Excel shortcuts for Mac: the complete list

Most shortcut lists are written for Windows and leave Mac users to guess. This one is Mac first. Three rules cover most of it: Cmd replaces Ctrl for the common chords, Control stays Control for the number formats because Cmd+Shift+number is taken by screenshots, and the Alt ribbon chains do not exist at all.

The three rules

Cmd for Ctrl. Copy, paste, bold, undo, fill down, fill right, select all, the arrow jumps: Cmd+C, Cmd+V, Cmd+B, Cmd+Z, Cmd+D, Cmd+R, Cmd+A, Cmd+Arrow. If a Windows shortcut starts with Ctrl and is not a number format, try Cmd first.

Control for the number formats. Control+Shift+1 for comma, 3 for date, 4 for currency, 5 for percent, ~ for General. Cmd with those keys takes screenshots.

No Alt chains. Pressing Option does not show key tips. Autofit, borders, freeze panes, sort, pivot tables and sheet renames go through the menu bar on a Mac. If you will ever work on Windows, learn the chains anyway; they are listed here with their menu equivalents.

Function keys: on a MacBook the F-keys default to brightness and volume. Either hold Fn (Fn+F2, Fn+F4) or turn on "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" in the keyboard settings, which every Excel user ends up doing.

navigation shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Jump to the edge of the data	`Cmd+Arrow`	`Ctrl+Arrow`	Practice
Jump to the last column of a row	`Cmd+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+Right arrow`	Practice
Return to cell A1	`Fn+Cmd+Left arrow`	`Ctrl+Home`	Practice
Jump back up to the header	`Cmd+Up arrow`	`Ctrl+Up arrow`	Practice
Go to the start of the row	`Fn+Left arrow`	`Home`	Practice
Go to the last used cell	`Fn+Cmd+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+End`	Practice
Find where a column stops	`Cmd+Down arrow`	`Ctrl+Down arrow`	Practice
Cross a gap between two blocks	`Cmd+Down arrow, twice`	`Ctrl+Down arrow, twice`	Practice
Go to a cell by address	`Ctrl+G or Fn+F5`	`Ctrl+G, type the address, Enter`	Practice
Jump to a named range	`Fn+F5`	`F5, pick the name, Enter`	Practice
Jump to the cells a formula uses	`Ctrl+[`	`Ctrl+[`	Practice
Return to where you came from	`Fn+F5, Enter`	`F5, Enter`	Practice
Jump to the cells that use this one	`Ctrl+]`	`Ctrl+]`	Practice
Move to the next sheet	`Ctrl+Page Down or Option+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+Page Down`	Practice
Find the last cell on a wide sheet	`Fn+Ctrl+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+End`	Practice
Back to the top left from anywhere	`Fn+Ctrl+Left arrow`	`Ctrl+Home`	Practice
Select every error cell	`Ctrl+G, Special, Formulas, Errors`	`Ctrl+G, Alt+S, K, Enter`	Practice

selection shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Select a column of data	`Cmd+Shift+Down arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow`	Practice
Select across a row	`Cmd+Shift+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow`	Practice
Select the whole row	`Shift+Space`	`Shift+Space`	Practice
Select the whole column	`Control+Space`	`Ctrl+Space`	Practice
Select the current table	`Cmd+A`	`Ctrl+A`	Practice
Select to the last used cell	`Fn+Cmd+Shift+Right arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+End`	Practice
Select back to A1	`Fn+Cmd+Shift+Left arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+Home`	Practice
Select to the start of the row	`Fn+Shift+Left arrow`	`Shift+Home`	Practice
Select the region without the mouse	`Cmd+A`	`Ctrl+A or Ctrl+Shift+8`	Practice
Select to the end of the column	`Cmd+Shift+Down arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow`	Practice
Select a block from its top-left cell	`Cmd+Shift+Right arrow, Cmd+Shift+Down arrow`	`Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow, Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow`	Practice

formatting shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Bold the selection	`Cmd+B`	`Ctrl+B`	Practice
Italic	`Cmd+I`	`Ctrl+I`	Practice
Underline	`Cmd+U`	`Ctrl+U`	Practice
Format as currency	`Control+Shift+4`	`Ctrl+Shift+4`	Practice
Thousands separators and two decimals	`Control+Shift+1`	`Ctrl+Shift+1`	Practice
Format as percentage	`Control+Shift+5`	`Ctrl+Shift+5`	Practice
Format a serial number as a date	`Control+Shift+3`	`Ctrl+Shift+3`	Practice
Clear the number format	`Control+Shift+~`	Ctrl+Shift+`	Practice
Autofit the column width	Menu only	`Alt, H, O, I`	Practice
Bottom border	`Cmd+Option+Down arrow`	`Alt, H, B, O`	Practice
Change the font color	Menu only	`Alt, H, F, C`	Practice
Wrap text	Menu only	`Alt, H, W`	Practice
Hide the selected columns	`Cmd+0`	`Ctrl+0`	Practice
Unhide columns	`Cmd+Shift+0`	`Ctrl+Shift+0`	Practice

