Part of the free Module 1: Excel Shortcut Keys · Lesson 2 of 8 · Full Excel course
Updated on 5 September 2026 · Works in Excel 365, 2021, 2019 and 2016 unless noted.
Excel editing shortcuts cover everything you do to a cell after you reach it: typing, fixing, copying, pasting and deleting. The one that saves the most time is the Excel Paste Special shortcut, Ctrl + Alt + V, which opens the Paste Special dialog so you can paste values, formats, column widths or a transposed copy with two more keystrokes. This lesson covers the whole family, from F2 to Find and Replace.
Entering and editing cell contents
Typing into a selected cell replaces its contents. F2 opens the existing contents for editing, with the cursor at the end. Esc cancels the edit and restores the old value. Enter confirms and moves down; Tab confirms and moves right; Shift + Enter confirms and moves up. Ctrl + Enter confirms without moving, and if several cells are selected it puts the same entry into every one of them, which is the quickest way to fill a block with one value or one formula.
Alt + Enter inserts a line break inside a cell, and Excel turns on Wrap Text for you. Delete clears the contents of the selection but leaves formatting; Backspace clears only the active cell and opens it for editing. Ctrl + Z undoes and Ctrl + Y redoes, up to 100 steps in current versions. Ctrl + ; enters today’s date as a fixed value and Ctrl + Shift + ; enters the current time; unlike =TODAY() these do not change tomorrow. Ctrl + K opens the Insert Hyperlink dialog.
Cut, copy, paste and fill
Ctrl + X, Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V behave as in any Windows program, with one Excel habit to learn: after a copy, the source shows a moving dotted border (the marching ants) and stays on the clipboard until you press Esc or start typing. While the ants are visible, pressing Enter pastes once and clears the clipboard, so use Ctrl + V when you need to paste in several places.
Four shortcuts copy without the clipboard. Ctrl + D fills the top cell of a selection down through the rest; select the formula cell and everything below it first. Ctrl + R fills the left cell to the right. Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) copies the formula from the cell above into the active cell exactly as written, without adjusting references, and leaves it in edit mode. Ctrl + Shift + " copies the value from the cell above. Ctrl + E runs Flash Fill (Excel 2013 and later), which fills a column by copying the pattern of the examples you typed.
Paste Special with the keyboard
Ctrl + Alt + V opens the Paste Special dialog after a copy. Every option has an underlined letter, so the full sequence is one chord plus one letter plus Enter.
| Sequence | Pastes | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Ctrl + Alt + V, V, Enter | Values only | Freeze formula results before sending a file |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, F, Enter | Formulas only | Copy formulas without carrying the source formatting |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, T, Enter | Formats only | Copy number formats, fills and borders to another block |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, W, Enter | Column widths | Make a second report match the first |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, E, Enter | Transpose | Turn a row of headers into a column |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, D / S / M / I, Enter | Add, Subtract, Multiply or Divide the copied value into the selection | Increase every price by 10% without a helper column |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, B, Enter | Skip blanks | Overwrite only where the copied range has a value |
Two alternatives exist. The ribbon route Alt, H, V, V pastes values directly. In Excel 365 builds from 2023 onwards, Ctrl + Shift + V pastes values with a single chord, matching the browser convention. After any normal Ctrl + V you can also press Ctrl to open the small Paste Options menu and then a letter, for example V for values, which is handy when you forgot to use Paste Special.
Inserting, deleting, hiding and unhiding
Ctrl + Shift + + (plus) inserts and Ctrl + − (minus) deletes. What they act on depends on the selection: with a whole row selected (Shift + Space) they insert or delete rows; with a whole column selected (Ctrl + Space) they act on columns; with ordinary cells selected they open a small dialog asking which way to shift. Select five rows first and Ctrl + Shift + + inserts five rows at once.
Ctrl + 9 hides the selected rows and Ctrl + 0 hides the selected columns. Ctrl + Shift + ( unhides rows inside the selection. The matching column shortcut, Ctrl + Shift + ), is intercepted by Windows on many machines and does nothing in current builds, so unhide columns with Alt, H, O, U, L or by selecting the columns either side and using the right-click menu. Alt + Shift + Right groups rows or columns and Alt + Shift + Left ungroups them, which is a better choice than hiding when colleagues need to expand the detail.
