Windows Keyboard Shortcut of the Day

Many companies require you to use a secure password, and good secure passwords usually include some kind of punctuation (along with numbers, upper-case letters, and lower-case letters).

Meanwhile, pity the poor semi-colon (;). Here’s a key smackdab on the home row of your keyboard. Your right pinkie gets a workout with the P key and the Enter key and the Slash key (/), but rarely is called upon to hit the semi-colon, where it rests. (You may recall that the reason our keyboards are laid out like they are is because with old manual typewriters, you needed to actually slow down typists to prevent key jams; thus, the home row became home to many infrequently used keys. My first typing class, in 7th grade in 1979, was actually taught using manual typewriters.)

So, kill two birds with one stone: Spice up some of your secure passwords with a semi-colon or two. That satisfies the requirement of having punctuation in the password, while also being an easy key to type. Be sure to vary the semi-colon’s place in your secure password: the beginning and end may be easier to remember, but the middle is more secure.

In Excel, hit Ctrl plus the Space Bar to select the entire column of your active or selected cells. (Then you can delete all the cell contents with the delete key, or copy with Ctrl+C or whatever you like.)

Similarly, Shift plus the Space Bar selects the entire row of cells.

For example, suppose you want to move a column. Follow these steps:

1. Move your cursor to some cell in the column you want to move. (Remember you can press F5 to instantly go anywhere.)
2. Press Ctrl+Space Bar. The entire column is selected.
3. Press Ctrl+X to Cut the column.
4. Move your cursor to the location right where you want the column inserted.
5. Press Shift+F10 to display the shortcut menu.
6. Using the arrow keys and Enter, select the Insert Cut Cells command.

Suppose you’ve used the mouse to scroll too far in Excel. You’re lost. The cells are zooming by at a million miles an hour. You just want to get back to see the cell where your cursor is. Help! Scrolling around to find the active cell will take forever!
Ctrl+Backspace moves the visible area of the spreadsheet back to whereever your cursor is (the so-called active cell).

To move to the right in Excel to see your next group of columns, you could scroll. Or you could press the Right Arrow key a bunch of times.

Or, press Alt+Page Up. You immediately find yourself one screen to the right looking at your next batch of columns.

Conversely, Alt+Page Down moves you to the left.

(Compare to the regular Page Up and Page Down, which you already know moves you up and down a screen.)

Don’t click on the Insert menu and then the Worksheet command. Don’t even press Alt+I, W. Just press Shift+F11 and a brand new worksheet is created for you in Excel.