Excel 2007 Selection Techniques

In this article, we will look at Excel selection techniques which involve using the mouse in conjunction with the keyboard. One of the easiest and most useful is click followed by Shift-click. This is particularly handy for highlighting large ranges of data since it allows you to simply click on two opposite corners of the rectangular range of cells which you want to select. To perform this technique, first click in the top left cell of the range you want to select. Next, make sure that the bottom right cell of the proposed range is visible. Finally, holding down the Shift key, click in the bottom right cell. All the cells between the two clicks will then be highlighted.
The other modifier key which can be used in conjunction with the mouse to make selections is Control. Whereas the mouse and Shift key combination only allows you to make rectangular selections, using the mouse in conjunction with the Control key, you can make non-contiguous selections; in other words, you can select cells which aren't adjacent to each other. Once you have made a selection, the next operation you perform will only apply to the highlighted cells. For example, you could copy the cells and paste them into a new worksheet.
A less well-known technique is to double-click one of the edges of the bold rectangle which surrounds the currently selected area while holding down the Shift key. You will notice that Excel always displays a bold border around the highlighted cells. By holding down the Shift key and double-clicking on the right-hand border, we can select all the cells up to the right-hand edge of the current range. The first column that contains blank cells acts as a boundary and Excel selects up to that boundary. Naturally, you can also extend the selection by holding down the Shift key and double-clicking on any of the other borders as well.
It is also possible to highlight cells using the keyboard alone. However, only a contiguous range of cells can be selected in this way. To perform this technique, hold down the Shift key and press one of the cursor keys. For example, select to the right, press the right cursor key; to select adjacent rows, press the down cursor key; and so forth. You can also press the left and up cursor keys to remove cells from the selection.
To highlight all the cells up to the edge of a range, hold down the Control and Shift keys while pressing one of the cursor keys. For example, to select all the cells up to the right edge, press the right cursor key; to select all the cells to the bottom, press the down arrow; and so forth.
As well as the cursor keys, you can use the End (and Home) key(s). Holding down the Control and Shift keys while pressing the End key will select all the cells to the bottom right of the current range.

By: Andrew Whiteman

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Author is a developer and trainer with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent computer training company offering Microsoft Excel 2007 Classes in London and throughout the UK.