

So go ahead share your favorite ones in comments. I am sure there are tons more shortcuts that I have omitted. What are your favorite shortcuts for writing / editing formulas? Fill down / side ways: Once you have a formula in a cell, you can drag it down or sideways (using mouse) to fill the formula down or across.(more: Using mouse to save time in Excel) You can move these rectangles or resize them to edit the formula input ranges. Use mouse to edit formula ranges: When you select a cell with formula and edit it (by pressing F2), you can see these blue, green, red rectangles around the cells to which the formula is talking.(related: auditing formulas & spreadsheets) Press CTRL + ` (back quote, usually the key above tab on left) to on / off show formulas mode. Very useful when explaining your worksheet to others. F9: Evaluate selected portion of a formula. Select a portion of a formula and press F9 to evaluate it alone.Writing and editing formulas is such an important part of Excel that there are many other useful shortcuts and tricks. And you get a copy of the formulas alone.

If you just want to make a copy of the formulas and omit cell formatting etc., copy the cells with formulas, go elsewhere, press ALT + E and then S and F. (more: Guide to Excel cell references and when to use what?) Just place cursor inside the range / cell address and press F4 to cycle thru all available reference styles. When typing formulas, often you may want to change a certain cell reference to Absolute or Mixed or Relative.

So today, let us learn 5 important keyboard shortcuts that will save you a lot of time and help you write better formulas. As an analyst (or manager), I bet a good portion of your Excel time is spent writing formulas and getting the results.
