Excel Cursor Movement

Objectives

• Learn how to move the cursor efficiently in Excel
• Learn how to select (highlight) cells in Excel
• Learn the meaning of Excel's different cursor shapes

Using Excel help (F1):

In the Search for box, type: Keyboard shortcuts and press Enter.

In the Search Results list: click on Keyboard shortcuts. You will get a huge list of topics. Scroll to the Move and scroll within worksheets topic and click on it. Read the topic.

Excel Bible: Chapter 1

Basic cursor movement commands:

To achieve this:	Do this:
Move the active cell up one row	Press <up arrow> key
Move the active cell down one row	Press <down arrow> key
Move the active cell left one column	Press <left arrow> key
Move the active cell right one column	Press <right arrow> key
Move the active cell one screen down	Press <Page Down> key
Move the active cell one screen up	Press <Page Up> key
Move the active cell to the first cell in the row	Press <Home> key
Move to the last active cell in a row	Press <End> key
Move to cell A1	Press <Ctrl>+<Home>
Move to the intersection of the last active row and column	Press <Ctrl>+<End>
If the cursor is currently in a data cell, move in the direction of the arrow until it encounters an empty cell; if the cursor is currently in a blank cell, moves in the direction of the arrow until it encounters a non-blank cell	Press <End> followed by an arrow key (two consecutive keystrokes)
Enter a cell address and go directly to it	Press <F5>

To Select any range of cells in Excel

Before formatting any cells in Excel, you must first select (highlight) them.

To achieve this:	Do this:
Select (highlight) cells using the keyboard	Hold the shift key down while using any of the above commands to move the cursor.
Select (highlight) cells using the mouse	When the mouse is a white plus sign () drag the mouse over the desired cells.
Select non-adjacent cells	Select the first range of cells with the mouse, then while holding the control key down, drag the mouse over each additional range of cells that you wish to select.

Excel’s cursor shapes.

The cursor in Excel takes on a number of different shapes, depending on where you are on the worksheet.

Shape	Used to:
	The Select Cursor. Select a cell or range. This is always used to select data before applying formatting commands.
	The Fill Handle. Use this to copy formulas or values. The fill handle only appears when you are in the lower right corner of the current selection.
	The White Arrow with a smaller 4-headed black arrow. Use this to drag and drop the selected cell or range. The white arrow only appears when you are at the edge of the current selection.
	The I-Beam. Use this to enter or edit data. The cursor (vertical line inside the cell) blinks.
	The 2-headed arrow (horizontal). Resize column
	The 2-headed arrow (vertical). Resize row
	The Format Painter. Use this to copy cell formats.

Revised 2005.03.10