For all you visual people out there, this one takes a little getting used to, but once you learn it you can save a bunch of time AND feel like a badass. Nerdy is the new cool, right? 🙂

In this video, I will teach you how to insert a blank sheet, and how to move and rename tabs (worksheets), using Excel shortcuts for both PC and Mac.

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Full Video Transcript:

It’s funny how many times I amaze people with the simplest adjustment to their workflow. Like this one client, who didn’t believe me when I said I can actually move the tab using just the keyboard. He was pretty blown away, and hopefully, in this video, I’ll elicit the same reaction from you.

Moving, renaming, and copying your tabs or your worksheets is one of those fundamental skills that actually lets you take control of your sheet in a way that you couldn’t otherwise.

So, instead of using the mouse to do this…sure, you can drag and drop, but with the keyboard, you can actually get very precise and very quick.

The way to do it is to use the ALT key with the PC. When you press and let go of ALT, you pop open this whole world of additional access to the ribbon. If you hit H it’s going to move there, if you hit to the O it’s going to move to Format, and if you hit M, it’s going to give you the Move or Copy window.

So within here, you have a bunch of different things going on, but pretty straightforward. I just want to choose where it’s going to go. I can use the mouse to click, or I can go up and down with the arrows.

Quick thing to point out. If it’s actually not in this focus, I’m going to hit TAB to move to the next option. TAB again, TAB again, TAB again, TAB again. You can also hit SHIFT + TAB to move prior, so TAB will go forward, SHIFT + TAB will go backwards.

Once you’re in the spot you want, you can move up and down. I’m going to move this cover sheet right before the number six. I hit ENTER, and it actually moves it. You saw it at the bottom real quick. So, that’s a really cool trick.

If you want to rename a sheet, for example, let’s say I’m over here on my demo. I want to rename it. ALT + H + O + R. It’s already highlighted, all I have to do is start typing and hit ENTER, and I’m good to go. So, that’s a big time-saver right there.

The last one’s a little trickier, in that you do ALT + H + O + M to do Move or Copy, and from here, the only difference is you’re going to check this box on. So, you see how it’s underlined here with the C? That means if you hit ALT + C, it will give you that checkbox all ready for you without having to lift a finger, which is awesome. You can enter, it’s going to create that duplicate in the position that you want, so really, really helpful.

The memory trick for this for the PC is to Hurry Over and Move your sheet. Okay? So H, O, M. Hurry over, move your sheet. If you want to hurry over and rename your sheet, that’s how to get the rename option, and then the C, copy. Pretty straightforward.

If you’re on the Mac, you need to actually customize your keyboard shortcut. There’s a separate video. Go to the description of the video here and actually click on the link to get instructions on how to do that step-by-step.

So, couple things to keep in mind. You’re actually better off copying sheets this way, as opposed to selecting all and copying, and then going to a blank sheet and pasting it in. That’s a little dangerous. Instead, you want to do ALT + H + O + M, and then create that copy this way.

You also cannot undo a move, rename, or copy, so be very careful with this. Always save backups of your work and create a new version if you don’t want to have anything go wrong, but essentially, that’s what you need to do.

So, for going ahead and actually completing this exercise, you want to rearrange the worksheets in the correct order. So, they’re already set up with numbers, it’s pretty straightforward. Then rename them all in all caps, and then create a copy of all of them, except for the cover. Good luck!

Don’t forget to visit excelshir.com, where you can download these exercises, along with other free resources, such as keyboard shortcut cheat sheets for both PC and Mac.

Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time, and one quick thing before I go. The next time you’re spending quality time with your family, and you’re in front of that roaring fire, and you’re sharing stories of how it once was, make sure that one of those stories shares the Excel love.

If your spreadsheet is a 3 ring binder, then each worksheet is a page.

In this video, I will teach you how to insert a blank sheet, and how to delete an existing sheet, using Excel shortcuts for both PC and Mac.

