How to merge cells in a Word table. Excel Hot Keys

For many MS Word users, working with tables is the most frustrating part. Yes, it is true that in earlier versions of this program the tables were poorly managed, but the computer software manufacturer managed to improve the tools for working with the table view, as well as develop special keyboard shortcuts to simplify its management.

First of all, it is recommended to install the latest versions of the software so that all useful improvements are present. So, in the latest version of Word, it has become much easier to manipulate the table with the mouse. Now in just a couple of clicks you can easily add rows/columns; select almost any part of the table or the entire table.

Working with tables using the keyboard

By default, there are no hotkeys for working with tables. But in Word it is possible to assign a keyboard shortcut to almost any action to quickly call a function. If you often have to work a lot with tables in Word, consider spending time once and setting up the necessary hotkeys for yourself.

Merge cells hotkeys

Go to the options (File - options), select "Customize the Ribbon" - "Keyboard shortcuts - Settings". Select the "All Teams" category, find the team "TableMergeCells", set a keyboard shortcut that is convenient for you and click “Assign”.

Insert row, column

Some actions can be implemented using classic combinations. For example, to insert rows or columns you need to copy an empty row/column - Ctrl+C / Ctrl + Insert, and then insert into the required part of the table by clicking Ctrl+V or Shift + Insert

Delete row, column

There are also no special buttons for deleting rows, but you can achieve the desired effect using “cutting”: select an unnecessary element in the table and cut it by clicking Ctrl+X or Shift+Delete.

Select table, row, column

Sometimes there is a need to select the entire table. There are several ways to do this using the keyboard. Special keyboard shortcut for this Alt+Num 5, the cursor must be in one of the table cells, Num Lock is disabled.

There are also no hotkeys for selecting a row or column. But some tasks can be performed using the key Shift. For example, if you hold down the key Shift and move the cursor, you can select several cells, several rows, or even the entire table.

We have already written several times about the capabilities of the MS Word text editor in general, including how to create and edit tables in it. The program has plenty of tools for these purposes, all of them are conveniently implemented and allow you to easily cope with all the tasks that most users can put forward.

In this article we will talk about one fairly simple and common task, which also concerns tables and working with them. Below we will talk about how to merge cells in a table in Word.

1. Using the mouse, select the cells in the table that need to be merged.

2. In the main section “Working with tables” in the tab "Layout" in the group “Unification” select option “Merge Cells”.

3. The cells you selected will be merged.

In exactly the same way, you can do the completely opposite action - divide the cells.

1. Using the mouse, select the cell or several cells that you want to disconnect.

2. In the tab "Layout", located in the main section “Working with tables”, select item “Split cells”.

3. In the small window that will appear in front of you, you need to specify the desired number of rows or columns in the selected fragment of the table.

4. The cells will be divided according to the parameters you specified.

That's all, from this article you learned even more about the capabilities of Microsoft Word, about working with tables in this program, as well as how to combine table cells or separate them. We wish you success in learning such a multifunctional office product.

While working with tables in the Microsoft Word text editor, various kinds of questions may arise. And in this article we will look at one of them: merging cells in Word. This can be useful if you have column headings and they relate to not one but, say, two or three columns. Or the information in one cell relates to the data of several neighboring ones.

In order not to repeat the same text several times, you can make one from several cells. Then the information will look clear, and you won’t have to re-read the repeated text.

Let's take this example. Let's combine here the rectangles that are in the header and one column on the left, which contains information regarding all other data.

Select the required cells with your mouse. Then go to the tab "Working with tables"- “Layout”, there is a group “Unification”.

Click on the button in this group "Merge Cells".

After this, from all the selected cells there will be one.

In the same way, we do the merge for other cells.

If your blocks to be combined are not in one row, but in a column, everything is done in the same way as described above. First, select them, then in the “Merge” group, click the desired button.

If you want to combine a certain range, then do the same - select it, for example, two blocks down and three to the right, and press the corresponding button.

