Excel shortcut keys cheat sheet, Windows and Mac

Excel shortcut keys differ between Windows and Mac more often than a Ctrl-to-Cmd swap suggests. Microsoft lists the two systems separately, and for a few tasks it lists no key at all, so a task-by-task lookup with both columns side by side saves the trial and error.

Excel shortcut keys cheat sheet: copy, paste, save and find

Copy, cut and paste use the same letters on both systems, and the Mac accepts Control as well as Cmd. Two symbols decide how to read every key in Microsoft's list. A plus sign means the keys go down together, so Ctrl+C is Ctrl held while you tap C.

A comma means one press after another, so Alt+H, D, C is three separate presses. Microsoft's list also assumes a US keyboard. On other layouts, some keys may not sit where the list expects them, which matters most for punctuation keys such as Plus, Minus and Equal.

Copy, cut, and paste

Paste Special is the one key here worth learning on its own, because the Mac gives it three combinations. It opens a dialog where you choose what goes into the cell, such as values without the formulas behind them.

A Windows habit carries straight over to a Mac for copy, cut and paste. Control works in place of Cmd for all three.

Save, undo, and find

Microsoft's Windows desktop table has no entry for Find or Replace, while the Mac table lists both. Save and undo, by contrast, take one key on each system.

The Windows table points to the Home tab (Alt+H) for the Find tool, and Microsoft's Excel for the web table gives Ctrl+F. Replace appears only in the Mac table, as Ctrl+H or Cmd+Shift+H.

Why some actions have two shortcuts

Microsoft often lists two keys for one job, and both work. On Windows, bold is Ctrl+B or Ctrl+2, so you can use whichever one your hand finds first.

On a Mac, the second key is usually Control standing in for Cmd. A cheat sheet that shows only one of the pair is therefore incomplete rather than wrong, and the tables here list both wherever Microsoft does.

Insert row shortcut and delete row shortcut in Excel

Select the whole row with Shift+Spacebar, press Ctrl+Shift+Plus to insert, and press Ctrl+Minus to delete. To work on a column instead, select it with Ctrl+Spacebar first. Both selection keys appear in the Windows and the Mac tables.

Insert a row or column

The Mac key for inserting is not the Windows key with Cmd swapped in: it is Ctrl+Shift+Equal. On both systems the key opens the Insert dialog box.

The Mac table names the same keystroke by its other label, since plus and equals share one key on a US keyboard. Ctrl+Spacebar carries Microsoft's asterisk on a Mac, meaning macOS may already use it. If it does nothing in Excel, freeing the key in the macOS keyboard settings fixes it.

Delete a row or column

Ctrl+Minus opens the Delete dialog box on Windows. On a Mac, Cmd or Control with the hyphen key does the same.

The Windows list also shows a ribbon route, Alt+H, D, C, which deletes a column in three presses. It belongs to the Windows ribbon letters, and the Mac table has nothing like it.

Hide and unhide rows or columns

Ctrl+9 hides rows and Ctrl+0 hides columns on Windows, and Microsoft's desktop table lists no key to bring them back. The Mac table lists a key for each.

Both unhide cells for Windows are marked as not listed instead of filled with a guess. On a Mac, the hide keys also accept Ctrl+9 and Ctrl+0.

Undo and redo shortcuts, plus F4 to repeat the last action

Undo is Ctrl+Z on Windows, redo is Ctrl+Y, and a Mac gives redo three keys. F4 sits next to them because it does two jobs depending on whether a formula is being edited.

Undo and redo on Windows and Mac

Redo is the row that differs: Ctrl+Y on Windows, and Cmd+Y, Ctrl+Y or Cmd+Shift+Z on a Mac. A Windows habit of pressing Ctrl+Y still redoes on a Mac.

Undo takes one key on each system. Cmd+Shift+Z is the Mac combination with no Windows counterpart.

