Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts for common actions. Ctrl is the modifier on Windows/Linux and ⌘ on Mac — either one works wherever both are listed.
TIP
Press Ctrl+/ / ⌘+/ in the spreadsheet to open the Keyboard shortcuts dialog. It's a hand-maintained summary of the most common bindings, so it is shorter than this page — a shortcut listed here but missing from the dialog (F4, the in-cell Alt+Enter, Space, Alt+↓, and Tab while editing) still works.
Navigation
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Move the active cell | Arrow keys |
| Jump to the edge of the data | Ctrl+Arrow / ⌘+Arrow |
| Move to the next cell | Tab |
| Move to the previous cell | Shift+Tab |
Selection
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Select all | Ctrl+A / ⌘+A |
| Extend the selection by one cell | Shift+Arrow |
| Select an entire row | Click the row number |
| Select an entire column | Click the column header |
| Extend a row/column selection | Shift-click another header |
WARNING
Shift+Arrow extends the selection one cell at a time. Adding Ctrl / ⌘ does not extend the selection to the edge of the data — the combination still extends by a single cell.
Editing
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Start editing the active cell | Enter, or just start typing |
| Confirm the entry and move down | Enter (while editing) |
| Confirm the entry and move right / left | Tab / Shift+Tab (while editing) |
| Cancel editing | Escape |
| Insert a line break inside a cell | Alt+Enter |
| Clear cell contents | Delete / Backspace |
| Cycle a formula reference between relative and absolute | F4 (while editing) |
| Toggle a checkbox | Space |
| Open a dropdown list | Alt+↓ |
| Merge / unmerge the selection | Ctrl+Shift+M / ⌘+Shift+M |
| Undo | Ctrl+Z / ⌘+Z |
| Redo | Ctrl+Y / ⌘+Shift+Z |
Enter does two different things depending on the selection. On a single cell it opens the editor. With a multi-cell range selected it moves the active cell down within that range instead (Shift+Enter moves up), so you can walk a block without leaving it.
Space and Alt+↓ only apply to cells covered by a data validation rule — a checkbox rule for Space, a dropdown rule for Alt+↓. See Data Validation.
In the in-cell editor, Ctrl+Enter / ⌘+Enter also inserts a line break. It exists because the macOS Korean IME reserves Option for Hanja conversion; in the formula bar, use Alt+Enter.
Clipboard
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Copy | Ctrl+C / ⌘+C |
| Cut | Ctrl+X / ⌘+X |
| Paste | Ctrl+V / ⌘+V |
| Clear the copy marquee | Escape |
Formatting
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Bold | Ctrl+B / ⌘+B |
| Italic | Ctrl+I / ⌘+I |
| Underline | Ctrl+U / ⌘+U |
| Strikethrough | Ctrl+Shift+S / ⌘+Shift+S |
Find, Comments, and Help
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Find | Ctrl+F / ⌘+F |
| Comment on the active cell | Ctrl+Alt+M / ⌘+Alt+M |
| Toggle the comments panel | Ctrl+Alt+Shift+M / ⌘+Alt+Shift+M |
| Show keyboard shortcuts | Ctrl+/ / ⌘+/ |