Excel Shortcuts to Cut, Copy, and Paste Data THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY TO MOVE DATA IN EXCEL utting, copying, and pasting data are some of the most common Excel tasks. This article will discuss four shortcuts to do each of these functions in Excel – helping you uncover the fastest ways to enter data. Cutting vs. Copying In Excel, cutting data is defined as moving the data from one location to another, either to a different spot in the same worksheet, a separate worksheet in the same workbook, a different Excel workbook, or even a different application. Copying data means taking a copy of the data to another location. In other words, if you cut data in cell F4, the data will move from F4 to the new location. If you copy data in cell F4, a copy of the data will remain in cell F4 even as you copy it to the new location. If you cut data, you can only paste it once. If you copy data, you can paste it multiple times in different places. You can cut or copy either one cell at a time or a group of cells at once, as long as the range of cells is next to each other. For example, you can cut or copy cells A5 through D10 at once, but you cannot cut or copy cells E6 and I9 at the same time. You will save a lot of time by cutting or copying multiple cells at once. Cutting Data To cut data, select the cell or cells you want to cut and use the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+X” (hold down the “Ctrl” key and the “X” key at the same time). If you prefer to use the mouse, or if you need to select a range of cells to cut, click the “Cut” icon (in the shape of scissors) from the “Home” tab on the ribbon, as shown in Figure 1. A third way to cut data is to select the cell or cells to cut and rightclick with the mouse. Choose “Cut” from the right-click menu. Finally, you can cut data by selecting the cell or cells to cut and hovering 34 HBMA BILLING • JULY.AUGUST.2014 your mouse over any of the edges of the cells to cut. As soon as your cursor changes to a four-way arrow, drag the cells to the area of the workbook you want to move the cells to. Copying Data There are similar shortcuts to copy data. The keyboard shortcut is “Ctrl+C.” The “Copy” icon is below the “Cut” icon and looks like two pieces of paper, as shown in Figure 2. The same right-click menu to cut data also has a copy option. If you like dragging cells to cut data, hold down the “Ctrl” key while you drag the cells. This will copy instead of cutting the data you drag. Pasting Data The final step is to paste the data where you want it to go. Excel places cut or copied data in an area known as the clipboard. The keyboard shortcut to paste data from the clipboard is “Ctrl+V.” The “Paste” icon looks like a clipboard with a piece of paper. The icon is larger and to the left of the “Cut” and “Copy” icons, as shown in Figure 3. Again, the right-click menu will paste, but the right-click menu has a variety of optional ways to paste, depending on what you have cut or copied. The paste options relate to a feature called “Paste Special,” which is a powerful way to control what and how Excel pastes data. We will discuss the “Paste Special” feature in a future Billing article. The fastest way to paste data is to press “Enter.” Excel knows By Nate Moore, CPA, MBA, CMPE C FIGURE 1 FIGURE 2 FIGURE 3
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