Microsoft Excel

Not a new one, but the return of one that worked prior to Excel 2007.  Alt + ' used to allow for the selection of a named style by typing the first few letters of the style name, which was great for quickly selecting a style.  In Excel 2007 this brings up the style details box, but does not allow for a different style to be selected.  Although the Style Gallery is good, nothing can replace a quick KB shortcut to a named style.

Jules

Another one that was practically disabled in Office 2007:

F4 function key: Repeat Last Action.

This shortcut makes me so efficient in Excel 21003 and earlier versions. The loss of it except for trivial cases in Excel 2007 causes me an excess of frustration.

Jon, both Ctrl-Y and F4 work as expected in Excel 2007 for me. What are the cases in which they don't work for you?

I've set up macros for Paste Values (Ctrl+Shift+V) and Paste Formats (Ctrl+Shift+M) that I use about 18,000 times per day.  

One thing I find many people don't know about it using F4 when editing a cell.  It toggles the reference type of a cell depending on what is selected or highlighted.

I agree with Shawn...I also have macros for both of those paste special options.

Myself, I'd appreciate it if you'd quit using keystroke combinations that used to be reserved for user macros, e.g., [Ctrl]+[Shift]+U. Silly me, I think of [F2] in relation with the formula bar (because I abhor in cell editing), so the heretofore unused [Ctrl]+[F2] would have made sense as an alternative.

Anyway, I'm perverse. I like unlimited user customization, so a built-in wrapper around Application.OnKey to allow users to remap function keys however they want would be ideal. Adding yet more obscure keystroke combinations would be a bad thing. Many programmers editors (including the Microsoft Editor from the late 1980s) included this feature.

BTW, got an explanation for

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.excel/msg/0f012260e699a5f0

quote: "Paste Values (Ctrl+Shift+V)"

that one, and "convert formulas to values" (essentially Ctrl-C, Ctrl-Shift-V, then) would be something I'd use every day.

My two macros that I use a lot are

Close without saving and

Autofilter-Show All

I'm with several others.  Paste Values, without a doubt.  

1.  Fill Series - I want to select a 1 column range whose first n cells are not empty and use a shortcut to simulate that I'd dragged the fill handle.

2.  Fill Adjacent - When I double-click on the fill handle, my formula is copied down as far as the left-adjacent column has data.  I want a shortcut that does this.

Like many I would love to see paste special values, I currently have a number of macros I use to shortcut (all Ctrl+Shift+) actions I do hundreds of times a day:

Paste Special (Ctrl+J)

Passte Special Values (Ctrl+K), & Transpose (Ctrl+Shift+K)

Paste Special Formulas (Ctrl+L), & Transpose (Ctrl+Shift+L)

Paste Special Formats (Ctrl+M), & Transpose (Ctrl+Shift+M)

Paste Special Comments (Ctrl+N), & Transpose (Ctrl+Shift+N)

Group Rows (Ctrl+Shift+Z)

Ungroup Rows (Ctrl+Shift+X)

Group Columns (Ctrl+Shift+C)

Ungroup Columns (Ctrl+Shift+V)

Indent Cell(s) (Ctrl+Shift+I)

Outdent Cell(s) (Ctrl+Shift+O)

Protect Worksheet (Ctrl+Shift+P)

Password Protect Worksheet (Ctrl+Shift+Y)

Unprotect Worksheet (Ctrl+Shift+U)

These are now so ingrained in me that I get frustrated when I am using a machine that I haven't installed my Personal.xls on.

I just want to be able to alter keyboard shortcuts. I much prefer control-shift-z for redo, for example. I use both Mac and Windows and on the Mac, you can customize your keyboard shortcuts. It's hard for me to get used to control-y as redo.

ctrl+shift+M= show classic Menus

ctrl+shift+alt+c = fix bugs in excels super duper Calculation engine

sam

For those that use excel for lists (like 90% of common excel users) its the need to delete a row/column and add a row/column. i'm forever adding this as buttons to whatever copy of excel i'm using.

