Excel Formatting Shortcuts

Written by

Mel Jenkins

Reviewed by

Laura Tsitlidze

Last updated on November 29, 2023

In this tutorial…

Format Cells Dialog Box
General Formatting Shortcuts
Alignment Shortcuts
Font Shortcuts
Number Format Shortcuts
Border Shortcuts

Format Cells Dialog Box

 

Open Format Cells Dialog Box

This Excel shortcut opens the Format Cells dialog box, to the Number tab or the tab you used most recently.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+1
Mac Shortcut:+1
The key on a Mac is called the Command (Cmd) key.

shortcuts formats cells dialog

General

 

Paste Format

This Excel shortcut copies the formatting from one cell and pastes it into another cell.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Alt+V>T>Enter
A plus (+) sign between keys means you should press the two keys simultaneously. A right angle bracket (>) means you should lift your fingers from the keyboard before pressing the next key.
  1. Select the cell that contains formatted text and press CTRL + C to copy the cell.

shortcuts formats copy

  1. Then, select the cell where you want to paste the formatting from the first cell and press CTRL + ALT + V to open the Paste Special dialog box. Press T for Formats.

shortcuts formats alt ctrl v

  1. Press ENTER on the keyboard to apply the original cell’s formatting to the selected cell.

shortcuts formats paste

 

Repeat Previous Format

This Excel shortcut repeats the previous formatting you applied.

PC Shortcut:F4
Mac Shortcut:+Y
The ⌃ key on a Mac is the Control key.
  1. After applying formatting to one cell, select another cell where you want the same formatting.

shortcuts format select repeat

  1. Press F4 (or CTRL + Y on a Mac) to repeat the format most recently applied.

shortcuts format repeat applied

If there are multiple formatting elements applied to the original cell, the F4 shortcut does not work the same way as CTRL + ALT + V > T > ENTER; instead, only the last format change is repeated. Below, see how using F4 to repeat the last formatting change only changes the font size in Cell C5 (Jim) even though multiple format changes were made to C4 (Mary).

F4

 

Fill Color

This Excel shortcut lets you choose a fill color.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>H
  1. Press ALT + H. This moves the cursor up to the Ribbon (Home tab). Press H to show the fill color drop down.

shortcuts fill select

  1. Use the arrow keys to move to the fill color you want. Or, press M (for More colors) or N (for None).

shortcuts fill enter

  1. Once you have chosen a color, press ENTER.

 

This Excel shortcut clears all formatting.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>E>F
  1. Select the cell or cells you want to clear the formatting.

shortcuts formats select

  1. Press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon. Press E, then F (Clear Formats).

shortcuts format clear ribbon

This clears all formatting from the selected cells, leaving the contents unchanged.

shortcuts formats format cleared

Alignment

 

Wrap Text

This Excel shortcut turns on text wrapping.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>W
  1. Select the text you want to wrap and display on multiple lines.

shortcuts format wrap

  1. Press ALT +H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon, and then press W.

shortcuts format wrapped

 

Merge Cells

This Excel shortcut merges selected cells together. Be careful: When cells are merged, Excel only keeps the data contained in the top-left cell. If you have data in any of the other cells, it gets deleted.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>M>M
  1. Select the cells you want to combine into a single cell.

shortcuts format select merge

  1. Press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon, and then press M > M. This merges the selected cells and aligns the text to the left of the merged cell.

shortcuts format merged

To merge cells and center align the text at the same time, press C instead of M as the final key (ALT + H > M > C).

shortcuts format merged centered

 

Align Left

This Excel shortcut aligns text to the left in a cell.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>A>L
Mac Shortcut:+L
  1. Select the cells you want to align to the left.

shortcuts format align left

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon. Then press, one at a time, A > L. On a Mac, use CMD + L.

shortcuts format aligned left

 

Align Center

This Excel shortcut aligns text to the middle in a cell.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>A>C
Mac Shortcut:+E
  1. Select the cells where you want the text to be centered.

shortcuts format align center

  1. On the PC, press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon and then press A > C. On a Mac, press CMD + E.

shortcuts format aligned center

 

Align Right

This Excel shortcut aligns text to the right in a cell.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>A>R
Mac Shortcut:+R
  1. Select the cells where you want the text aligned to the right.

shortcuts format align right

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon. Then press, one at a time, A > R. On a Mac, press CMD + R.

