Navigating shortcuts in Excel
Ctrl+Arrow (Cmd+Arrow on a Mac) is the single biggest time-saver in Excel: it jumps to the edge of the data instead of scrolling. Learn it with Ctrl+Home and Ctrl+End, then the sheet keys. On a MacBook without Home, End and Page keys, the Fn combinations do the same job.
Checked against Microsoft's official lists on . Where Microsoft lists a key for one platform only, the other column says so instead of guessing.
Learn these first
| Shortcut | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Jump to the edge of the data How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel Stops at the last filled cell before a blank, so a gap in the data stops it early. | Ctrl+an arrow key | Command+an arrow key |
| Go to the last used cell on the sheet How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel The lowest used row of the rightmost used column. On a MacBook without an End key, use Ctrl+Fn+Right. | Ctrl+End | Control+End or Control+Fn+Right arrow |
| Go to the beginning of the sheet (A1) How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel With frozen panes, it goes to the first cell below and right of them. | Ctrl+Home | Control+Home or Control+Fn+Left arrow |
| Go to the next sheet How to: Shortcut to switch between sheets in Excel Excel for the web in Chrome uses Ctrl+Alt+Page Down; in Microsoft Teams and other browsers, Ctrl+Page Down. | Ctrl+Page DownWeb Ctrl+Alt+Page Down or Ctrl+Page Down | Control+Page Down or Option+Right arrow |
Step-by-step shortcut guides
All navigating shortcuts
| Shortcut | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Move one cell up, down, left or rightWhile you are editing a cell, the arrow keys move the cursor inside it instead. | an arrow key | an arrow key |
| Jump to the edge of the data How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel Stops at the last filled cell before a blank, so a gap in the data stops it early. | Ctrl+an arrow key | Command+an arrow key |
| End mode: press End, then an arrow key, to jump to the next filled cellNot in Microsoft's Mac list. End mode shows in the status bar until you press the arrow key. | End, an arrow key | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Go to the last used cell on the sheet How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel The lowest used row of the rightmost used column. On a MacBook without an End key, use Ctrl+Fn+Right. | Ctrl+End | Control+End or Control+Fn+Right arrow |
| Go to the beginning of the sheet (A1) How to: Shortcut to go to the last row, column or cell in Excel With frozen panes, it goes to the first cell below and right of them. | Ctrl+Home | Control+Home or Control+Fn+Left arrow |
| Go to the beginning of the row | Home | Home or Fn+Left arrow |
| Move one screen down | Page Down | Page Down or Fn+Down arrow |
| Move one screen up | Page Up | Page Up or Fn+Up arrow |
| Move one screen to the right | Alt+Page Down | Option+Page Down or Fn+Option+Down arrow |
| Move one screen to the left | Alt+Page Up | Option+Page Up or Fn+Option+Up arrow |
| Go to the next sheet How to: Shortcut to switch between sheets in Excel Excel for the web in Chrome uses Ctrl+Alt+Page Down; in Microsoft Teams and other browsers, Ctrl+Page Down. | Ctrl+Page DownWeb Ctrl+Alt+Page Down or Ctrl+Page Down | Control+Page Down or Option+Right arrow |
| Go to the previous sheet How to: Shortcut to switch between sheets in Excel Same browser rule as the next sheet. | Ctrl+Page UpWeb Ctrl+Alt+Page Up or Ctrl+Page Up | Control+Page Up or Option+Left arrow |
| With Scroll Lock on, go to the top-left cell of the windowNot in Microsoft's Mac list. | Home+Scroll Lock | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Scroll back to show the active cellNot in Microsoft's Windows list. Excel for the web: Ctrl+Backspace moves to the active cell and keeps the selection. | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's listWeb Ctrl+Backspace | Control+Delete |
| Move between unlocked cells on a protected sheet | Tab | Tab |
| Cycle through floating shapes such as text boxes and picturesNot in Microsoft's Mac list. Press Tab again for the next shape, and Esc to go back to the cells. | Ctrl+Alt+5 | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Scroll sideways with the mouse wheelHold the keys and turn the wheel. On Windows, wheel up scrolls left and down scrolls right. | Ctrl+Shift | Shift |
| Zoom inNot in Microsoft's Mac list. On a Mac, Cmd+= recalculates instead. | Ctrl+Alt+= | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Zoom outNot in Microsoft's Mac list. | Ctrl+Alt+- | —No Mac shortcut in Microsoft's list |
| Move to the Search Sheet boxNot in Microsoft's Windows list. | —No Windows shortcut in Microsoft's list | Control+F5 |
Why a shortcut sometimes does nothing
macOS shortcuts that get there first
Microsoft marks a few Mac shortcuts as clashing with macOS: Shift+F11 and F11 with Show Desktop, and Ctrl+Space with switching input sources. Control with the arrow keys moves between Spaces and opens Mission Control by default too. If macOS reacts instead of Excel, open System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts and turn the macOS one off.
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.
Related guides
- How to freeze panes in ExcelTo keep the header row visible, go to View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row.
- How to find the last value in a column in ExcelFor the last entry for a specific item, use XLOOKUP with search_mode -1, which searches from the bottom up: =XLOOKUP(G1,B2:B9,C2:C9,,0,-1).
In the glossary: Active cellFreeze PanesName Box