Excel on a Mac: the shortcuts that differ from Windows
Most Excel shortcuts on a Mac swap Ctrl for Command: Command-C copies, Command-1 opens Format Cells, and Command-arrow jumps to the edge of your data. The ones that catch Windows users out are different keys altogether. Control-U edits the active cell (F2 works too), Command-T cycles a reference between relative and absolute while you edit a formula (F4 on Windows), and Option-Return starts a new line inside a cell. On a MacBook, any shortcut that uses an F key also needs fn held down, unless you change one setting.
Below: how the modifier keys map, a table of the shortcuts that change, the function key problem on a MacBook, and how to add your own shortcut for a menu command.
How the keys map from Windows
Three rules cover most of it.
Ctrl usually becomes Command. Copy, paste, save, undo, bold, Format Cells, fill down and fill right all move to Command. Microsoft’s own list notes that many Ctrl shortcuts from Windows also work with the Control key in Excel for Mac, but not all of them. Where both work, Command is the habit worth building, because it matches every other Mac app.
Alt becomes Option, but only inside shortcuts. Option-Return for a new line in a cell is the Mac version of Alt+Enter. What does not carry over is the Windows habit of tapping Alt and then a run of letters to walk the ribbon. On a Mac, use the menu bar instead: Excel’s menus list each command’s shortcut beside it, which is also the quickest way to find a shortcut you have forgotten.
Some keys have Mac names. Enter is Return. Backspace is Delete. The Windows Delete key, which deletes to the right, is fn-Delete on a MacBook. Home, End, Page Up and Page Down are fn with the Left, Right, Up and Down arrows.
The shortcuts that change
These are the ones Windows users reach for and miss. The Mac column comes from Microsoft’s list of Excel for Mac shortcuts.
| To do this | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Edit the active cell | F2 | ⌃U, or F2 |
| Cycle a reference through $A$1, A$1, $A1 (while editing a formula) | F4 | ⌘T, or F4 |
| Start a new line in a cell | Alt+Enter | ⌥Return |
| AutoSum | Alt+= | ⇧⌘T |
| Jump to the edge of the data | Ctrl+Arrow | ⌘Arrow |
| Select to the edge of the data | Ctrl+Shift+Arrow | ⇧⌘Arrow |
| Enter today’s date | Ctrl+; | ⌃; |
| Enter the current time | Ctrl+Shift+; | ⌘; |
| Paste Special | Ctrl+Alt+V | ⌃⌘V |
| Replace | Ctrl+H | ⌃H or ⇧⌘H |
| Turn a filter on or off | Ctrl+Shift+L | ⇧⌘F or ⌃⇧L |
| Next sheet, previous sheet | Ctrl+Page Down, Ctrl+Page Up | ⌥→, ⌥← |
| Go to the start of the sheet | Ctrl+Home | ⌃Home (⌃fn← on a MacBook) |
| Fill the selected cells with one entry | Ctrl+Enter | ⌘Return or ⌃Return |
| Calculate all open workbooks | F9 | ⌘= or F9 |
A few stay almost the same. Control-semicolon still enters the date, Control-grave accent (⌃`) still switches between showing values and formulas, and Shift-Space still selects the row.
Two are worth a second look. Command-T cycles references while you are editing a formula, so click into the formula bar or press Control-U first. And the date and time pair splits across two modifiers on a Mac, Control for the date and Command for the time, where Windows uses Ctrl for both.
F2, F4 and the rest of the top row on a MacBook
On a MacBook the top row controls brightness, Mission Control, volume and the rest, so pressing F2 does not reach Excel. You have three ways round it:
- Hold fn (or the Globe key) with the F key. fn-F2 edits the cell, fn-F4 cycles references, fn-F9 recalculates.
- Make the top row send F1 to F12 by default. Open System Settings, choose Keyboard, click Keyboard Shortcuts, choose Function Keys, and turn on “Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys”. After that, brightness and volume need fn instead.
- Learn the Mac shortcuts that avoid F keys. Control-U instead of F2, Command-T instead of F4, Command-equals instead of F9. This is the one that works on every Mac keyboard, so it is the one to learn.
Function keys on a MacBook goes through the top row in more detail.
Some keys are taken by macOS before Excel sees them. Control-Up Arrow opens Mission Control, and Control-Left and Control-Right move between desktops, which is one more reason to learn Command-arrow for jumping through data. Microsoft marks a few more Excel shortcuts as clashing with macOS, such as Control-Space for selecting a column, which macOS can use to switch input sources. If you want one of those in Excel, turn off the macOS version in System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.
Add a shortcut for any Excel menu command
If you use a menu command all day and it has no shortcut, macOS can give it one, with no add-in:
- Open System Settings, choose Keyboard, and click Keyboard Shortcuts.
- Choose App Shortcuts, then click the + button.
- Pick Microsoft Excel from the Application menu.
- Type the command’s name exactly as it appears in Excel’s menu, including any “…” at the end.
- Click in the Keyboard Shortcut field, press the keys you want, and click Done.
Once it takes effect, the new shortcut shows beside the command in Excel’s menu; if it does not, quit and reopen Excel. Pick a combination Excel does not already use; Add or change a keyboard shortcut for any menu item on a Mac covers the details and the usual mistakes.
Learning the Mac versions without a printout
Printing a list and taping it to the screen works for a week. Shortcuts stick when you look one up at the moment you need it, use it, and do that again the next day.
The menu bar is the first place to look, since every Excel menu shows its shortcuts. Typebar puts that same information on the keys. Hold Command, Control or Option in Excel for a moment and the on-screen keyboard relabels each key with what it does in Excel, read from Excel’s own menus, so the names match what you see in the menu bar. Its hand-made Excel pack adds shortcuts the menus leave out. The Cheatsheet List is searchable: type “fill” or “filter”, pick the shortcut, and its keys light up on a board shaped like a MacBook or Magic Keyboard, whichever you use.
If you teach Excel or record tutorials, the keystroke pill names each shortcut as you press it, using the name it has in Excel’s menus, so viewers coming from Windows can see that the new key does the job of the one they know. Moving from Windows to Mac: learn the shortcuts by doing has more on making the switch.
Typebar costs $9 once and is free to try for 24 hours.
Questions
What is the Mac shortcut for absolute references in Excel?
While you edit a formula, Command-T cycles the reference under the cursor through absolute, mixed and relative. F4 does the same, with fn on a MacBook.
How do I edit a cell in Excel on a Mac without F2?
Press Control-U. It opens the active cell for editing with the cursor at the end, like F2 on Windows.
How do I start a new line inside a cell on a Mac?
Press Option-Return while you type in the cell. Control-Option-Return works too.
Why does Control-arrow not jump to the end of my data?
On a Mac, Control with the arrow keys belongs to Mission Control and desktops. Excel uses Command-arrow for the same jump, and Shift-Command-arrow to select along the way.