Excel Shortcuts - Formatting with !@#$%^

Learn Excel From MrExcel, Podcast Episode 2131: Applying Number Formats Using The First 6 Number Keys.

So, CONTROL+SHIFT 1 through 6 apply number formats but here's the trick to this, here’s how to remember this, is the symbol, the ! symbol, above the number helps you to figure out what the format is going to be. So, let's start with the 4 key. If you look on your keyboard, the 4 key has a $ sign above it, so pressing CONTROL+SHIFT+4 is going to put you in a currency format like that, and the 5 has a % above it, so CONTROL+SHIFT+5 puts us in % mode. The 6 has an exponent above it, the ^ which is used for exponents in Excel, so that puts us in scientific notation. Easy to remember those 3.

Alright. Let's go back before the days of email, and you'd say, HEY JOE – LETS GO TO LUNCH @ 2, alright? So, I could see where the @ sign would kind of be saying, you know, it's a time. We're indicating time. So, CONTORL+SHIFT+2 has an @ sign in it and that will format something as a time. Cool.

The 3 has what we, here in the United States, call a pound sign but the rest of the world calls a hash sign, and if you look at the # sign, you can kind of picture some weird world where that is the grid on a calendar, you know, a calendar of dates, although in that calendar there's only 3 weeks and apparently only 3 days, but still I can kind of picture in my head where that's a calendar, so, CONTROL+SHIFT+3 will format something as a date, and the last one, CONTROL+SHIFT+1, will format it as a number, , and 2 decimal places.

I’m not sure how to remember that one but at least there's a way that you can help to remember each of those various formats.

Alright. Well, hey. I want to thank for stopping by. We’ll see you next time for another netcast from MrExcel.