Find and Replace
Ctrl + F opens Find and Ctrl + H opens Replace; they are two tabs of the same dialog. Shift + F4 repeats the last Find without reopening the dialog. Use * for any run of characters and ? for one character, and put ~ in front of a real asterisk or question mark. Options lets you search the whole workbook, match case, match the entire cell, or search by format. Replace runs on the current selection if more than one cell is selected, otherwise on the whole sheet, which is worth checking before you click Replace All.
Worked example: raise every price by 10% and freeze the result
Assume this price list in A1:C6.
| Row | A: Product | B: Cost | C: Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Product | Cost | Price |
| 2 | Notebook | 1.20 | 2.00 |
| 3 | Pen | 0.30 | 0.60 |
| 4 | Stapler | 4.10 | 7.50 |
| 5 | Folder | 0.90 | 1.80 |
| 6 | Marker | 0.75 | 1.40 |
- Type
1.1in a spare cell, say E1, and press Ctrl + Enter to stay on it. - Press Ctrl + C to copy E1.
- Select C2, then press Ctrl + Shift + Down to select C2:C6.
- Press Ctrl + Alt + V, then M (Multiply), then Enter. Every price is multiplied by 1.1 in place: 2.20, 0.66, 8.25, 1.98, 1.54.
- Press Esc to clear the clipboard and delete E1.
If column C had contained formulas such as =B2*1.6667, the Multiply operation would have wrapped them as =(B2*1.6667)*1.1. To turn those into plain numbers, select C2:C6, press Ctrl + C, then Ctrl + Alt + V, V, Enter. The values stay, the formulas are gone, and the file is safe to send.
Editing shortcut reference
| Action | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Edit the active cell | F2 | Ctrl + U or F2 |
| Cancel the edit | Esc | Esc |
| Confirm and stay / fill the selection | Ctrl + Enter | ⌘ + Return |
| Line break inside a cell | Alt + Enter | Option + Return (older: Ctrl + Option + Return) |
| Undo / Redo | Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Y | ⌘ + Z / ⌘ + Y |
| Cut / Copy / Paste | Ctrl + X / Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V | ⌘ + X / ⌘ + C / ⌘ + V |
| Paste Special dialog | Ctrl + Alt + V | ⌘ + Ctrl + V |
| Paste values (Excel 365, 2023+) | Ctrl + Shift + V | ⌘ + Shift + V |
| Fill down / fill right | Ctrl + D / Ctrl + R | ⌘ + D / ⌘ + R |
| Copy formula from the cell above | Ctrl + ' | Ctrl + ' |
| Copy value from the cell above | Ctrl + Shift + " | Ctrl + Shift + " |
| Flash Fill | Ctrl + E | Ctrl + E |
| Today’s date / current time | Ctrl + ; / Ctrl + Shift + ; | Ctrl + ; / ⌘ + ; |
| Insert cells, rows or columns | Ctrl + Shift + + | Ctrl + Shift + = or ⌘ + Shift + = |
| Delete cells, rows or columns | Ctrl + − | ⌘ + − |
| Hide rows / hide columns | Ctrl + 9 / Ctrl + 0 | Ctrl + 9 / Ctrl + 0 |
| Unhide rows | Ctrl + Shift + ( | Ctrl + Shift + ( |
| Group / ungroup | Alt + Shift + Right / Alt + Shift + Left | ⌘ + Shift + K / ⌘ + Shift + J |
| Find / Replace | Ctrl + F / Ctrl + H | ⌘ + F / Ctrl + H |
| Find next | Shift + F4 | ⌘ + G |
| Insert hyperlink | Ctrl + K | ⌘ + K |
Tips and common mistakes
- Select before you fill. Ctrl + D copies the top cell of the selection into the cells below it. If only one cell is selected it copies the cell above into it, which surprises people who expected it to fill a column.
- Paste Special needs a copy, not a cut. After Ctrl + X the dialog is unavailable; use Ctrl + C and delete the source afterwards.
- Values first, formats second. Pasting values keeps the destination formatting. If the destination is General, dates arrive as serial numbers; paste formats (T) as a second step.
- Transpose needs empty space. The transposed block cannot overlap its source. Paste to a clear area, then move it.
- Pasting into a filtered range fills hidden rows. Excel pastes into hidden rows as well as visible ones. Filter the source instead, or use a formula.
- Undo history is per session. Saving does not clear it, but closing the workbook does, and a macro run clears it entirely.
- Replace All obeys the selection. With two or more cells selected, Replace All touches only those cells. Select a single cell to work on the whole sheet.
