I am looking for the keyboard shortcut to edit a formula in the formula edit field. I am not looking for similar functionality such as F2, which allows you to edit the formula, but only with the cursor in the cell you are working on.
126 rows Microsoft Excel shortcut keys. Ctrl+R Fill right. Fills the cell to the right with the contents of. If you want the cursor to move into the formula bar when you use this shortcut, you need to disable the 'edit in cell' option (see below): Excel 2010. File > Options > Advanced > Editing options > Edit Directly In Cell (untick) Excel 2013. File > Options > Advanced > Editing options > Allow Editing Directly In Cell (untick) Excel 2011.
Put another way, I am looking to move my cursor to the field to the right of the 'fx' (function sign + 'x') field that is just below the ribbon so I can edit a formula in Excel and have it behave the way I want. I know many will ask why.
The main reason I want to do this is when formulas get long they wrap (which is difficult to follow) and/or cover up adjacent cells (which makes modeling more difficult). I don't want to change the wrapping behavior etc. Because I actually use it (it is helpful) in some cases. I do not want a solution that involves a macro because I want this to work on any computer I am working on.
Been Excel'ing for a long time and this is one of the few things I have to go to the mouse for and it slows me down. EDIT: also can't lose the reference color coded highlighting. F2 then Ctrl + A gets the cursor up there in the formula bar, but the wrapping in the cell stays (bad) and the color coded reference highlighting goes away (bad). I found a way but you may or may not like it.
In Excel older than 2007 do the following and then use F2:. From the Tools menu, choose Options.
Click the Edit tab. Uncheck the Edit Directly In Cell option in the Settings area.
Click OK In Excel 2007 and newer do the following and then use F2:. Click the Office button and then click Excel Options (at the bottom right).
Select Advanced in the left pane. Uncheck the Allow Editing Directly In Cell option. Giving credit where credit is due I found this on the below site by simply googling 'excel keyboard shortcuts formula bar'. Chad - I'm guessing you don't model in Excel very much or you don't use shortcuts often. It's more like 3 seconds by the time you find home row again on the keyboard.
Compare that to 1/10 of a second (I am guessing) to not leave the keyboard. That's like 97% longer to use the mouse. If you model hardcore all day for 8 hours and you go to the mouse about 60 times in an hour (very reasonable), you just wasted 23 minutes that day moving your hand, not to mention lost continuity in your work. Any hardcore Excel'er worth a darn will tell you this.
Ask anyone from Wall Street. (I'm in Finance.) – Feb 16 '17 at 17:30.
This is the fifth list of shortcuts to use in Excel that deal with data, functions and the formula bar. I have highlighted for you some that I find very useful to know.
When I use in formulas it is great to be able to select from a list rather than type the name as you might mistype it or refer to a name that does not exist. So using F3 lists all the names in the workbook and you can choose the one you need. When you have set Excel to calculate manually it’s easy to use the F9 key to ask for calculation of all worksheets in all open workbooks, whereas Shift+F9 only calculates the one active sheet you are in. The F4 key is so much quicker to insert in your formulae than typing the dollar sign. Please refer to the other lists that I have posted before for Shortcuts, and Selecting.
Highlight the ones you feel most useful to you and learn them. They will save you time. To do this Press Select an entire PivotTable report. Ctrl+Shift+asterisk (.) Edit the active cell and put the insertion point at the end of its contents. Or, if editing is turned off for the cell, move the insertion point into the formula bar.
If editing a formula, toggle Point mode off or on so you can use arrow keys to create a reference. F2 Expand or collapse the formula bar. Ctrl+Shift+U Cancel an entry in the cell or Formula Bar. Esc Complete an entry in the formula bar and select the cell below. Enter Move the cursor to the end of the text when in the formula bar. Ctrl+End Select all text in the formula bar from the cursor position to the end.
Ctrl+Shift+End Calculate all worksheets in all open workbooks. F9 Calculate the active worksheet. Shift+F9 Calculate all worksheets in all open workbooks, regardless of whether they have changed since the last calculation. Ctrl+Alt+F9 Check dependent formulas, and then calculate all cells in all open workbooks, including cells not marked as needing to be calculated. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F9 Display the menu or message for an Error Checking button.
Alt+Shift+F10 Display the Function Arguments dialog box when the insertion point is to the right of a function name in a formula. Ctrl+A Insert argument names and parentheses when the insertion point is to the right of a function name in a formula. Ctrl+Shift+A Invoke Flash Fill to automatically recognize patterns in adjacent columns and fill the current column Ctrl+E Cycle through all combinations of absolute and relative references in a formula if a cell reference or range is selected. F4 Insert a function. Shift+F3 Copy the value from the cell above the active cell into the cell or the formula bar.
Ctrl+Shift+straight quotation mark (“) Create an embedded chart of the data in the current range. Alt+F1 Create a chart of the data in the current range in a separate Chart sheet. F11 Define a name to use in references. Alt+M, M, D Paste a name from the Paste Name dialog box (if names have been defined in the workbook. F3 Move to the first field in the next record of a data form. Enter Create, run, edit, or delete a macro.
Alt+F8 Open the Microsoft Visual Basic For Applications Editor.