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This means you can use F4 to add $ dollar symbols in front of the column letters and row numbers, $A$12.īy continuing to hit the F4 key, you can toggle or cycle through mixed references (column absolute while row relative, or row absolute while column relative), and then back again to a completely relative reference. When writing formulas, any portion of the formula that denotes a cell or range of cells can be made absolute by hitting the F4 key while your cursor is on that cell reference. I explain how to use the Format Painter in point #11 in this post. If you made multiple formatting changes to a cell like fill color, font color, and borders, and wanted to apply those changes to other cells, then the Format Painter is a good alternative. It's important to note that F4 only repeats the last single action you took.
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The cell immediately was changed to yellow because it repeated the last thing I did. In the image below, I highlighted cell A6 in yellow, then selected cell A8 and hit F4. That includes formatting, inserting or deleting rows, and making changes to shapes. When you select a cell and hit F4, your last action will be repeated. Here's a post on the best keyboards for Excel shortcuts that explains what to look for in both a laptop and regular keyboard. So make sure to share them with your friends & co-workers as well.īefore we dive into the five shortcuts that use the F4 key, I want to mention that if you are using a laptop, you might have to hold down the Function key, often abbreviated Fn, in conjunction with the F4 key since those F keys can double for other purposes on your keyboard.
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All of these shortcuts can save you time with common daily tasks.
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The F4 key has a lot of different uses in Excel. F4-Shortcuts.xlsx Download Using F4 for a Variety of Shortcuts
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