You can also remove unnecessary borders using an eraser. To do this, place the cursor in any block, go to the tab "Working with tables"– “Constructor” and in the group "Drawing Borders" Select the Eraser tool. This is if you have Word 2007 or 2010.

In MS Word 2016 or 2013, you need to open the “Layout” tab and in the “Drawing” group you will find “Eraser”.

The cursor will change to a rubber band. Click on the borders you want to remove.

To return to editing the document, press “ESC” on your keyboard and the eraser will disappear.

Many people are also interested in the question: how can you combine cells in Word using hotkeys. Since Word is a text editor, and it is not particularly designed for working with tables, by default there is no keyboard shortcut assigned to this command. But you can assign hotkeys in Word yourself, which will be used for this command.

Once everything you need is combined, you can add text in the middle to make it look prettier.

As a result, this is what I ended up with. The required cells are aligned and the text in them is logically formatted.

I hope everything worked out for you with the table, and you combined some cells in it.

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Good afternoon, dear visitors and readers of my blog. In my next article I talk about what Windows hot keys are, what combinations there are, why they are needed, and so on. In the article I also talk about hotkeys for other programs, such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

What are Windows hotkeys

Let's first figure out what these keys actually are, and why are they suddenly hot? I’ll reassure you right away, you won’t have to get burned. =)) Hot keys are designed to make working on the computer easier and increase speed. After all, it is much easier to press the key combination Ctrl+A (And English, press simultaneously) to select all the text on the page than to take the mouse, hold down the left button and move down to select the text. In the picture below, I selected all the text using windows hotkeys.

In almost all versions of Windows, the hotkey combinations are the same. So, offhand, I’ll say that the combination does not work in Windows 8 - Ctrl + Alt + Left / Right / Down / Up Arrow. This combination rotates the screen, if you have Windows 7 you can try it. There are a lot of hotkey combinations, I will give a list of the most popular ones.

Where is the win, ctlr, alt, and shift button on the keyboard?

Before moving on to Windows hotkey combinations, let's figure out where the main ones are actually located. The best way to do this is in the picture; I circled the keys in yellow:

Win or windows key. Very often people ask what is the win key? Usually this is a button with a drawn Microsoft logo, a checkbox made of four rectangles =) . When pressed without other keys, it opens the start menu.
The Ctrl or Control key came to us from the early days of computers and was intended for entering special characters.
The Shift key is primarily used for entering capital letters.
The Alt key is a modifier key, designed to modify entered commands and call alternative actions.

So now we know where the keyboard shortcuts are, let's move on to the shortcuts.

The most common Windows hotkey combinations

It is clear that there are a lot of combinations, half of them are highly specialized, and the rest half cannot be remembered. All key combinations use Latin letters. List of the most common keys in my opinion:

Ctrl + A - select everything on the screen. Can be used in a browser or any text editor. In Windows Explorer, all folders and files will be highlighted. Try it, it's very convenient to use;
Ctrl + C - copy selection. Select the object you are interested in and press this combination. After clicking, the selection will go to the clipboard. You can select text, files, folders;
Ctrl + V - paste from clipboard. A combination that comes with a copy combination. Let's say you copied something, press this combination, and pasting will occur;
Ctrl + X - cut to clipboard. If you need to move a folder from one place to another, then this combination is your choice;
Ctrl + F - search. In Windows Explorer, this combination opens a search screen for files and folders; in a browser, search for text;
Win + D - minimize all windows;
Win + L - combination to lock the desktop. Combination for admins.

Here I have not listed all the combinations, but the main ones that I use. I did not indicate here the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift or Shift + Alt to change the input language. I think about her and everyone knows about her. As a bonus, here is a list with all the popular hotkey combinations:

We looked at what hot keys there are in the Windows operating system. But that's not all. After all, there are many popular programs that have their own shortcut keys. Let's see the most popular ones.

