How to Use Keyboard Shortcuts in Excel to Control Basic File Operations

Excel 2007 File Operations

If you have recently upgraded to either Excel 2007 or Excel 2010, you REALLY NEED to master the Keyboard Shortcuts that I present in this lesson!

Many Excel veterans who upgrade, tell me that they initially felt “lost” with the new user interface. Some of my clients called me in a panic because they didn’t know where to look to Print their work or to open a document. If you know how to use the Keyboard Shortcuts that I present in this lesson, you will never be at a loss. As an added bonus, these Keyboard Shortcuts work with ALL Microsoft Office programs and also for most Windows-based programs.

The “N-O-W-S” Keyboard Shortcuts

I use this acronym – NOWS – to remember the keyboard shortcuts to Open, Close and Save Documents in MS Office programs. Use Ctrl + W to Close the active worksheet.

In this video tutorial, I also show you when NOT to use Keyboard Shortcuts! There are many times when you need to access the full file menu selection.

Keyboard Shortcut for Print Preview

Use Ctrl + F2 to open up the Print Preview pane. Use the “Esc” key to Exit Print Preview.

Download My Chart of Popular Keyboard Shortcuts as a PDF

Follow this link to go to the web page where I store my Keyboard Shortcut Charts and other download-able content.

These Keyboard Shortcuts work for all versions of Excel. So far, I have found only one Keyboard Shortcut that is different when used in Excel 2007 / 2010 than in Excel 2003.