Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for Ribbon

While trying to type a hyphen in Excel 2007, I stumbled onto a handy keyboard shortcut.

I had a bit of an overreach on the hyphen, and hit the F10 key instead. To my amazement, the Ribbon filled with little tags.

RibbonTags

Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but I don’t remember seeing those tiny tags before. Have you noticed them?

There’s a number or letter on each Ribbon tab, like H for Home, N for the Insert tab, and R for the Review tab.

Above that, there is a tag for each icon on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) too! They are numbered from 1 to 9, and then a set of descending numbers, from 09 down to 01.

Use the Shortcut keys

Here’s how you can use the shortcut keys that those tags represent:

  • First, press the F10 key, to activate the Ribbon.
  • Next, type the letter(s) or number(s) that you see on any Ribbon tab or on any of the QAT commands

See Data Tab Commands

For example, I can type an A to activate the Data tab. (Note: Even if the Data tab is active, you’ll have to type an A to see its command tags.)

Tags will appear on the available Data commands.

RibbonTagsData

Because the active cell is in a named Excel table on my worksheet, most of the Data tab commands are available.

  • For example, I can type the letter T, to add an AutoFilter
  • Or, I could type the letter Q, to start an Advanced Filter.

Useful Feature

It seems like a useful feature, and the only shortcut that I have to memorize is the F10 key.

Anyway, it’s nice to know that a typo can lead to an interesting discovery.
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0 thoughts on “Excel Keyboard Shortcuts for Ribbon”

  1. Deb, this is especially useful if you keep the Ribbon minimized. I do that during presentations to maximize screen space.

    This same technique can be used by pressing the Alt key (as with old shortcuts like Alt-F to launch the File menu, but now opens the Office Button). I didn’t know that F10 did the same thing. Good catch.

  2. Not a keyboard person, huh? It’s OK, I won’t hold it against you. 🙂

    The Alt key does the same thing. And of course the slash key also, to appease all those 1-2-3 users who are still converting.

  3. Thanks Tim, I hadn’t tried it with the Ribbon minimized. Nice that it shows the commands temporarily, then minimizes again, after you select a command.

    Dick, I appreciate your tolerance. I have a few favourite keyboard shortcuts, but use the mouse most of the time.
    At least I’m not still converting from 1-2-3!

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