POWER

USER QUICK GUIDES: SHORTCUTS & TIMESAVERS

RIBBON:
No-mouse navigation (ALT key) No-mouse navigation: Tap the ALT key and wait a second or two. Excel reveals the shortcut letters along the ribbon. Use the letters to
navigate to desired commands.
Minimizing/ Maximizing the ribbon DOUBLE click on any tab to minimize the ribbon. DOUBLE click again to toggle back to maximized view. Repeat as needed.
SINGLE click to auto-show the ribbon (displays only when in user, otherwise remains minimized).

NAVIGATING YOUR WORKBOOK:

Ctrl + Page Down activate next sheet in the workbook
Ctrl + Page Up activate previous sheet in the workbook
Shift+Ctrl+Page Down select current and next sheet in workbook
Shift+Ctrl+Page Up select current and previous sheet in workbook
Alt+OHH hide active worksheet
Alt+OHU unhide a hidden worksheet

NAVIGATING WORKSHEETS:
Arrow Key move cell pointer one cell in the direction of the arrow key
Ctrl + Arrow Key move to the edge of the current region (the contiguous block of cells in which your cursor resides)
Home move to the beginning of current row
Ctrl+Home move cell pointer to first cell (a1)
Ctrl+End move cell pointer to last cell in the active area (cell in last occupied column and row)
Page Down move cell pointer down one screen
Page Up move cell pointer up one screen
Alt + Page Down move cell pointer one screen to the right
Tab move cell pointer to the next unlocked cell in a protected worksheet
Shift+Tab move cell pointer to the previous unlocked cell in a protected worksheet
MANAGING WORKSHEETS:
Shift+F11 or ALT+SHIFT+F1 create new sheet in workbook
Alt+OHR rename the active sheet (alternatively: right click on sheet tab, choose rename)
Alt+OHT apply a new sheet tab color (alternatively: right click on sheet tab, choose tab color)
Alt+EM move or copy current sheet in workbook or to new workbook (alternatively: right click on sheet tab, choose move or copy)
Alt+ED delete current sheet (alternatively: right click on sheet tab, choose delete)

CELL EDITING & NAVIGATION:

Arrow Key complete cell entry and move cell pointer one cell in the direction of the arrow
Enter complete cell entry and move cell pointer down one row
Shift + Enter complete cell entry and move cell pointer up one row
Ctrl + Enter complete cell entry in all cells selected in range
Alt + Enter begin a new line break inside a cell (often a better way to Wrap Text!)
Tab complete cell entry and move cell pointer right one column
Shift + Tab complete cell entry and move cell pointer left one column
Ctrl + ` (accent) toggle between displaying cell values and cell formulas in worksheet
F2 edit current cell entry and position insertion point at the end of cell contents
Shift + F2 edit comment attachec to current cell and position insertion point in comment box
Backspace delete character to left of insertion point when editing cell entry
Delete delete character to right of insertion point when editing cell entry; otherwise, clear cell entries in current range
Esc cancel editing in current cell
Enter complete editing in current cell entry
Ctrl + Z undo last action
Ctrl + Y redo last action
COPY & PASTE:
Ctrl + C copy cell selection to clipboard
Ctrl + X cut cell selection in clipboard
Ctrl + V paste last copied or cut cells from clipboard
Ctrl + ' (apostrophe) copy formula in cell above into current cell entry and ignore relative references (also known as "exact formula copy”)
Ctrl + Shift + " (quotation) copy value from formula in cell above into current cell entry
Ctrl + CC open clipboard task pane
Ctrl + hyphen ( - ) open delete dialog box to delete cell selection and shift remaining cells left or up
Ctrl + Shift + plus ( + ) open insert dialog box to insert new cells and shift existing cells right or down

TIME & DATE:

Ctrl + ; insert current date into current cell entry
Ctrl + Shift + ; insert current time into current cell entry

QUICK NUMBER FORMATTING:

Ctrl + Shift + …
~ general / 1.5
1 2 decimals / 1.50
2 time format / 12:00 pm
3 date format / 1-jan-00
4 currency / $1.50
5 percent / 150%
6 scientific / 1.50e+00
 POWER USER QUICK GUIDES: LOOKUPS & CONDITIONAL CALCS

LOOKUPS CONDITIONAL CALCULATIONS - SUMIFS

1. VLOOKUP (‘classic’ version) 1. SUMIFS (‘straight up’ version)
Finds a “thing” in the leftmost column of a range, then returns a corresponding value Add up a range of numbers, where conditions are met. Syntax:
from another column to the right of the “thing”. Syntax:
=SUMIFS(range_to_sum, test_range1,test1, test_range2, test2, test_range3…), where
=VLOOKUP(thing_to_find, search_range, col_num, [exact_or_not]), where
• range_to_sum = the address of the actual cells to sum
• thing_to_find= the specific text or numeric value you seek • test_rangeN = the address of test rangeN
• search_range = the cell address of the table to search for said thing_to_find • testN = the logical test corresponding to test_rangeN, often expressed using operators like
• col_num = the index number of the column within search_range that contains the equal to (=) not equal to (<>), greater than (>), less than (<), etc.
corresponding info about thing_to_find
• exact_or_not = technically optional. use FALSE for exact matches (typically, SUMIFS Tips
thing_to_find is text); use TRUE for approximate matches (typically, when
1. PAIRS! You can have as many test_ranges you
thing_to_find is numeric). If omitted, TRUE is assumed.
need, but they must always be entered in
VLOOKUP: Common Pitfalls & Gothcas pairs: for every test_range, you must have a
corresponding test.
• BE CAREFUL when you use a hard coded number as your col_num argument. If you later
insert or delete columns within your search_range your VLOOKUP may return incorrect 2. SIZE MATTERS! Make sure all your range
results. Use the MATCH function to get around this problem. arguments are the same height in rows.

