customize quick access for excel for mac

Customize Quick Access For Excel Mac Are Quite

This is the skinny toolbar that by default sits above the Ribbon but that I move to below the Ribbon for easier access see below.

If I change cell colors and font colors a lot, I can put those on the QAT (as Ive done above).

This way theyre within easy reach no matter which Ribbon tab Im on.

If you hit the Alt key youll see the Ribbon and the QAT light up with keyboard shortcuts.

For example, to use Comma formatting you can hit Alt-1 (press Alt and then, while keeping it down, type 1 the same way you would type Ctrl-1 for the Format Cells dialog box) or you can let go of Alt before you type 1 (using the QAT in the illustration above).

In my number formatting example (comma and no decimals) I can go faster by keeping the Alt key depressed, as this saves me from re-typing Alt for each shortcut meaning I type Alt-1-2-2 instead of Alt-1, Alt-2, Alt-2.

I recommend that you reserve these slots for tasks you will use frequently and that have no better shortcut alternatives.

Dont be afraid to modify the Quick Access Toolbar as needed to save you time.

Your excel knowledge helped me in my job many times in the past.

Even basic shortcuts youve been using for years in Windows may not work as you expect.

Customize Quick Access For Excel Mac Are Quite

In reality, Excel shortcuts on the Mac are quite capable, you just have to understand and adjust to certain differences.

For example, the Command key is abbreviated as, the Control key with, and the option key as.

These symbols have a long history on the Mac, and youll find them in menus everywhere.

There really arent too many symbols, so I recommend that you bite the bullet and memorize them.

These keys sit at the top of the keyboard and are labeled F1 to F12 on standard keyboards and F13, F14 and higher on extended keyboards.

For example, you can use F1 for help, F7 for spelling, and shift F3 to insert a function.

But if you try these shortcuts directly on a Mac, they dont work.

Why.

This means that if press only the function keys in Excel, youll end up controlling the Mac, and not Excel.

Here you can check a box that will that will change function key behavior to work like standard function keys.

In essence, this setting reverses behavior so that you need to use fn to control the Mac.

This is a problem, because many of these keys are used in Excel shortcuts.

The solution is to use specific substitutions, as shown in the table below.

However, T hey can make some shortcuts seem complicated on a Mac because you have to use more keys.

This doesnt matter much when youre performing an action that has a dedicated shortcut (i.e.

Control B for bold), since dedicated shortcuts are faster than ribbon shortcuts.

But when you want to trigger an action that doesnt have a dedicated shortcut (like sort, hide gridlines, align text, etc.), it hurts a bit.

The shortcut to toggle absolute and relative references is F4 in Windows, while on a Mac, its Command T.

For a complete list of Windows and Mac shortcuts, see our side-by-side list.

Whenever we use a shortcut, we show both the Windows and Mac version.

For example, you can use F4 to toggle between absolute and relative references, Control Shift L to toggle a filter on and off, etc.

So far, all the shortcuts that have been adjusted to match Windows shortcuts remain backwards compatible with previous Mac-only shortcuts.

For example while F4 toggles references on the Mac in Excel 365, the old shortcut Command T still works as well.

We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.

Customize Quick Access For Excel For Mac