Excel Ctrl shortcuts from A to Z
Every Ctrl+letter on Windows and Cmd+letter on a Mac that Microsoft lists for Excel, A to Z. Most match, a few do something different on each platform, and some letters have no Excel command at all. Ctrl with a digit and the Ctrl+Shift letters are listed below the alphabet.
Checked against Microsoft's official lists on . Where Microsoft lists a key for one platform only, the other column says so instead of guessing.
Ctrl+letter and Cmd+letter, A to Z
With Shift: Ctrl+Shift+letter and Cmd+Shift+letter
| Key | Windows | Mac: Cmd | Mac: Control |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Ctrl+Shift+A After typing a function name, insert its argument names | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| F | Ctrl+Shift+F Open Format Cells on the Font tab | Command+Shift+F Turn filters on or off | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| G | Ctrl+Shift+G Open Workbook Statistics | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| H | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+H Find and replace | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| J | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+J Ungroup the selected rows or columns | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| K | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+K Group the selected rows or columns | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| L | Ctrl+Shift+L Turn filters on or off | Shift+Command+L Open Modify Cell Style | Control+Shift+L Turn filters on or off |
| M | Ctrl+Shift+M Copilot: switch between edit, chat and plan mode | Command+Shift+M Copilot: switch between edit, chat and plan mode | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| P | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+P Create a new workbook from a template | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| R | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+R Open the Sort dialog | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| S | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+S Save As | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| T | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Shift+Command+T AutoSum the cells above or to the left | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| U | Ctrl+Shift+U Expand or collapse the formula bar | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+U Expand or collapse the formula bar |
| X | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Shift+Command+X Strikethrough | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Z | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Command+Shift+Z Redo | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
Ctrl with a digit, and the number-format symbols
| Key | Windows | Mac: Cmd | Mac: Control |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Ctrl+0 Hide the selected columns | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+0 Hide the selected columns |
| 1 | Ctrl+1 Open Format Cells | Command+1 Open Format Cells | Control+1 Open Format Cells |
| 2 | Ctrl+2 Bold | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| 3 | Ctrl+3 Italic | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| 4 | Ctrl+4 Underline | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| 5 | Ctrl+5 Strikethrough | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| 6 | Ctrl+6 Hide objects, show them, or show placeholders | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+6 Hide objects, show them, or show placeholders |
| 7 | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| 8 | Ctrl+8 Show or hide the outline symbols | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+8 Show or hide the outline symbols |
| 9 | Ctrl+9 Hide the selected rows | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+9 Hide the selected rows |
| ! | Ctrl+Shift+! Number format: 2 decimals, thousands separator, minus sign for negatives | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+! Number format: 2 decimals, thousands separator, minus sign for negatives |
| @ | Ctrl+Shift+@ Time format with hour, minute and AM/PM | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+@ Time format with hour, minute and AM/PM |
| # | Ctrl+Shift+# Date format with day, month and year | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+# Date format with day, month and year |
| $ | Ctrl+Shift+$ Currency format with 2 decimals | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+$ Currency format with 2 decimals |
| % | Ctrl+Shift+% Percentage format with no decimals | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+% Percentage format with no decimals |
| ^ | Ctrl+Shift+^ Scientific format with 2 decimals | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+^ Scientific format with 2 decimals |
| ~ | Ctrl+Shift+~ General number format | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+Shift+~ General number format |
| & | Ctrl+Shift+& Add an outline border around the selection | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| _ | Ctrl+Shift+_ Remove the outline border | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| ; | Ctrl+; Enter today's dateCtrl+Shift+; Enter the current time | Command+; Enter the current time | Control+; Enter today's date |
| ` | Ctrl+` Show formulas instead of results, and back | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+` Show formulas instead of results, and back |
| ' | Ctrl+' Copy the formula from the cell above, unchanged | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+' Copy the formula from the cell above, unchanged |
Power Pivot window keys (Ctrl+D deletes a table there, Ctrl+M moves one) are on the data page.
Why a shortcut sometimes does nothing
F4 vs Cmd+T on a Mac
On Windows, F4 has two jobs: while you edit a formula it switches a reference between A1, $A$1, A$1 and $A1, and the rest of the time it repeats your last action. On a Mac, Command+T and F4 both switch the reference, but Command+T creates a table when you are not editing a formula. On a Mac laptop F4 may need Fn.
Excel for the web: the browser takes some keys
In a browser, a few keys belong to the browser first: F1 opens the browser's help, Ctrl+O opens a file, Ctrl+W closes the tab, and F6 moves around the browser. Excel for the web uses Ctrl+F6 instead of F6, Ctrl+Alt+Page Down for the next sheet in Chrome, and Alt+Windows key with a letter for ribbon tabs. To get desktop behavior back, go to Help > Keyboard Shortcuts and select Override browser shortcuts. If the file opened in Viewing mode, editing shortcuts do nothing until you switch to Editing.
Non-US keyboards
Microsoft's lists are written for the US keyboard layout and say that keys on other layouts might not correspond exactly. Shortcuts named after a symbol, such as Ctrl+;, Ctrl+` or Ctrl+Shift+$, are the ones most likely to sit somewhere else or not work. When one does nothing, use the ribbon route on its task page instead.