The guide on this page shows you the best keyboard shortcuts for navigation in Microsoft Excel without the need for a mouse so you can work more efficiently – movement is key in Excel!
There are hundreds of keyboard shortcuts in Excel that all perform different functions – like formulas, pasting special, or bringing up menus.
When you’re looking for a specific group of shortcuts – like navigating through the cells or sheets of Excel – it might be hard to find the related functions.
We put together this guide to try and consolidate related keyboard shortcuts into a specific category so you can quickly learn a specific set of some of the best options.
What are keyboard shortcuts
It might seem obvious and you’re probably already familiar, but JUST in case, a keyboard shortcut is a quick method that allows you to perform a function on your computer with the press of a set of buttons.
One of the most common and well-known shortcuts would be the Find function, CTRL + F.
This means that you press the CTRL key and the F key at the same time on your PC, and then the Find function appears in any application – like a web browser or Microsoft Word.
CTRL+ PgUp or PgDn
- (Control + Page Up or Page Down)
- Moves from one sheet to the next one (or back) in the workbook
ALT + PgUp or PgDn
- (ALT + Page Up or Page Down)
- Moves from left or right within the worksheet
CTRL + Arrow keys
- (Control + Up, Down, Left, or Right key)
- Brings you to the next continuous space or data cell.
CTRL+ Shift + Arrow keys
- (Control + Shift + Up, Down, Left, or Right key)
- Brings you to the next continuous space or data cell, while also highlighting any included cells
CTRL + Home
- Move to the very beginning cell of the worksheet.
CTRL + G
- Opens the Go To menu so you can move between sheets
ALT + followed by a key
- (Alt, then press any key in the menu/ribbon that appears)
- When you press Alt, Letters/Numbers appear next to items in the menu. See the screenshot below.
- If you press the letter, it opens that menu, and then subsequent numbers appear for more key commands.
- This lets you navigate the menu with keys.
Alt + Tab
- This shortcut isn’t specific to Excel but it’s very helpful.
- This lets you navigate between windows on your PC.
- Press Tab again to keep moving through the open windows.
- This is helpful when you’re typing and want to quickly move to another open window without using your mouse.