5 important selection shortcuts in MS Excel

Shortcut Keys	Description
Shift/CTRL + Space	Allows you to select the entire row/column
Shift + Arrow Key	Extends the selection by one cell
CTRL + A	Selects entire range in a table or the entire worksheet
CTRL + Shift + Arrow keys	Extends the selection to the last non-blank (filled) cell in the same column or row as the active cell
CTRL + Shift + Home	Extend the selection from currently active cell to the beginning of the worksheet i.e. Cell A1

Whenever you will be working on MS excel, there will always be need of selecting data for copy-pasting or highlighting or other editing purpose. Sometimes you may have to select only few specific cells from a large number of cells. Selection shortcuts make this task very easy for you. In the table we have discussed in brief the 6 most important selection keys.

1. Shift/CTRL + Space - The combination of Shift with space key will select the entire row your selected cell is located in. Similarly pressing control key with space will select the entire column. 

2. Shift + Arrow Key - Use this shortcut to select the adjacent cell in any direction i.e. to the left/right/up/down. 

3. CTRL + A - If pressed inside a table (A range or array of adjoining filled cells), the entire range is selected. If pressed once more, the entire worksheet will be selected.

4. CTRL + Shift + Arrow keys - This shortcut performs the action of selection till last filled cell in a row/column

An example will help you understand how to use the above mentioned shortcut

As we can see above, the excel file in question lists the batting stats of all those batsmen who have scored 2,000 or more in the test matches. It consists of more than 250 players and we need to select the data pertaining to all of them. So using mouse and dragging it to select the data is really a bad idea. Instead, we will be using the shortcuts to accomplish the task in just 2 steps. 

In first step we will be using CTRL + Shift + right arrow to select the first row till the last filled cell as shown below

Now, in the second step, hit CTRL + Shift + down arrow. This will complete our job of selecting all the data from the workbook as shown below

Did you notice how we were able to select the whole data set in couple of seconds and that too without any fuss? 

Here are few important points worth noting

a. Remember that if you press spacebar in a cell it is considered as a filled (non-blank) cell, as Space is considered as a character. 

b. Ctrl + A can also be used to select the whole data given in a tabular form.  The point to be noted here is that using this shortcut will also select the column numbers and the particulars in this example as they are part of the data table. So this shortcut can’t be used for selective selection. 

Now that you have learnt to select the data swiftly and easily without using a mouse, why don’t you show the co-workers the magic of your fingers and earn their adulation. 

In our next article we will be dealing with important formatting shortcuts.