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Shortcut Keys for Spreadsheets

Some of the shortcut keys may be assigned to your desktop system. Keys that are assigned to the desktop system are not available to Office. Try to assign different keys either for Office, in Tools - Customise - Keyboard, or in your desktop system.

To fill a selected cell range with the formula that you entered on the Input line, press Alt+Enter.

To create a matrix in which all the cells contain the same information as that which you entered on the Input line, press Shift+Ctrl+Enter. You cannot edit the components of the matrix.

To select multiple cells in different areas of a sheet, hold down Ctrl and drag in the different areas.

To select multiple sheets in a spreadsheet, hold down Ctrl, and then click the name tabs at the lower edge of the workspace. To select only one sheet in a selection, hold down Shift, and then click the name tab of the sheet.

To insert a manual line break in a cell, click in the cell, and then press Ctrl+Enter.

To delete the contents of selected cells, press Backspace. This opens the Delete Contents dialogue box, where you choose which contents of the cell you want to delete. To delete the contents of selected cells without a dialogue box, press the Delete key.

Shortcut Keys Effect
Ctrl+Home Moves the cursor to the first cell in the sheet (A1).
Ctrl+End Moves the cursor to the last cell on the sheet that contains data.
Home Moves the cursor to the first cell of the current row.
End Moves the cursor to the last cell that contains values in the current row.
Shift+Home Selects cells from the current cell to the first cell of the current row.
Shift+End Selects all cells from the current cell to the last cell that contains values in the current row.
Shift+Page Up Selects cells from the current cell up to one page in the current column or extends the existing selection one page up.
Shift+Page Down Selects cells from the current cell down to one page in the current column or extends the existing selection one page down.
Shift+Space Selects the current row or extends the existing selection to all respective rows.
Ctrl+Space Selects the current column or extends the existing selection to all respective columns.
Ctrl+Shift+Space Selects all cells in the sheet.
Ctrl+Left Arrow Moves the cursor leftward to the start and end of cell blocks with data. If the cell to the left of the cursor is empty or the cell with the cursor is empty, the cursor moves leftward in the current row until it reaches the next cell with contents. If all cells in the same row to the left of the cursor are empty, the cursor moves to the first cell in the row.
Ctrl+Right Arrow Moves the cursor rightward to the start and end of cell blocks with data. If the cell to the right of the cursor is empty or the cell with the cursor is empty, the cursor moves rightward in the current row until it reaches the next cell with contents. If all cells in the same row to the right of the cursor are empty, the cursor moves to the last cell in the row.
Ctrl+Up Arrow Moves the cursor upward to the start and end of cell blocks with data. If the cell above the cursor is empty or the cell with the cursor is empty, the cursor moves upward in the current column until it reaches the next cell with contents. If all cells in the same column above the cursor are empty, the cursor moves to the first cell in the column.
Ctrl+Down Arrow Moves the cursor downward to the start and end of cell blocks with data. If the cell below the cursor is empty or the cell with the cursor is empty, the cursor moves downward in the current column until it reaches the next cell with contents. If all cells in the same column below the cursor are empty, the cursor moves to the last cell in the column.
Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Selects all cells of the range created by the cursor movements using the Ctrl+Arrows key combinations. If used to select rows and columns together, a rectangular cell range is selected. If the cursor is in an empty cell, the selection will stretch from the current cell up to the first cell with value in the direction of the arrow pressed.
Ctrl+Page Up Moves one sheet to the left. In the print preview: Moves to the previous print page.
Ctrl+Page Down Moves one sheet to the right. In the print preview: Moves to the next print page.
Alt+Page Up Moves one screen to the left.
Alt+Page Down Moves one screen page to the right.
Shift+Ctrl+Page Up Adds the previous sheet to the current selection of sheets. If all the sheets in a spreadsheet are selected, this shortcut key combination only selects the previous sheet. Makes the previous sheet the current sheet.
Shift+Ctrl+Page Down Adds the next sheet to the current selection of sheets. If all the sheets in a spreadsheet are selected, this shortcut key combination only selects the next sheet. Makes the next sheet the current sheet.
Ctrl+ * where (*) is the multiplication sign on the numeric key pad Selects the data range that contains the cursor. A range is a contiguous cell range that contains data and is bounded by empty row and columns.
Ctrl+ / where (/) is the division sign on the numeric key pad Selects the matrix formula range that contains the cursor.
Ctrl+Plus key Insert cells (as in menu Insert - Cells)
Ctrl+Minus key Delete cells (as in menu Edit - Delete Cells)
Enter (in a selected range) Moves the cursor down one cell in a selected range. To specify the direction that the cursor moves, choose Tools - Options - Office Calc - General and change the option in Press Enter to move selection.
Enter (after copying cell contents) If cell contents have just been copied to the clipboard and no additional editing has been done in the current file, then pressing Enter will paste clipboard contents to the current cursor position.
Shift+Enter If the clipboard contains cell contents and no editing has been done in the file, then Shift+Enter has the same behaviour as Enter and pastes clipboard contents to the current cursor position. If no cells are selected, Shift+Enter moves the cursor to the opposite direction defined in the option Press Enter to move selection found in Tools - Options - Office Calc - General. If a range of cells is selected, Shift+Enter moves the cursor inside the current selection to the opposite direction defined in the option Press Enter to move selection.
Ctrl+ ` (see note below this table) Displays or hides the formulae instead of the values in all cells.

