Editing shortcuts in Excel: fill down, F4 and AutoSum
Most spreadsheet work is the same few moves: write a formula, copy it down, add a total. These shortcuts do all three without dragging the fill handle or typing a single dollar sign.
In short: select a range and press Ctrl+D to fill down or Ctrl+R to fill right. F4 turns F1 into $F$1 while you type a formula, and Alt+= inserts an AutoSum.
Try it now
Click into the practice sheet and use only the keyboard. The sheet counts your key presses. First extend the selection with Shift+Down Arrow, then fill.
Task All six invoices belong to the cost center in C2. Fill C2 down to C7 with the keyboard, without typing or copying.
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Invoice | Amount $ | Cost center | ||
| 2 | R-2291 | 1249.5 | 4310 | ||
| 3 | R-2288 | 86.4 | |||
| 4 | R-2295 | 312 | |||
| 5 | R-2290 | 57.9 | |||
| 6 | R-2297 | 940 | |||
| 7 | R-2293 | 129.95 | |||
| 8 | |||||
| 9 | |||||
| 10 | |||||
| 11 | |||||
| 12 |
Editing shortcuts at a glance
These come from Microsoft's Excel shortcut documentation, which is written for the US keyboard layout.
| Task | Windows | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| Fill down | Ctrl+D | ⌘+D or Ctrl+D |
| Fill right | Ctrl+R | ⌘+R or Ctrl+R |
| Toggle absolute and relative references | F4 | ⌘+T or F4 |
| AutoSum | Alt+= | Shift+⌘+T |
| Edit the active cell | F2 | F2 |
| Undo, redo | Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y | ⌘+Z, ⌘+Y |
| Enter today's date as a fixed value | Ctrl+; | Ctrl+; |
| Enter the current time | Ctrl+Shift+: | ⌘+; |
| Turn filters on or off | Ctrl+Shift+L | ⌘+Shift+F or Ctrl+Shift+L |
| Format Cells dialog | Ctrl+1 | ⌘+1 |
For jumping around and selecting ranges, see Excel keyboard shortcuts for navigating and selecting.
Fill down with Ctrl+D, fill right with Ctrl+R
Fill Down copies the top cell of a selection into every cell below it, content and format included. If that cell holds a formula, Excel adjusts the references exactly as it would if you dragged the fill handle. The routine: click the cell with the value or formula, extend the selection with Shift+Down Arrow (or Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow for a long column), then press Ctrl+D. Ctrl+R does the same from the leftmost cell to the right.
A related trick: select the whole range first, type the formula into the first cell and finish with Ctrl+Enter. Microsoft describes this as filling the selected range with the current entry, so every selected cell gets the formula at once.
If you ever work in a German copy of Excel, note that Microsoft's German shortcut list gives Strg+U for Fill Down. Our practice sheet accepts both.
The F4 shortcut for absolute references
While you are editing a formula, F4 cycles the reference at the cursor through F1, $F$1, F$1, $F1 and back to F1. The quickest habit is to press it right after clicking a cell: type =B2*, click F1, press F4, done.
In the exercise below we check the result in every filled row. We cannot tell whether you pressed F4 or typed the dollar signs, but F4 works in our formula box just as it does in Excel.
Task In C2, calculate the cost: hours times the hourly rate in F1. The formula is filled down to C7. Lock the reference to F1 with the F4 key instead of typing the dollar signs.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Project | Hours | Cost $ | Hourly rate $ | 85 | |
| 2 | Website | 12.5 | ||||
| 3 | Training | 7 | ||||
| 4 | Data migration | 21 | ||||
| 5 | Support | 3.5 | ||||
| 6 | Trade show | 16 | ||||
| 7 | Newsletter | 9.5 |
If F4 does nothing, your laptop probably uses that key for brightness or volume, so hold Fn as well. On a Mac, ⌘+T does the same job. For what absolute, relative and mixed references actually mean, read Absolute references in Excel.
AutoSum with Alt+=
Select the empty cell below a column of numbers and press Alt+=. Excel inserts =SUM(…) with the range above filled in, and Enter accepts it. On a Mac the shortcut is Shift+⌘+T.
Always glance at the suggested range before you accept it. AutoSum only takes the connected numbers above the cell, and a single blank cell ends the range. That is exactly the trap in the next exercise.
Task In B10, add up all travel costs from January to August. Use AutoSum with Alt+=, but check the range Excel suggests.
| A | B | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Month | Travel cost $ |
| 2 | January | 318.4 |
| 3 | February | 742.9 |
| 4 | March | 129 |
| 5 | April | |
| 6 | May | 486.2 |
| 7 | June | 95.5 |
| 8 | July | 611 |
| 9 | August | 274.8 |
| 10 | Total |
More on SUM itself, including adding several blocks at once: SUM in Excel.
These shortcuts in German Excel
Most shortcuts carry over unchanged, but the names and a few keys differ. Useful if you share files or instructions with German colleagues:
| English | German |
|---|---|
| Fill Down (Ctrl+D) | Unten ausfüllen (Strg+U) |
| Fill Right (Ctrl+R) | Rechts ausfüllen (Strg+R) |
| AutoSum, SUM | AutoSumme, SUMME |
| Alt+= | Alt+Umschalt+0 (the = sign sits on Shift+0 on a German keyboard) |
| Ctrl, Shift, Enter | Strg, Umschalt, Eingabetaste |
Which Excel versions support these shortcuts?
Fill Down, Fill Right, F4 and AutoSum work in every current version of Excel for Windows, including Excel 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024 and Microsoft 365. Excel for Mac uses the Mac shortcuts in the table above. Excel for the web has its own list from Microsoft, because browser shortcuts can get in the way there.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Excel shortcut to fill down?
Select the range starting with the cell you want to copy, then press Ctrl+D. On a Mac, press ⌘+D.
Why does F4 not make my reference absolute?
F4 only toggles references while you are editing a formula and the cursor sits on or right after a reference. Outside a formula it does something else. On many laptops you also need to hold Fn.
What is the AutoSum shortcut on a Mac?
Shift+⌘+T. On Windows it is Alt+=.
Can I fill a formula down without selecting the range first?
If only the single cell below should get the formula, yes: select that empty cell and press Ctrl+D, and Excel copies the cell above. For a longer range, select it first.
How do I enter today's date with a shortcut?
Ctrl+; enters today's date as a fixed value that will not change tomorrow. If it should update every day, use the TODAY function instead.