Shortcuts for selecting cells

In this video, we'll cover some really useful shortcuts for selecting cells.

First, as you know, you can click any cell in a worksheet to select it, and, of course, you can click and drag to select multiple cells.

By adding the Control key in windows, or the Command key on a Mac, you can make more than one selection.

These selections do not need to be next to one another.

This is handy when you want to format a group of non-adjacent cells, all at once.

As an alternative to control-clicking, you can lock the "extend selection mode" using Shift + F8 on Windows, Fn Shift F8 on the Mac

This lets you make multiple selections without holding down a key.

To get out of this mode, just press the Escape key or perform an action.

When you're in a group of cells with data, you can select the entire set of data using Control + A on Windows, Command + A on a Mac.

Using this shortcut again will select the entire worksheet.

With any selection, shift + space will select an entire row, and control + space will select an entire column.

These shortcuts work also when multiple cells are selected as.

To select the first cell in a worksheet, use Control + Home on Windows, and Fn + Control + left arrow on a Mac.

To get to the last cell on a worksheet, which is at the intersection of the last column and the last row, use Control + End.

On Macs without an End key, use Fn + Control + right arrow.

Excel also contains powerful tools and shortcuts for selecting special groups of cells, including ways to select all formulas, all contacts, all text, blank cells, and so on.

We'll cover all these options in upcoming videos.