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Excel Shortcut Trainer

Everyone prints the cheat sheet. Almost nobody practises it. A modelling test is sixty minutes with no mouse, and the difference between finishing and not is whether paste values, fill right and trace precedents are in your fingers. A task is shown, you press the shortcut on your own keyboard, and the page checks the chord and the time. Windows and Mac.

Then take it to the LBO Modelling Test, where the clock is real.

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Excel for Windows

Twelve tasks. Each one names something you do in a model; you press the shortcut on your own keyboard and the page checks the keys and times you. Miss one and the chord is shown before the next.

59 shortcuts in the pool for all categories on Windows.

What a browser will not let us test

A few chords reach the browser before they reach the page, so pressing them here would close the tab or open a dialog rather than score a point. They still count in Excel. The one that hurts most is Ctrl+D, fill down, which every browser has claimed for bookmarks and which is among the most useful shortcuts in a model.

F5Open the Go To dialog: the browser reloads the page. Drilled through Ctrl+G instead.
Ctrl+Page DownSwitch to the next worksheet: the browser switches tab. Not in the drill.
Ctrl+DFill down: the browser bookmarks the page. Drilled through AltthenHthenFthenIthenD instead.
Ctrl+TTurn the range into a Table: the browser opens a new tab. Drilled through AltthenNthenT instead.