Also I use copy the cell celow CTRL + ' quite alot and would like a copy-the-cell above equivilent

I don't use Excel much, but one thing that's been bugging me is the way the Swedish version of Office 2003 (and thus Excel) localizes the keyboard shortcuts, while other Microsoft applications don't. Most noticeably, the case of Ctrl+B and Ctrl+F:

In the Swedish version of Internet Explorer 7, Explorer, Notepad and WordPad, Ctrl+F is a shortcut for Find. In WordPad, Ctrl+B is a shortcut for Bold.

In the Swedish version of Office 2003, Ctrl+F is a shortcut for Bold, and Ctrl+B is a shortcut for Find. In other words, the behaviour is the exact opposite.

I a way, it does make sense. The Swedish word for "Bold" is "Fet". (The Swedish word for "Find" is "Sök", but Ctrl+S is already used for "Save" ("Spara").) But since Office appears to be the only program that does this, it just gets confusing.

I agree that Paste Values is probably one of the most used for which there is no shortcut.

I also use lots of combinations which depended on the short keys to get through the Office menus in 95, 98, 2000 and 2003, eg ALT > F  > V (print preview) and ALT > F > T > S (set print area to current selection.

Both of these (and others) fail due to the re-working of the Office button in place of the file menu. This is despite marketing hype that all 2003 shortcut keys would work, as many do, such as E > S > V (enter) for Paste Values.

Print preview was the first button I added to the Quick Access toolbar. Set Print Area followed quickly afterward. I find losing the shortcuts for these unecessarily frustrating.

Adam

Frustrated MOS:Master

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions.  Sounds like paste values (and maybe paste formats?) would make a bunch of folks happy.

Paul: clear filters == show all.

Andy: Can you clarify what you mean by below/above with respect to CTRL+'?  To me that copies the above cell (same as CTRL+D when you have a single cell selected but it leaves you in edit mode).  Do you mean you want something that copies the below cell?  Also, do you ever use CTRL+Space/SHIFT+Space, CTRL+- for deleting a column/row?

Dick: I totally agree about the fill handle behaviors.  I was hoping others might suggest this.  Do other people see these as valuable as well?

AdamV: Yeah, we tried to always say that almost all of the accelerators would continue to work, but we knew it wasn't 100%.  Do you ever use the ALT+# accelerators to get to the things you've added to the QAT?  While not a substitute for keeping the old accelerators intact (and not having to retrain your muscle memory), does this help at all?

Finally, having a way of re-mapping keyboard shortcuts (without resorting to code) would be an awesome feature, thanks for the feedback.  It's likely out of scope for the next release, but it's the kind of thing I can see us revisiting in the future.

Thanks,

Charlie

I would love two shortcuts that I currently create macros for.

1) Replace URL with Hyperlink

2) Remove hyperlink

I commonly get data that contains URLs in a column. I need to edit all the URLs into hyperlinks so I can test if the URL is valid.

I use the second so I can make global replacements, such as hitting a different domain (such as going between INT and Live), and then turn them back to hyperlinks.

I want a Boss key so I can quickly switch to Doom and he won't think I've been crunching numbers all day.

kthxbye.

Since there is little chance of MS giving the short cuts I requested earlier here is a list of shotcuts I have as a part of an addin called MyTools....I have go so used to this that I cant work without them...hopefully Excel20 will have some of them...

ctrl + t :Takes you to the first(Top) sheet in the file

ctrl + e :Takes you to the last(End) sheet in the file

ctrl + l :Toggle Filter

ctrl+shift+l :Advance Filter

ctrl + j :Show all

ctrl + m :make values (copy paste special value)

ctrl + q :sheet index

ctrl+shift+g :Goto Special Dialog

ctrl+shift+v :Paste Exact Formula

ctrl+shift+i :Add sheet to the right

ctrl+shift+w :Add sheets to the right

ctrl+shift+t :Paste Transpose link

ctrl+shift+c :Copy to Custom List

ctrl+shift+d :Go to Direct Dependent (also on another sheet

ctrl+shift+h :unhide all hidden sheets

ctrl+shift+b :Insert a bullet

Sam

I would love to see the better keyboard shortcuts for sorting or make the tab order less cumbersome for using the sort in Excel 2007.

