Easy Shortcuts For Excel Data Analysis
Below are 17 steps I take with fresh data, along with the shortcuts I use.
12 deal directly with data analysis; the other 5 are generic.
If you do a lot of Excel data analysis, these shortcuts will help you fly through your work much faster. Consider them arrows in your quiver.
First I save the file with a name (instead of just Book1 or whatever useless name it has):
1. Save As: Alt-F-A
Read more about Alt shortcuts.
Read about Excel shortcuts to select ranges of data.
Then I prep it so it’s easier to work with.
2. Freeze Top Row: Alt-W-F-R
3. Bold: Ctrl+B (I do this on the top row)
4. Add Filters: Alt-A-T
—- or —-
5. Create Table: Ctrl+T (or Ctrl+L)
Now, once I start working with the data, here are some other shortcuts I use:
6. Clear Filter: Alt-A-C
7. Sort A-Z: Alt-A-S-A (“A” is for Ascending)
8. Sort Z-A: Alt-A-S-D (“D” is for Descending)
9. Sort Alt-A-S-S: (“S” is for Sort)
10. Remove Duplicates: Alt-A-M
11.Text-To-Columns: Alt-A-E
12. Delete Columns/Rows: RC-D (after selecting column/row) (RC = Right-Click)
If I need to strip out some recurring strings of data, I do a Find and Replace. I find “string” and replace with “” (nothing).
13. Find/Replace: Ctrl+F, enter Find string, then Alt-P, enter Replace value, then Alt-A to replace all
If I’m charting:
14. Add Chart To Same Tab: Alt-F1
15. Add Chart To New Tab: F11
When I’m done:
16. Save: Ctrl+S
17. Close Workbook: Ctrl+W
Speak up if I’m missing any other great Excel data analysis shortcuts!
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