editing shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
AutoSum below a column	`Cmd+Shift+T`	`Alt+=`	Practice
AutoSum across a row	`Cmd+Shift+T`	`Alt+=`	Practice
Undo	`Cmd+Z`	`Ctrl+Z`	Practice
Fill down	`Cmd+D`	`Ctrl+D`	Practice
Fill right	`Cmd+R`	`Ctrl+R`	Practice
Clear the selection	`Fn+Delete`	`Delete`	Practice
Delete the row	`Shift+Space, Control+-`	`Shift+Space, Ctrl+-`	Practice
Insert a row	`Shift+Space, Control+Shift+=`	`Shift+Space, Ctrl+Shift+=`	Practice
Cut and move a cell	`Cmd+X, move, Cmd+V`	`Ctrl+X, move, Ctrl+V`	Practice
Turn filters on and off	`Cmd+Shift+F`	`Ctrl+Shift+L`	Practice
Copy a row to below the data	`Cmd+Shift+Right, Cmd+C, Cmd+Down, Fn+Left, Down, Cmd+V`	`Ctrl+Shift+Right, Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Down, Home, Down, Ctrl+V`	Practice
Total two columns in a row	`Option+=, Tab, Option+=`	`Alt+=, Tab, Alt+=`	Practice
Bold the header and format the numbers	`Cmd+Shift+Right, Cmd+B, Down, Cmd+Shift+Down, Control+Shift+4`	`Ctrl+Shift+Right, Ctrl+B, Down, Ctrl+Shift+Down, Ctrl+Shift+4`	Practice
Delete a row and redo the total	`Shift+Space, Control+-, Cmd+Down, Down, Option+=`	`Shift+Space, Ctrl+-, Ctrl+Down, Down, Alt+=`	Practice

paste special shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Paste values only	`Cmd+C, Cmd+Ctrl+V, V, Enter`	`Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Alt+V, V, Enter`	Practice
Paste formats only	`Cmd+C, Cmd+Ctrl+V, T, Enter`	`Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Alt+V, T, Enter`	Practice
Paste transposed	`Cmd+C, Cmd+Ctrl+V, E, Enter`	`Ctrl+C, Ctrl+Alt+V, E, Enter`	Practice

formula shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Lock a reference with F4	`Fn+F4 (or Cmd+T)`	`F2, F4`	Practice
Make a reference absolute	`Fn+F4, Enter`	`F2, F4, Enter`	Practice
Evaluate part of a formula	`Fn+F9, Esc`	`F2, select the part, F9, Esc`	Practice
Enter one formula into many cells	`Select, type, Cmd+Return`	`Select, type, Ctrl+Enter`	Practice
Total a whole block at once	`Cmd+Shift+T`	`Select the block plus a blank row and column, Alt+=`	Practice
Show formulas instead of values	Ctrl+`	Ctrl+`	Practice
Create names from labels	`Cmd+Shift+F3`	`Select labels and values, Ctrl+Shift+F3, Enter`	Practice
Insert a function by name	`Fn+Shift+F3`	`Shift+F3, type the name, Enter`	Practice
Add a note to a cell	`Fn+Shift+F2`	`Shift+F2, type, Esc`	Practice
Repeat the last action	`Cmd+Y`	`F4 (or Ctrl+Y)`	Practice

grouping and structure shortcuts on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill
Insert a column	`Control+Space, Cmd+Shift+=`	`Ctrl+Space, Ctrl+Shift+=`	Practice
Delete a blank row	`Shift+Space, Cmd+-`	`Shift+Space, Ctrl+-`	Practice
Group rows	`Cmd+Shift+K`	`Alt+Shift+Right arrow`	Practice
Ungroup rows	`Cmd+Shift+J`	`Alt+Shift+Left arrow`	Practice
Collapse the groups	Menu only	`Alt, A, H`	Practice
Insert a sheet	`Fn+Shift+F11`	`Shift+F11`	Practice
Rename the sheet	Menu only	`Alt, H, O, R, type, Enter`	Practice
Freeze panes	Menu only	`Alt, W, F, F`	Practice
Sort by the current column	Menu only	`Alt, A, S, D`	Practice
Insert a pivot table	Menu only	`Alt, N, V`	Practice

Alt key shortcuts (ribbon key tips) on a Mac

Action	Mac	Windows	Drill

The Mac shortcuts that have no Windows twin

Cmd+Option+Arrow adds a border on that side of the selection, which is quicker than any Windows route. Cmd+T cycles the reference lock in a formula, the same as F4. Cmd+Shift+T is AutoSum. Control+U (or Fn+F2) edits the cell. Cmd+Shift+K and Cmd+Shift+J group and ungroup rows. Cmd+1 opens Format Cells, as Ctrl+1 does on Windows.

Practicing on a Mac

Every drill on Shortcutdrill has a Mac key set, chosen with the Windows and Mac switch on the practice page. The drills for Alt chains are marked Windows only and accept Option in place of Alt in the browser, so you can learn the sequence on a Mac for a job that will be on Windows.

Questions

Why does Cmd+Shift+4 take a screenshot instead of formatting currency?

macOS reserves Cmd+Shift+3, 4 and 5 for screenshots. Excel for Mac uses Control+Shift+4 for currency, Control+Shift+1 for comma, Control+Shift+5 for percent and Control+Shift+3 for date.

What is F4 on a Mac?

Fn+F4 cycles the reference lock if the function keys are set to media keys, or plain F4 if they are set to standard function keys. Cmd+T does the same in Excel for Mac.

Do the Alt ribbon shortcuts work on a Mac?

No. Excel for Mac has no key tips. Use the menu bar, add commands to the Quick Access Toolbar, or learn the Windows chains for the day you work on a Windows machine; the Shortcutdrill sheet accepts Option as Alt for practice.

Why does Ctrl+Arrow switch desktops?

macOS uses Control+Arrow for Mission Control. In Excel use Cmd+Arrow instead, or change the Mission Control shortcuts in System Settings.

Is AutoSum different on a Mac?

Yes: Cmd+Shift+T. Option+= also works in recent versions of Excel for Mac.

Excel shortcuts for Mac: every useful one, with the Windows key next to it