Errors and how to fix them
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| #REF! appears after pasting values | You pasted values over cells that other formulas referenced, or deleted a referenced row with Ctrl + − | Ctrl + Z, then paste into a new column and repoint the formulas |
| “Excel cannot paste the data” or the shapes do not match | The copied range and the destination selection have different shapes, or the destination includes merged cells | Select a single cell as the destination, or unmerge with Alt, H, M, U |
| Transpose option is greyed out | Transpose does not work with cut data or with Excel Table columns | Copy instead of cut; convert the Table to a range first, or use the TRANSPOSE function |
| The clipboard emptied after one paste | You pressed Enter to paste, which pastes once and clears the clipboard | Paste with Ctrl + V so you can paste again |
| Ctrl + Shift + ) does not unhide columns | Windows or a keyboard layout intercepts the chord | Use Alt, H, O, U, L |
Practise these five this week
| Shortcut | What it does | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| F2 | Edits the active cell in place | Fixing a typo without retyping the whole entry |
| Ctrl + D | Fills the top cell of the selection downwards | Copying a formula down a column |
| Ctrl + Alt + V, V | Pastes values only | Freezing results before sharing |
| Ctrl + Shift + + / Ctrl + − | Inserts or deletes rows, columns or cells | Any time you reach for the right-click menu |
| Ctrl + H | Find and Replace | Cleaning imported data, swapping codes for names |
- Write a formula in the first row of a column, select the column with Ctrl + Shift + Down and fill it with Ctrl + D. Then convert the whole column to values with Paste Special.
- Insert three blank rows above a header using Shift + Space, Shift + Down twice and Ctrl + Shift + +. Delete them again with Ctrl + −.
- Copy a row of month names and paste them transposed into a column with Ctrl + Alt + V, E.
Key takeaways
- F2 edits, Esc cancels, Ctrl + Enter confirms without moving and fills a selection.
- Ctrl + Alt + V then a letter is the Paste Special shortcut: V values, T formats, E transpose, W widths, M multiply.
- Ctrl + D and Ctrl + R fill from the first cell of the selection; Ctrl + ' copies the formula above.
- Ctrl + Shift + + and Ctrl + − insert and delete whatever is selected: cells, rows or columns.
- Pressing Enter to paste clears the clipboard; use Ctrl + V to paste repeatedly.
Related lessons
- Excel Shortcut Keys course hub: the complete shortcut reference.
- Navigation and selection shortcuts, the keys that get you to the right cells first.
- Formatting shortcuts: Ctrl + 1 and the number format keys
- Formula shortcuts: F2, F4, F9, Ctrl + ` and Alt + =
- Fill Down, Up, Left, Right, Series and Justify (module 2)
- Flash Fill in Excel (module 2), the full lesson on Ctrl + E.
- Microsoft Support: Keyboard shortcuts in Excel.
Frequently asked questions
What is the shortcut to paste values only in Excel?
Copy the cells, select the destination and press Ctrl + Alt + V, then V, then Enter. The ribbon sequence Alt, H, V, V does the same in one pass. Recent Excel 365 builds also accept Ctrl + Shift + V. On a Mac use ⌘ + Ctrl + V and choose Values.
How do I transpose data with the keyboard?
Copy the range with Ctrl + C, select a single empty cell where the top-left corner should go, and press Ctrl + Alt + V, E, Enter. Rows become columns and columns become rows. The destination must not overlap the source. For a live link that updates with the source, use the TRANSPOSE function instead.
Why does Ctrl + D fill the wrong cells?
Ctrl + D copies the top cell of the current selection into all the cells below it within that selection. If you select only the empty cells, Excel copies the first of those empty cells, which produces blanks. Start the selection on the cell that holds the formula and extend downwards before pressing Ctrl + D.
What is the difference between Ctrl + ‘ and Ctrl + Shift + “?
Ctrl + ' copies the formula from the cell directly above, exactly as typed, with no reference adjustment, and leaves the cell in edit mode so you can change it. Ctrl + Shift + " copies the value shown in the cell above, so a formula above becomes a plain number below. Neither uses the clipboard.
Can I paste only the formatting in Excel?
Yes. Copy the formatted cells, select the target range and press Ctrl + Alt + V, T, Enter. Number formats, fonts, fills, borders and conditional formatting are applied without changing the contents. Format Painter (Alt, H, F, P) does the same job for a single destination.
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