Full referenceAll 60 shortcuts, Excel for WindowsShow

Category	Task	Shortcut	Why it matters
Navigation	Jump to the last row of the column	`Ctrl`+`↓`	Finding the bottom of a 3,000-row data tab by scrolling is how a checker loses a minute per column.
	Jump to the last column of the row	`Ctrl`+`→`	Forecast rows run 10 to 15 years wide; the edge key lands on the final year in one press.
	Jump to cell A1	`Ctrl`+`Home`	A reviewer opens every tab at A1. Leaving a model parked at cell AZ400 is a tell.
	Jump to the last used cell on the sheet	`Ctrl`+`End`	Shows at once whether a stray value or format sits far below the model, which bloats the file and breaks print ranges.
	Jump to the first column of the current row	`Home`	From year 10 of a forecast back to the label in one press, to read what the row actually is.
	Open the Go To dialog	`Ctrl`+`G` `F5`browser keeps this	Typing a range name or address is faster than scrolling to it, and Go To Special finds every hard-coded number on a sheet.
	Switch to the next worksheet	`Ctrl`+`Page Down`browser keeps this	A three-statement model lives across five or more tabs; the mouse route through the tab strip costs seconds every time.
	Scroll back to the active cell	`Ctrl`+`Backspace`	After scrolling away to check something, this returns the view to where you were typing without losing the selection.
	Open Find	`Ctrl`+`F`	Locating every use of a driver like "tax rate" across a workbook is a search, not a scroll.
	Open Find and Replace	`Ctrl`+`H`	Repointing a block of formulas from one sheet name to another is a single replace, not fifty edits.
Selection	Select the whole column	`Ctrl`+`Space`	The first half of inserting or deleting a column, and of formatting a year consistently from top to bottom.
	Select the whole row	`Shift`+`Space`	The first half of inserting a row, which a model needs every time a new line item appears.
	Extend the selection to the bottom of the column	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`↓`	Selects a whole data column for a formula, a chart or a paste in one press, however long it is.
	Extend the selection to the end of the row	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`→`	Grabs a formula row from year 1 to year 10 before filling right, so every year gets the same logic.
	Select the current data block	`Ctrl`+`A` `Ctrl`+`Shift`+`8`	Selects the contiguous table around the cursor, which is what a pivot, a sort or a chart wants as its input.
	Extend the selection to the last used cell	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`End`	Selects everything from the cursor to the far corner of the sheet, for clearing or formatting in one go.
	Select only the visible cells	`Alt`+`;`	Copying a filtered or grouped range without this also copies every hidden row, which is how numbers leak into a summary.
Editing	Edit the active cell	`F2`	Puts the cursor inside the formula with its references coloured, which is how you read what a cell actually does.
	Paste values only	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`V` `Ctrl`+`Alt`+`V`then`V`then`Enter` `Alt`then`H`then`V`then`V`	Freezes a scenario output or an imported number without dragging its formula or formatting along.
	Open Paste Special	`Ctrl`+`Alt`+`V` `Alt`then`H`then`V`then`S`	Formats only, formulas only, transpose, or multiply a block by a factor in place: all live behind this dialog.
	Insert a row	`Shift`+`Space`then`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`=` `Shift`+`Space`then`Ctrl`+`+ (numpad)` `Alt`then`H`then`I`then`R` `Alt`then`I`then`R`	Select the row, then insert. A new line item in the P&L should take two chords, not a right-click.
	Insert a column	`Ctrl`+`Space`then`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`=` `Ctrl`+`Space`then`Ctrl`+`+ (numpad)` `Alt`then`H`then`I`then`C` `Alt`then`I`then`C`	Adding a forecast year or a check column. Select the column first so Excel does not ask which way to shift.
	Delete the row	`Shift`+`Space`then`Ctrl`+`-` `Alt`then`H`then`D`then`R`	Removes the row and closes the gap, unlike Delete alone, which leaves an empty line that breaks a SUM.
	Fill down	`Ctrl`+`D`browser keeps this `Alt`then`H`then`F`then`I`then`D`	Copies the formula above into the selection. With a column selected first, one press builds a whole calculation column.
	Fill right	`Ctrl`+`R` `Alt`then`H`then`F`then`I`then`R`	Copies the year-1 formula across the forecast. The core move of building a model: write once, fill right.
	Repeat the last action	`F4` `Ctrl`+`Y`	Applied a format or inserted a row once; the same key repeats it on the next selection without the ribbon.
	Undo	`Ctrl`+`Z`	The safety net for every other shortcut here. Excel keeps around 100 steps.
	Insert today's date	`Ctrl`+`;`	Dates a model version or an assumption as a fixed value, unlike TODAY(), which moves every time the file opens.
	Insert the current time	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`;`	Timestamps a data pull or a version note as a static value.
	Enter the same value in every selected cell	`Ctrl`+`Enter`	Type once, commit to the whole selection. Sets a growth assumption across ten years in one go.
	Start a new line inside the cell	`Alt`+`Enter`	Two-line labels and notes without merging cells, which a model should never do.
	Add a note to the cell	`Shift`+`F2`	Where an assumption came from belongs next to the number, not in an email.
	Flash Fill	`Ctrl`+`E`	Splits or reshapes a column of text from one example, which cleans a data export without formulas.
	Copy the formula from the cell above	`Ctrl`+`'`	Brings the formula down with its references unshifted, useful when the row above is the pattern and fill-down is too broad.
	Save the workbook	`Ctrl`+`S`	Every block of work. A crash at the end of a two-hour modelling test is not a story you want to tell.
Formatting	Format as a number with two decimals	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`1`	Thousands separators and two decimals, with a minus sign for negatives. The default for anything that is not a percentage.
	Format as a percentage	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`5`	Growth rates and margins read as 12% rather than 0.12, and a reviewer sees at once which rows are rates.
	Format as currency	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`4`	Marks the cash lines. Apply it to the totals only, or a model turns into a wall of symbols.
	Format as a date	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`3`	A timeline row entered as serial numbers reads as 45658 until this is applied.
	Clear the number format back to General	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`	Strips a format that was pasted in by accident, so a cell that looks like text calculates again.
	Open Format Cells	`Ctrl`+`1`	Custom number formats, such as showing negatives in brackets or millions as 1.2m, live here.
	Bold	`Ctrl`+`B`	Totals and section headers. Used on every sheet, so it should never need the mouse.
	Put an outline border around the selection	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`7`	Boxes an input block so a reader can see where the assumptions stop and the calculations begin.
	Strikethrough	`Ctrl`+`5`	Marks a line item as dropped without deleting it, so the audit trail survives until the version is signed off.
	Hide the selected rows	`Ctrl`+`9`	Tucks away working rows before a screenshot. Grouping is the better habit, but this is the one people reach for.
	Hide the selected columns	`Ctrl`+`0`	Hides the historical years to show only the forecast when presenting.
Formulas	Toggle absolute reference	`F4`	Cycles A1 to $A$1 to A$1 to $A1 while editing. Without it, a fill-right shifts the tax rate reference off the assumption cell.
	AutoSum	`Alt`+`=`	Writes the SUM over the block above or to the left. Check the range it guessed before pressing Enter.
	Open the Insert Function dialog	`Shift`+`F3`	Shows each argument of a function you half remember, such as the match type in MATCH.
	Show formulas instead of values	`Ctrl`+`	Turns the sheet into its logic so a hard-coded number in a row of formulas stands out immediately.
	Recalculate all open workbooks	`F9`	Large models run in manual calculation mode. If the numbers look stale, this is the reason.
	Enter an array formula	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`Enter`	Older workbooks and some interview questions still use the curly-brace array entry rather than dynamic arrays.
	Expand or collapse the formula bar	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`U`	A nested IF or a long INDEX MATCH is unreadable on one line; expanded, it can be read as a paragraph.
Modelling	Trace precedents: select the cells this formula uses	`Ctrl`+`[` `Alt`then`M`then`P`	Auditing a model means following each number back to its inputs. This jumps to them; the mouse route draws arrows.
	Trace dependents: select the cells that use this one	`Ctrl`+`]` `Alt`then`M`then`D`	Before changing an assumption, see what breaks. This shows every formula that reads the cell.
	Group the selected rows	`Alt`+`Shift`+`→`	Collapsible detail beats hidden rows: a reviewer can see that something is folded away and open it.
	Ungroup the selected rows	`Alt`+`Shift`+`←`	Removes an outline level without touching the cells inside it.
	Toggle AutoFilter on the data block	`Ctrl`+`Shift`+`L`	Filter a transaction export by counterparty or month before summarising it, without building a pivot.
	Turn the range into a Table	`Ctrl`+`T`browser keeps this `Alt`then`N`then`T`	Structured references and auto-extending formulas for a data tab, so a new row picks up every column formula.
	Insert a new worksheet	`Shift`+`F11`	A scratch tab for a check or a scenario, without reaching for the plus button.

Hands fast on the keyboard? The other half of a modelling test is the arithmetic you do while the sheet is calculating. Sixty seconds of it in the Mental Math Gym.Mental Math

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Educational use only, not financial advice. The shortcuts listed here are illustrative, produced from assumptions you control, and must not be relied on for any investment, financial or business decision. Read the full notice

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Illustrative figures. Default values are plausible starting points chosen so a model has somewhere to begin. They are not data, not a view on any company, and not calibrated to anything. Outputs move with whatever you type in.

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