [Ctrl] and any arrow key (north, east, south, or west), you jump to the last populated cell in that direction. Think of using the [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut as an alternative to pressing [Page Down] to find the bottom row of a data set or pressing [Tab] to find the last column. Bonus tip: Hold down the [Shift] key while you press any [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut to select all the cells between where you are and where you jump with the [Ctrl] key.
Reason 2--You can make noncontiguous selections.
That's a fancy way of saying you can select any cells you want, regardless of whether they're contiguous--next to each other in a row or column. Hold down the [Ctrl] key while you click on a cell or click and drag through a range of cells. As long as you hold down the [Ctrl] key, you can click and select to your heart's content.
Combine this tip with tip Number 7 and you can use the AutoCalculate tool to analyze any combination of individual cells or blocks of cells. This screenshot shows our screen when we used AutoCalculate to sum the cells we selected while holding down the [Ctrl] key.
Reason 3--Fast data entry.
Suppose you want to put the same string, number, or formula into two or more cells. Using the old-fashioned approach, you'd type the string, number, or formula into the first cell and then copy and paste that entry into the destination cells. But there's a little-known time-saving tip that makes short work of placing the same entry in multiple cells. First, select all the cells you want to populate. Type the entry, but don't press [Enter]. Instead, press [Ctrl][Enter]. When you do, Excel will copy what you typed into all of the selected cells.
Reason 1--Fast navigation.
When you press [Ctrl] and any arrow key (north, east, south, or west), you jump to the last populated cell in that direction. Think of using the [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut as an alternative to pressing [Page Down] to find the bottom row of a data set or pressing [Tab] to find the last column. Bonus tip: Hold down the [Shift] key while you press any [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut to select all the cells between where you are and where you jump with the [Ctrl] key.
Reason 2--You can make noncontiguous selections.
That's a fancy way of saying you can select any cells you want, regardless of whether they're contiguous--next to each other in a row or column. Hold down the [Ctrl] key while you click on a cell or click and drag through a range of cells. As long as you hold down the [Ctrl] key, you can click and select to your heart's content.
Combine this tip with tip Number 7 and you can use the AutoCalculate tool to analyze any combination of individual cells or blocks of cells. This screenshot shows our screen when we used AutoCalculate to sum the cells we selected while holding down the [Ctrl] key.
Reason 3--Fast data entry.
Suppose you want to put the same string, number, or formula into two or more cells. Using the old-fashioned approach, you'd type the string, number, or formula into the first cell and then copy and paste that entry into the destination cells. But there's a little-known time-saving tip that makes short work of placing the same entry in multiple cells. First, select all the cells you want to populate. Type the entry, but don't press [Enter]. Instead, press [Ctrl][Enter]. When you do, Excel will copy what you typed into all of the selected cells.
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10 obscure Excel tricks that can expedite common chores
maryb@... | 05/15/07
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Wow!!! Love Love LOVE it!
meryllogue@... | 05/15/07
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