Hassan Shuvo
We use Excel for different purposes. And in this modern, fast age, time is the most valuable thing. So working efficiently and on time will help us boost our credibility. Apart from just clicking to get the job done, we can also use some keyboard shortcuts to select our cells in Excel, which is a very fast way to finish the job. In this article, we will demonstrate some of the most notable keyboard shortcuts that can be used in Excel.
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Learn to Select Cells in Excel Using Keyboard Shortcuts with These 14 Examples
We have collected 13 keyword shortcuts so that you can use them on a day-to-day basis. These shortcuts are easy to remember and will reduce your work time. We used a very simple example of a delivery schedule for some fruits. Stay with us and practice getting accustomed to shortcuts.
1. Selecting Single Cell
Simply use your keyboard’s arrow keys to select a single cell.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Suppose you are at cell C8, to choose the right adjacent cell D8, press the right arrow key.
- Then, from cell C8, using the down arrow key will select cell C9.
- If you want to select the left cell (B8) of C8, press the left arrow key.
- Again to choose the above cell(C7) of C8 press the up arrow key.
Read More: How to Select Multiple Cells in Excel (10 Quick Methods)
2. Selecting Range of Cells
If you want to select a range of cells, you can follow these shortcuts.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Suppose you are at cell C6 and you want to select up to C8 along column C. At cell C6, while holding down the Shift key, press the Down Arrow key twice. Thus we have selected cells C6 through C8.
- If you want to select cells along the rows, simply press the Left/Right Arrow key while holding down the Shift. How many times you have to press the arrow keys depends on the number of cells you want to select.
Read More: 10 Ways to Select Multiple Cells Without Mouse in Excel
3. Selecting Entire Data Range
If you want to select an entire Column/Row that contains data, follow these shortcuts.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- For selecting an entire column with data, first, go to the first cell as we selected cell C6. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow. This will select C6 through C10.
- For selecting an entire row with data, first, go to the first cell as we selected cell B6. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow. This will select B6 through E6.
4. Selecting Entire Column
If you want to select an entire column with/without data, follow this shortcut.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Press and hold the Ctrl key while pressing the Spacebar to select an entire column. Choose any cell on that column at first then press Ctrl+Spacebar.
5. Selecting Entire Row
If you want to select an entire row with/without data, follow this shortcut.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Press and hold the Shift key while pressing the Spacebar to select an entire Row. Choose any cell on that row at first then press Shift+Spacebar.
6. Selecting Entire Sheet
If you want to select an entire worksheet with/without data, follow this shortcut.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Press Ctrl+A to select every cell on the active worksheet.
- But, if you want to select only your data table, first select any cell on the table and then press Ctrl+A.
7. Selecting All Cells That Contain Data
To select all cells with data, follow this shortcut.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select the first cell on your data range as we selected B6. Then press Ctrl+Shift+End. This will select your entire table. If you want to select the header also choose the first header cell as your reference.
8. Selecting Specific Range
Use this shortcut to select all the data-containing cells in a range.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select any cell on your data range. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar. This will select your entire table including Hearder.
9. Selecting Cells of Right Side With Respect to Active Cell
Use this shortcut to select every cell below the active cell that contains data in a table.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select any cell on your data range. Then press Ctrl+Shift+End. This will select all data-containing cells in the column to the right of the active cell, from the active cell to the last cell in the column.
10. Selecting Cells of Left Side With Respect to Active Cell
Use this shortcut to select every cell above the active cell that contains data in a table.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- First, select any cell on your data range. Then press Ctrl+Shift+Home. This will select all data-containing cells in the column to the left of the active cell, from the active cell to the last cell in the column.
11. Selecting Cells on Edge of Table
If you want to select the cells on the table’s edge, you can use these shortcuts.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- To move down to the dataset’s edge from anywhere on the cell, suppose from cell C8 to C10 press Ctrl+Down Arrow.
- To move Right to the dataset’s edge from anywhere on the cell, suppose from cell C8 to E8 press Ctrl+Right Arrow.
- To move Up to the dataset’s edge from anywhere on the cell, suppose from cell C8 to C5 press Ctrl+Up Arrow.
- To move down to the dataset’s edge from anywhere on the cell, suppose from cell D8 to B8 press Ctrl+Left Arrow.
12. Selecting Edge Cells with Empty Cell
If your data table contains an empty cell, the previous method of selecting a cell will not take you to the edge cell; rather, pressing the Ctrl+Arrow keys will take you to the last data-containing cell before the empty one. Let’s see how you can go to the last cell on your data table.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- See the active cell in the example is C6. Pressing Ctrl+Down Arrow will get us to cell C8 which is the last edge cell before C9, an empty cell. but we want to go to cell C12.
- So press again Ctrl+Down Arrow which will take us to the next non-empty cell, C10.
- Finally, press Ctrl+Down Arrow which will take us to the edge cell, C12.
13. Selecting Non-Contiguous Cells
If you want to select random or noncontiguous cells together, follow these shortcuts.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Select the first cell of your selection and press Shift+F8 to lock that selection.
- Next, click any cell or cells you want to add to your selection. The cells will add to the locked selection.
- To unlock the selected cells press Shift+F8 again.
14. Selecting Initial and Last Cell
If you want to select the first and last cell of your worksheet, follow these shortcuts.
⬇️⬇️ STEPS ⬇️⬇️
- Pressing Ctrl+Home will take you to the top cell of your worksheet.
- Pressing Ctrl+End will take you to the last cell of your worksheet.
📝 Takeaways from This Article
🖊️ In this article, we explained 14 Keyboard shortcuts to select cells in Excel to make your work faster.
🖊️ First, we provided you with shortcuts to select a single cell and move around the active cell.
🖊️ With the next shortcut, you can select a range of cells or an entire column/row.
🖊️ We also provided you with shortcuts to help you select the edge cells.
🖊️ Finally, a shortcut to move between the topmost cell and the last cell was provided.
Conclusion
We have come to the conclusion of our article. I hope that after reading this article, you can easily select any cells in Excel using keyboard shortcuts. If you have any questions, feel free to comment below. I will try to answer them as soon as possible. Have fun using Excel, and you can visit Excelden.com for more tutorials. Thank You.
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