Repeat the last action with F4

F4 does two jobs: it repeats the last command outside a formula and cycles reference types inside one. The repeat saves a trip back to the ribbon when the same fill or border goes onto several ranges one after another.

Microsoft's wording is that F4 alone repeats the last command or action, if possible. Inside a formula, select a cell reference or range and F4 cycles through the absolute and relative combinations. On a Mac, the same toggle is Cmd+T or F4.

Excel save as shortcut, plus open, close and print keys

Save As is F12 on Windows and Cmd+Shift+S on a Mac, and Ctrl+S saves the workbook where it already lives. The file keys also differ in what they close: one closes the workbook, another quits Excel.

Ctrl+S, F12 and Cmd+Shift+S

F12 is the one Save As key that works on Windows and on a Mac. Ctrl+S, by contrast, saves the workbook where it already lives.

Cmd+Shift+S is the additional Mac combination for the Save As dialog box, and Microsoft's Windows table lists F12 alone. Save and Save As therefore sit on different keys on both systems.

Open, close, and print

Ctrl+W closes the workbook and leaves Excel open, while Alt+F4 on Windows and Cmd+Q on a Mac quit Excel altogether. Ctrl+O opens a workbook on Windows, and Cmd+O or Ctrl+O does on a Mac.

Print follows the same pattern as Find. The Mac table gives Cmd+P or Ctrl+P, and on the Windows side only Microsoft's web table documents Ctrl+P.

Merge and center shortcut, and hiding gridlines in Excel

Microsoft lists no key for Merge & Center or for gridlines, and on Windows the route goes through Key Tips. Pressing Alt makes letters appear next to every ribbon tab and button, and typing them in order runs the command.

Merge and center cells

On Windows, press Alt, then H for the Home tab, then the letters Excel draws on the Merge & Center button. Those letters are shown live on the ribbon, so they are read off the screen rather than from a list.

Alt+H, A, C is a related key that Microsoft does list, and it centers cell contents without merging anything. A heading that only needs to look centered may need nothing more. The Mac table has no Key Tips entries, so there is no Alt route to the merge button on a Mac.

Hide gridlines

Gridlines live on the View tab, and Alt+W opens that tab on Windows. Microsoft's description of that tab names gridlines and headings among its controls.

After Alt+W, the Key Tips letters on screen lead to the gridlines option. Microsoft's shortcut page does not say whether gridlines print, so a print preview is the place to confirm it.

Excel shortcuts on Mac that differ from Windows

A plain Ctrl-to-Cmd swap fails for a few keys, because Control works in place of Cmd for many shortcuts but not all of them. Microsoft states this directly in the introduction to its Mac section.

Where Ctrl also works as Cmd

Copy, paste, save, undo, open and close are all listed as Cmd or Control on a Mac, so either hand position works. The rows that break the pattern are the ones to check before switching machines.

Underline and quit are Cmd-only in Microsoft's Mac table, as Cmd+U and Cmd+Q. Cmd+H is the one to watch before switching machines, because it hides Excel instead of opening Replace.

Shortcuts that don't exist on Mac

The Alt sequences on Windows, such as Alt+H, D, C, have no counterpart in Microsoft's Mac table. They drive the Windows ribbon letter by letter, so those tasks go through the ribbon or the menu bar on a Mac.

A second group exists on both systems but may not reach Excel on a Mac. Microsoft marks these with an asterisk because they clash with default macOS shortcuts, and Ctrl+Spacebar for selecting a column is one of them. Turning off the clashing macOS keyboard shortcut frees the key for Excel.

Summary: find a key by task, then check the Mac column

Look a key up by the task at hand, read the Mac column before switching machines, and trust a "not listed" row over a guess. Copy and save are the keys to learn first, and the file keys can wait.

Two gaps are worth remembering on a Mac: Cmd+H hides Excel instead of opening Replace, and the Alt ribbon sequences have no Mac version. Merging cells and hiding gridlines go through Key Tips on Windows rather than a single key.