Hi.

Anyone can told me why Microsoft didn't set a shortcuts personalization system like in word ?

In Word, you can set check which is the shortcut for a given action, you can change it too.

I never found some a excel add-in or vba snippet to do this !

bye bye

Two unrelated ideas:

1. Insert PivotTable (Alt-T ?)

2. (Borrowed from Word) Change Case. Works on either the selection, or the word around the cursor in Edit mode; cycles thru all-lower -> first-upper -> all-upper. I use this dozens of times a day in Word, and miss it in Excel when adding labels, headings etc. Unfortunately the Word shortcut for this is Shift-F3, taken in Excel by the F(x), so it will have to be something else (Alt-F3 ?).

Paste Values would be great.

And a HELP shortcut that would go straight to the function references, to find a function, not just the general help.

Please reinstate F4 for repeat on sorting.  A real frustration in an otherwise fine piece of software.  Thanks.

CTRL+SHIFT+F and CTRL+SHIFT+P should work in Excel (and other Office members) like they did in previous versions: they should transfer keyboard focus to font face/size lists. In 2007, however, they bring up the Font tab of the Format Cells/Font dialog. And in Excel, neither opens the dialog with control implied by the shortcut active (instead, focus is on the tab label, and the user has to press TAB multiple times to get to the desired control.)

Also, I would like shortcut keys to move the column (row) where the cursor is to the right/left (above/below) of the adjacent one. I.E.:

originally:

A B C  D  E F G    <-- column labels

1 2 3 [4] 5 6 7 8    <-- cell values

and then press move column right key:

A B C D E F G    <-- column labels

1 2 3 5 [4] 6 7 8    <-- cell values

(Only one row pictured, so row labels omitted.)

Definately...Paste Values and Paste Formats.

jeff

Paste values!

Paste Formats

Column width Crl+O

How about a simple one for Sort column of active cell, a simple Ctrl for A-Z Shift for Z-A even Reapply - like the icon in 2007....

1. I'd have to agree with Jules (first post). I use Alt + ' to jump to the style box in excel 2003 50+ times per day.

2. Paste values/format definitely useful but you get used to Alt, e, s + Alt v rather quickly as well.

3. When selecting cells using ctrl + down arrow (if there are no used cells below) should jump to the end of the column to the left of the current column before jumping to the end of the page. I have the problem where I filled say A1:A200 and want to copy a formula from B1 to B200. Doing ctrl + down arrow in B1 would jump to B65536 instead of B200. This one really annoys me tbh ;)

3. A shortcut to jump to named ranges would be nice as well. (not F5 as now, but rather something like the style box in which you can type the name of the range - with auto completion)

A short cut for Edit - Clear - All would be great.

Very often you have highlighted a cell or used bold, red color or whatever formatting to remind you to update the cell. Once updated, Delete key will not remove the formatting. You have to select Edit - Clear - All.

I would love to have a "center" shortcut, similar to Word's "CTRL E" shortcut!

What I'd love to see in Excel is the "Customize Keyboard" functionality that Word has.

OtherJon - I've been told that it requires rewriting the DOM for Excel and that it's such a big change it never makes it in a product cycle.

I'd like some of the best shortcuts from Word like Shift F3 to cycle cases.

I'd like to bring back the Ctrl + Shift + ) for unhiding columns.  It looks like Ctrl + ) still works for hiding columns but 2007 took away the ability to unhide with a shortcut.