Sounds impressive doesn’t it?  Maybe even a little intimidating?  Not at all, with MSU’s access to Lynda.com you can take a free course to learn the Power Shortcuts in Excel 2010.

For example, did you know you can copy values, formulas or text  from one cell in a column then duplicate that information to every cell in that column with just a double click?  No copy and pasting in hundreds of lines, no scrolling with the shift button held down, just double click on the lower-right corner of your original cell and the formulas, values or text in that cell populate the entire column.

Another great shortcut is adjusting column width or row height in a flash.  We’ve all seen spreadsheets where the columns or rows are either too small, and the data shows as ####### or too large and there’s white space in every cell.  To adjust quickly click in the upper-left corner of your spreadsheet to select the entire worksheet then double click on either a row or column boundary line and the spreadsheet automatically adjusts to fit the content.

You received a spreadsheet via email that you now need to make usable.  It’s full of formulas but you don’t want to click on every column or row to see them. Try pressing CTRL and  ~ at the same time and see what happens?  The column widths double and every formula on the sheet is exposed.  The ~ key is at the far left of the top row of numbers and symbols on your keyboard.

What about adding today’s date to a spreadsheet?  Instead of typing it in, click the CTRL and ; keys. Need to zoom quickly?  Hold the CTRL key and move the mouse wheel back and forth to zoom in or out.

These are just a few of the tips from only the first chapter of the Lynda.com course Excel 2010 Power Shortcuts. Go to http://train.msu.edu/lynda/ for more information.

MSU no longer sponsors Lynda.com memberships but individual memberships are available at Lynda.com.