shortcuts format aligned right

 

Indent

This Excel shortcut increases the text indent.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>6
Mac Shortcut:+>Tab
The key on a Mac is called the Option or Alt key.
  1. Select the cell or cells where you want to indent.

shortcuts formats indent

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Home tab on the Ribbon. Then press, one at a time, A > 6. On a Mac, press CTRL + ALT then TAB.

shortcuts formats indented

 

Remove Indent

This Excel shortcut decreases the text indent.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>5
Mac Shortcut:+>+Tab
  1. Select the cell or cells where you want to remove the indent from, shifting toward the left of the cell.

shortcuts formats indented

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Ribbon and then press A > 5. On a Mac, press CTRL + ALT then SHIFT + TAB.

shortcuts formats indent

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Font

 

Format Font

This Excel shortcut opens the Format Cells dialog box to the Font tab.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+F

shortcut formats dialog font

 

Increase Font Size

This Excel shortcut makes the font size larger.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>F>G
Mac Shortcut:++>
  1. Select the cell or cells where you want to increase the font size.

shortcuts formats font size select

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Ribbon. Press, one at a time, F > G. On a Mac, press Command (), Shift (), and the right angle bracket key (>) simultaneously.

shortcuts formats font size increased

 

  1. You can also select part of the text in the cell by selecting the text in the formula bar, and then using the keyboard shortcut to increase the size of that particular part of the text.

shortcuts font increase selected text

 

Decrease Font Size

This Excel shortcut makes the font size smaller.

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>F>K
Mac Shortcut:++<
  1. Select the cell or cells where you want to decrease the font size.

shortcuts formats font size increased

  1. On a PC, press ALT + H to activate the Ribbon. Then press, one at a time, F > K. On a Mac, press CMD + SHIFT + < (left angle bracket).

shortcuts formats font size select

 

  1. As in the case of increase font size, you can select part of the text in a cell and then use the shortcut to decrease the size of that text.

 

This Excel shortcut applies bold formatting (or removes bold formatting if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+B
Mac Shortcut:+B
Remember this shortcut:
B for Bold

Select the text you want to bold and press CTRL + B (CMD + B on a Mac). Press the key combination again to remove bold formatting. You can select partial text in a cell, an entire cell, or a range of cells.
shortcuts formats bold

 

Toggle Italic Formatting

This Excel shortcut applies italic formatting (or removes italic formatting if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+I
Mac Shortcut:+I
Remember this shortcut:
I for Italic

Select the text you want to italicize and press CTRL + I (CMD + I on a Mac). Press the key combination again to remove the italics. You can select partial text in a cell, an entire cell, or a range of cells.
shortcuts formats italic

 

Toggle Underline

This Excel shortcut applies underline formatting (or removes underline formatting if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+U
Mac Shortcut:+U
Remember this shortcut:
U for Underline

Select the text you want to underline, and press CTRL + U (CMD + U on a Mac). Press the key combination again to remove the underline formatting. You can select partial text in a cell, an entire cell, or a range of cells.

shortcuts formats underline

 

Toggle Strikethrough

This Excel shortcut applies strikethrough formatting (or removes strikethrough formatting if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+5
Mac Shortcut:++X
Remember this shortcut:
5 for 5trikethrough

Select the text you want to display as crossed out, and press CTRL + 5 (CMD + SHIFT + X on a Mac) on the keyboard. Press the key combination again to remove the strikethrough formatting. You can select partial text in a cell, an entire cell, or a range of cells.

shortcuts formats strikethrough

 

This Excel shortcut applies superscript formatting.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+F>Alt+E
  1. To apply superscript formatting to just some of the text in a cell, select the text in the formula bar.

shortcut formats select text in cell

  1. Press CTRL + SHIFT + F and then ALT + E to apply superscript to that portion of text in your cell.

shortcuts format superscript

You can apply this formatting to an entire cell, a range of cells, or just some of the text contained within the cell.

 

Apply Subscript Formatting

This Excel shortcut applies subscript formatting.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+F>Alt+B
  1. To apply subscript formatting to just some of the text in a cell, select the text in the formula bar.

shortcut formats select text in cell subscript

  1. Then, press CTRL + SHIFT + F and then ALT + B to apply subscript to that portion of text in your cell.

shortcut formats subscript

You can apply this formatting to an entire cell, a range of cells, or just some of the text contained within the cell.

