Cells, formulas, references and the everyday shortcuts every Excel user, and every Excel test, takes for granted.
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The edit cell Excel shortcut is F2 on Windows. On a Mac, press Control+U or fn+F2. It opens the cell with the cursor at the end, so you can fix part of it without retyping. Esc cancels an edit, Delete clears the selected cells, Ctrl+Z (⌘Z) undoes your last change and Ctrl+Y (⌘Y) redoes it.
An Excel cell reference is the address of a cell: its column letter, then its row number, such as B3. Formulas use references instead of typed numbers, so the result updates when the data changes. References are relative (B3) by default and move when you copy them. Add dollar signs ($B$3) to lock them.
Excel calculates a formula in a fixed order: anything in parentheses first, then negative signs, percent, powers (^), then multiplication and division, then addition and subtraction. Signs at the same level go from left to right. So =2+3*4 is 14, not 20, because Excel multiplies 3*4 first. Write =(2+3)*4 to add first.
The Excel fill down shortcut is Ctrl+D (⌘D on a Mac). Select the cell with the formula and the empty cells below it, then press it. Ctrl+R (⌘R) fills right in the same way. Both copy the first cell's contents and format, and relative references shift, so each row or column uses its own cells.
To format numbers in Excel, select the cells and press a shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+$ for currency, Ctrl+Shift+% for percent and Ctrl+Shift+# for a date. On a Mac, use Control (⌃), not ⌘. Ctrl+1 (⌘1) opens Format Cells for more choices. Formatting changes only how a number looks; the value Excel stores stays the same.
To copy a formula without changing its references, lock them with dollar signs before you copy: $F$1 always points at F1. To keep a formula exactly as it is, cut and paste it instead (a moved formula keeps its references), copy its text from the formula bar, or press Ctrl+' (⌃' on a Mac) to copy the formula above.
To select a range fast in Excel, click the first cell and hold Shift while you press an arrow key. Add Ctrl (⌘ on a Mac) to jump to the last filled cell: Ctrl+Shift+Down selects a whole column of data in one press. Ctrl+A (⌘A) selects the whole table, and Shift+Space selects a row.
To write a formula in Excel, click the cell where you want the answer, type an equals sign (=), then build the calculation from cell references and math signs, such as =C2*D2. Press Enter to see the result. Use + to add, - to subtract, * to multiply and / to divide. For totals, use =SUM(B2:B5).
To move around Excel with the keyboard, use the arrow keys for one cell, Enter and Tab to move down and right as you type, and Ctrl+Arrow (⌘+Arrow on a Mac) to jump to the edge of your data. Ctrl+Home goes to A1 and Ctrl+End to the last used cell. On a Mac, use Control, plus fn on a laptop.
The Excel Name Box is the small box at the left end of the formula bar, above column A. It shows the reference of the selected cell, such as B3. You can also type into it: enter a cell like D12 to jump there, a range like C2:C500 to select it, or a new name to name the selected cells.
Excel stores every date as a number called a serial number: the count of days since 1 January 1900, which is day 1. So 1 January 2025 is 45658. The date format only changes how that number looks. Because dates are numbers, you can subtract them to get the days between, add days, sort them and compare them.