The ` key is located next to the "1" key on most English keyboards. If your keyboard does not show this key, you can assign another key: Choose Tools - Customise, click the Keyboard tab. Select the "View" category and the "Toggle Formula" function.

Copying and Renaming Sheets

The sheet tabs used to navigate between sheets can be clicked in combination with keyboard keys to perform the following operations:

Shortcut Keys Effect
Ctrl + Drag sheet tab Creates a copy of the sheet whose tab was clicked. The copied sheet is placed at the position where the mouse button was released.
Alt + Click sheet tab Makes the sheet name editable. Edit the sheet name and press Enter when finished.

Function Keys Used in Spreadsheets

Shortcut Keys Effect
Ctrl+F1 Displays the comment that is attached to the current cell
F2 With a cell selected, press F2 to open cell contents for editing. If the cell contains a formula, use arrow keys to navigate the sheet to easily enter range addresses into the formula. Press F2 again to enable the use of arrow keys to move the cursor in the formula text. Each additional use of the F2 shortcut switches between the two states previously described. Some dialogue boxes have input fields with a Shrink button. Pressing F2 with the cursor inside such field causes the Shrink command to be executed.
Ctrl+F2 Opens the Function Wizard.
Shift+Ctrl+F2 Moves the cursor to the Input line in which you can enter a formula for the current cell.
Ctrl+F3 Opens the Define Names dialogue box.
Shift+Ctrl+F4 Shows or Hides the Database explorer.
F4 Rearranges the relative or absolute references (for example, A1, $A$1, $A1, A$1) in the input field.
F5 Shows or hides the Navigator.
Shift+F5 Traces dependents.
Shift+F9 Traces precedents.
Shift+Ctrl+F5 Moves the cursor from the Input line to the Sheet area box. You can also use Shift+Ctrl+T.
F7 Checks spelling in the current sheet.
Ctrl+F7 Opens the Thesaurus if the current cell contains text.
F8 Turns additional selection mode on or off. In this mode, you can use the arrow keys to extend the selection. You can also click in another cell to extend the selection.
Ctrl+F8 Highlights cells containing values.
F9 Recalculates all of the formulae in the current sheet.
Ctrl+Shift+F9 Recalculates all formulae in all sheets.
Ctrl+F9 Updates the selected chart.
F11 Opens the Styles window where you can apply a formatting style to the contents of the cell or to the current sheet.
Shift+F11 Creates a document template.
Shift+Ctrl+F11 Updates the templates.
F12 Groups the selected data range.
Ctrl+F12 Ungroups the selected data range.
Alt+Down Arrow Increases the height of current row (only in OpenOffice.org legacy compatibility mode).
Alt+Up Arrow Decreases the height of current row (only in OpenOffice.org legacy compatibility mode).
Alt+Right Arrow Increases the width of the current column.
Alt+Left Arrow Decreases the width of the current column.
Alt+Shift+Arrow Key Optimises the column width or row height based on the current cell.

Formatting Cells Using Shortcut Keys

The following cell formats can be applied with the keyboard:

Shortcut Keys Effect
Ctrl+1 (not on the number pad) Open Format Cells dialogue box
Ctrl+Shift+1 (not on the number pad) Two decimal places, thousands separator
Ctrl+Shift+2 (not on the number pad) Standard exponential format
Ctrl+Shift+3 (not on the number pad) Standard date format
Ctrl+Shift+4 (not on the number pad) Standard currency format
Ctrl+Shift+5 (not on the number pad) Standard percentage format (two decimal places)
Ctrl+Shift+6 (not on the number pad) Standard format

Using the pivot table

The shortcut keys below are for the Pivot Table Layout dialogue box.

Keys Effect
Tab Changes the focus by moving forwards through the areas and buttons of the dialogue box.
Shift+Tab Changes the focus by moving backwards through the areas and buttons of the dialogue box.
Up Arrow Moves the focus up one item in the current dialogue box area.
Down Arrow Moves the focus down one item in the current dialogue box area.
Left Arrow Moves the focus one item to the left in the current dialogue box area.
Right Arrow Moves the focus one item to the right in the current dialogue box area.
Home Selects the first item in the current dialogue box area.
End Selects the last item in the current dialogue box area.
Alt and the underlined character in the label "Row Fields" Copies or moves the current field into the "Row Fields" area.
Alt and the underlined character in the label "Column Fields" Copies or moves the current field into the "Column Fields" area.
Alt and the underlined character in the label "Data Fields" Copies or moves the current field into the "Data Fields" area.
Alt and the underlined character in the label "Filters" Copies or moves the current field into the "Filters" area.
Ctrl+Up Arrow Moves the current field up one place.
Ctrl+Down Arrow Moves the current field down one place.
Ctrl+Left Arrow Moves the current field one place to the left.
Ctrl+Right Arrow Moves the current field one place to the right.
Ctrl+Home Moves the current field to the first place.
Ctrl+End Moves the current field to the last place.
Delete Removes the current field from the area.