Number

 

Apply General Format

This Excel shortcut applies the General Number Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+~
Mac Shortcut:++~
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the General number format. The General format uses no symbols and displays the same number of decimal places that the cell value has.

shortcuts formats general select

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + ~ (tilde).

shortcuts formats general applied

 

This Excel shortcut applies the “Number” Number Format. The Number format uses no symbols and displays two decimal places.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+!
Mac Shortcut:++!
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Number format.

shortcuts formats general applied

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + ! (exclamation point).

shortcuts formats general select

 

Apply Currency Format

This Excel shortcut applies the Currency Number Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+$
Mac Shortcut:++$
Remember this shortcut:
$ for Currency Format
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Currency number format. The Currency format starts with the default currency symbol from your settings and displays two decimal places at the end.

shortcuts formats select currency

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + $ (dollar sign).

shortcut formats applied currency

 

Apply Date Format

This Excel shortcut applies the Date Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+#
Mac Shortcut:++#
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Date number format. The Date format uses a custom date format that displays the day, short month, and short year separated by hyphens.

shortcuts formats select dates

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + # (number sign / hash).

shortcuts format applied dates

 

Apply Time Format

This Excel shortcut applies the Time Number Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+@
Mac Shortcut:++@
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Time number format. The Time format displays hours and minutes separated by a colon.

shortcuts format time select

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + @ (at symbol).

shortcuts format applied time

 

This Excel shortcut applies the Percentage Number Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+%
Mac Shortcut:++%
Remember this shortcut:
% for Percentage
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Percentage number format. The Percentage format shows the value as a whole-number percentage (two decimal places in the cell’s value) followed by a percent sign.

shortcuts formats percentage select

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + % (percent sign).

shortcuts formats percentage applied

 

Apply Scientific Format

This Excel shortcut applies the Scientific Number Format.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+^
Mac Shortcut:++^
Remember this shortcut:
^ is the exponent symbol, and exponents are used in scientific notation. The Scientific format applies scientific notation, which is a way of expressing numbers that are too large or too small to be written in a decimal format.
  1. Select the cells where you want to apply the Scientific number format to.

shortcuts format select scientific

  1. The Mac and PC shortcuts are the same. Press CTRL + SHIFT + ^ (caret). Note that the Mac Control key and caret key, while they have a similar symbol, are not the same key.

shortcuts format applied scientific

Borders

 

Add or Remove Bottom Border

This Excel shortcut adds a bottom border (or removes the bottom border if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>B>B
Mac Shortcut:++

Select the cell or cells where you want to apply a border to the bottom of the selection, and then press ALT + H > B > B. On a Mac, press CMD + ALT + ↓ (down arrow).

shortcut formats bottom border

 

This Excel shortcut adds a top border (or removes the top border if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>B>T
Mac Shortcut:++

Select the cell or cells where you want to apply a border to the top of the selection, and then press ALT + H > B > T. On a Mac, press CMD + ALT + ↑ (up arrow).

shortcut formats border top

 

Add or Remove Left Border

This Excel shortcut adds a left border (or removes the left border if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>B>L
Mac Shortcut:++

Select the cell or cells where you want to apply a border to the left of the selection, and then press ALT + H > B > L. On a Mac, press CMD + ALT + ← (left arrow).

shortcut formats border left

 

Add or Remove Right Border

This Excel shortcut adds a right border (or removes the right border if it is already applied).

PC Shortcut:Alt+H>B>R
Mac Shortcut:++

Select the cell or cells where you want to apply a border to the right of the selection, and then press ALT + H > B > R. On a Mac, press CMD + ALT + → (right arrow).

shortcut formats border right

 

Apply Outline Border

This Excel shortcut applies outside borders.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+&
Mac Shortcut:++0

Select the cell or cells where you want to add lines around the outside of the selection. Then press CTRL + SHIFT + & (ampersand). On a Mac, press CMD + ALT + 0 (zero).

shortcut formats border outline

 

Remove Outline Border

This Excel shortcut clears outside borders.

PC Shortcut:Ctrl+Shift+_
Mac Shortcut:++_

Select the cell or cells where you want to clear the outside borders, and then press CTRL + SHIFT + _ (underscore). On a Mac, use CMD + ALT + _.

shortcuts formats border remove

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