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Full Video Transcript:

I don’t know about you, but fumbling around for that little plus button at the bottom of your screen just to insert a new worksheet is kind of like fumbling for your checkbook at the supermarket. There’s a better way, guys. In this video, I’m going to teach you how to insert and delete tabs, which are actually just called worksheets.

Inserting and deleting tabs or worksheets is one of those foundational skills that, if you don’t have to touch the mouse to accomplish this, you’re actually going to save yourself time every time you do it.

So, the way to insert a blank worksheet is to hit SHIFT+F11. When you hit SHIFT+F11, what you’ll notice is, based on where you are, it will actually insert a blank sheet to the left of your current highlighted worksheet. That’s really important if you want to actually save yourself a step of repositioning. You just choose the worksheet you want, then you insert the blank worksheet.

On the flip side, if you want to delete the active worksheet, be very careful. Choose the one you want first. On the PC, you’re going to hit ALT+H for home, D for the delete, and S for sheet. It’s going to ask you, “Are you sure you want to do this?” If there’s anything in it. If there’s not anything in it, it will actually just delete for you immediately.

That is the trick to it, and the memory trick to actually remember this is think of a shrieking Frankenstein saying, “I want a fresh start,” all right? Those metal bars on his neck kind of look like an 11, so shrieking stands for shift, Frankenstein is for the F, and the 11 are those metal bars. Shrieking Frankenstein, “I want a fresh start.” That’s your mental image to help you remember that shortcut.

To delete the sheet, it’s just, “I’m happy to delete a sheet,” and you’ve got to hit that ALT key first.

On the Mac, same thing. SHIFT+F11 to insert the blank worksheet. You have to actually customize your keyboard shortcut to get the delete active worksheet. There’s a separate video on how to do that. But again, the idea is the same.

Couple of things to keep in mind. You want to make sure that you are careful with this, and when you delete a sheet, there’s no undo. You cannot undo the deletion of a sheet, therefore save a copy of your work before you do it to be on the safe side.

Don’t forget to visit excelshir.com, where you can download these exercises, along with other free resources, such as keyboard shortcut cheat sheets for both PC and Mac.

Thanks for watching, see you next time, and you know that Excel love I keep talking about? Keep sharing it.

If you’re like most people, you are starting your day off with this inefficient step. It doesn’t have to be this way! In this video, I will show you how to open and close spreadsheets using Excel shortcuts for both PC and Mac. Save time every single day, so you can get back to your life!

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Full Video Transcript:

If you’re watching this video, then odds are that you’re doing this one thing at least once every single day inefficiently. Today I’m going to show you how to open and close spreadsheets quickly.

The beauty of these shortcuts is that they’re all very simple and very straightforward. So when you want to actually create a new Excel file, all you really need to do is hit CTRL+N with the keyboard. N stands for new, doesn’t get easier than that. Same concept with CTRL+O for open, CTRL+S for save. Gets a little different with CTRL+W, think of it as closing the workbook or closing the window, which is actually different than quitting the whole application. I’ll show you in a second. So that is what you use ALT+F4 to quit the application, right. So if I hit CTRL+W, it closes that workbook or that window, but if I hit Alt+F4 on the PC, it quits the entire program. That’s the difference.

So what I want you to do is pay attention to that little nuance. And for the Mac, it’s actually going to be COMMAND+Q to quit, which is even more straightforward.

The memory trick here for the PC is think of it as at the altar, the Fantastic Four, those superheroes that we all love, are getting married and the priest is really fed up and says, “I quit.” So at the altar, the Fantastic Four getting married and priest says, “I quit,” that means ALT+F4 is to quit the application. And that’s it.

So for this exercise I want you to actually go ahead and create 5 new workbooks, save them all with silly names like 1 through 5, close them all, open them back up. And again, use only the keyboard shortcuts.

Don’t forget to visit excelshir.com where you can download these exercises along with other free resources such as keyboard shortcut cheat sheets for both PC and Mac. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time. And in the meantime, don’t forget to share the Excel love.