• MOST VLOOKUPS ARE THE “FALSE” VERSION. Leaving the final (optional) exact_or_not
argument blank forces Excel to assume TRUE. If you omit this argument, make sure that’s
what you really need.

2. VLOOKUP (‘to-the-left’ version)

An obscure trick for anyone who ever complained that this could not be done. Syntax: 2. SUMIFS (‘wildcard’ version)
=VLOOKUP(thing_to_find, CHOOSE({1,2}, lookup_col, return_col, 2, FALSE)), where Add up a range of numbers, where conditions are inexact. For example, “begins with the
• thing_to_find= the specific text or numeric value you seek letter…” style conditions. General syntax is the same as the classic version of SUMIFS but the
• lookup_col = the column containing the thing_to_find tests will look a bit different.
• return_col = the column containing the corresponding info about thing_to_find

COMMON WILDCARDS you can use

with SUMIFS tests:
3. INDEX & MATCH
• asterisk (*) for “any character”
An alternative to VLOOKUP, requires combining the two functions INDEX and MATCH. • question mark (?) for “any single
Preferred by some because of more flexibility in search direction. By itself, INDEX returns a character”, for example:
data point, based on a row / column intersection of a range address. Syntax: 123-??-56 would mean “123-
=INDEX(search_array, row_index, col_index), where plus any 2 digits, then “-56”
• search_array= the table to search
• row_index = the row number within the search_array of the desired data point
• col_index = the column number within the search_array of the desired data point
Now for the MATCH function! MATCH is often used to calculate row_index and col_index
arguments in the above-described INDEX formula. But by itself, MATCH returns a number
representing the position of a search item in a list. Syntax:
3. SUM-SUMIFS (the ‘one of many’, aka the ‘hella complicated’ version)
=MATCH(thing_to_find, search_array, [match_type]), where
• thing_to_find= the text or numeric value you seek Add up a range of numbers, where more complex tests are needed. Syntax is
• search_array = the range address to search, typically 1 row tall or 1 col wide only =SUM(SUMIFS(range_to_sum, test_range1,test1, test_range2, test2, test_range3…), entered
• [match_type] = optional, but typically we use FALSE here because we want to search using Ctrl + Shift + Enter, and where
for an exact thing_to_find • range_to_sum = the address of the actual cells to sum
• test_rangeN = the address of test rangeN
• testN = the logical test corresponding to test_rangeN, can be similar in syntax to more
classic versions of SUMIFS, or can use “any from a list” type criteria as illustrated below…
Putting it
altogether, TOP TIP for this
the version of SUMIFS:
combined This is an array
syntax in an formula. You must
example: enter it using
Ctrl+Shift+Enter. This
causes the formula to
be surrounded by
curly brackets { and }.
You cannot simply
enter the curly
4. HLOOKUP (classic) brackets manually!

VLOOKUP’s lesser known cousin. V is for vertical, H is for horizontal. VLOOKUP

searches in a “south, then east” direction while HLOOKUP’s motion is “east then
south”. Syntax: CONDITIONAL CALCULATIONS –CLOSE COUSINS
=HLOOKUP(thing_to_find, search_range, row_num, [exact_or_not]), where
In addition to the (likely) most common SUMIFS, there are a handful of very similar functions
• thing_to_find= the specific text or numeric value you seek, located along the top like COUNTIFS() and AVERAGEIFS(). The main difference is the type of ‘math’ being done –
row of the search_range SUMIFS is adding, whereas COUNTIFS and AVERAGEIFS do exactly what they sound like!
• search_range = the address of the area to search
• row_num = the index number of the row within search_range and below the first
row of the range that contains the corresponding info THE LAST WORD – POWER USER BEST PRACTICES
• exact_or_not = technically optional. use FALSE for exact matches (typically,
thing_to_find is text); use TRUE for approximate matches (typically, when The art of Excel modeling boils down to how to best structure and separate “layers”: data,
thing_to_find is numeric). If omitted, TRUE is assumed. calculations, and presentation. The formulas listed in this reference guide work best when
your data layer is organized into one or more neat tables. Powerful formulas like these can
Example (using above illustration of units ordered table):
then help automate your model’s presentation layer. For more great tips on these topics &
=HLOOKUP(“Medium”,E18:H21,4,FALSE) returns 12 more, tune into Excel TV!