Last month I blogged about my Complete Excel Shortcuts Workbook. So with shortcuts in mind, here are four useful ones that work from
The first shortcut isn’t a keyboard shortcut; it’s a mouse shortcut.
In Windows 7, in the bottom-right corner of your monitor, you’ll see an unlabeled rectangle. As this image illustrates, when you hover your mouse pointer over that rectangle, Windows tells you that the button will display your desktop.
And sure enough, that anonymous button works as advertised.
When you eventually upgrade to Excel 2013, you’ll probably use this shortcut a lot. This is because your Excel application no longer will contain multiple workbooks. Instead, each workbook will be in a separate window, like Word 2010 is today. So if you have several workbooks open, you’ll no longer see a neutral screen behind them; instead, you’ll see your other applications. One way to avoid that visual clutter is to show your desktop and then restore only the Excel workbooks you currently need.
For the second shortcut, think back to the last time you shopped for computers at a local store. Other than the prices, you probably saw very few useful facts about them. So here’s an easy way to view and compare the key technical information: Just press WinKey + Pause/Break on each computer that interests you. That is, hold down the Windows Key and then press the the Pause/Break key.
This shortcut displays the page titled, “View basic information about your computer.” This is the page that shows the amount of RAM, the processor, the Windows Experience Rating, and so on. With this information visible for each computer, you’ll be better able to compare prices and performance.
The third and fourth key combinations come as a set. I learned about them from Werner Zurcher, a quality supervisor at Corning. WinKey + Left Arrow will maximize your active application and move it to the left side of your screen. Then, if you choose another application, pressing WinKey + Right Arrow will do the same at the right side of your screen. This will let you work side-by-side in those two applications.
This last set of shortcuts can be very useful when you document Excel spreadsheets or other work. Just maximize Excel in half your screen and Word in the other half.
Your staff and co-workers probably don’t document their Excel work nearly as well as they should. So if you tell them about this tip it might spur them to action.
I’ve added these and other WinKey shortcuts that work from Excel to my Complete Excel Shortcuts Workbook. If you downloaded the workbook recently, you can use the same link again. Otherwise, this link will get you there.