Last year, I was approached by the sterling folks over at General Assembly, asking whether I would be interested in teaching a series of courses on Microsoft Excel. I happily oblige on the chance and the demand for these classes have been overwhelming; I’ve now taught live-stream and in-person sessions, and a series of quick-nibble Excel courses will soon appear on the Google for Entrepreneurs YouTube channel.

Indeed, Excel is one of those necessary evils for many business professionals. It seems like the learning curve for the software is relatively high. Just like your typical programming language, it’s hard to discover Excel’s features until you’re in the thick of it. It’s like learning to use a brake pedal while speeding down the BQE. One of the ways that Excel can become less of a burden is the use of Excel Shortcuts. 

During my in-person courses, I encourage students to “let go of the mouse”. I have them attempt to navigate through their spreadsheets using only their keyboard. And while this takes time and practice, it’s certainly doable. (Ask some of your investment banking friends about this; they’ll probably laugh — then go into some mild form of PTSD reminiscing about their days as an analyst!)So, as a helpful resource to you all, here is a brief set of my favorite shortcuts in Excel — both for Windows and Mac! If you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me a tweet!