Hot keys in computer programs

Let's answer the question: "What programs does a simple computer user usually use?":

Text editors - Microsoft Word, Excel, etc.;
Internet browsers - Google Chrome, Mozila FireFox, etc.

I did not list specialized programs such as Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, and so on. Since these programs are for specialists, and specialists already know all the hot keys of these programs. Let's look at the hotkeys for each program separately.

Hotkeys in excel

Excel is a very useful spreadsheet program. Those who have used it know, but not everyone knows about hot keys in Excel. Here is a list of the most popular:

Ctrl + “+” key - insert a line into excel;
Ctrl + “-” key - delete a row/column in excel;
Shift+space - combination to select the entire line;
Ctrl+space - combination to select the entire column;
Ctrl+A - combination to select the entire area (all cells);
Shift+Alt+right arrow - group columns;
Shift+Alt+left arrow - ungroup columns;
Shift+F2 - adding or editing a note in excel;
CTRL+1 - open the “Format Cells” menu;
CTRL+9 - to hide selected lines;
CTRL+0 - to hide selected columns;
ALT+F8 - this combination opens the “Macro” window for running macros;
ALT+F11 - opens the Visual Basic macro editor.

Hotkeys help users simplify and speed up their work by replacing multiple actions with one. This is especially important for an office program such as Microsoft Excel, which is designed to make it easier for a person to work with various types of data arrays. Let's look at popular ones that are applicable in many versions of this application (from Excel 2003 to Excel 2013). Moreover, in the Excel 2003 application there are no combinations for working with the ribbon - the Quick Access Toolbar, since this feature appeared only in Excel 2007 and is available in later versions. Some of the given combinations may not work for localized versions of the application in question.

The most popular Excel hotkeys

By pressing these key combinations, the main functions of the program are performed. When describing hot keys, the “+” symbol is used to indicate the simultaneous pressing of keys to the right and left of the “+” sign. Key combinations are indicated in parentheses; one, two, three or even four can be pressed at the same time. Usually one, two or three of them are service keys - Ctrl, Shift or Alt. They need to be pressed first and, holding them down, press another (third or fourth) of the hotkey combination.

To create a new file, press (Ctrl + N). To go to the menu or open a file - (Ctrl + O), save a file - (Ctrl + S), "Save as" - (F12), print - (Ctrl + P). Close file - (Ctrl + F4). Last action: undo - (Ctrl + Z), redo - (Ctrl + Y). Start creating the formula - (=). Close file - (Alt + F4). Add a column - (Ctrl + Shift + plus key). Insert a new sheet - (Shift + F11). Call the table creation dialog - (Ctrl + L). Collapse text in a cell - (Alt + Enter).

Navigation Operations

The following Excel shortcut keys are available to perform transitions. Calling the “Go” window - (Ctrl + G). Go to: to the cell on the right - (Tab); to the cell on the left - (Shift + Tab); up one screen - (PageUp); down one screen - (PageDown); to the next sheet - (Ctrl + PageDown); to the previous sheet - (Ctrl + PageUp); in the data area: to the starting cell - (Ctrl + Home); to the enclosing cell - (Ctrl + End); towards the arrow to the first cell - (Ctrl + Arrow). To move between sheets of an open book - (Ctrl + F6).

Formatting text and cells

For the selected cell (cell area), use the Excel hotkeys shown below. These shortcuts use the Ctrl key plus the other keys listed in parentheses in this section.

Font: bold - (B), underlined - (U), italic - (3), strikethrough - (5). Menu: change font - (Shift + F), font size - (Shift + P). Apply border outline - (Shift + 7). Remove all borders - (Shift + Underline).

Call menu: cell formatting - (1), font selection - (Shift + F), font size selection - (Shift + P). Set format: percentage - (Shift + 5), numeric - (Shift + 1), time - (Alt + 2), date - (Alt + 3), monetary - (Alt + 4), currency - (Shift + 4) , general (to remove formatting) - (Shift + #).

Selecting and editing text

Select: entire sheet - (Ctrl + A), full row - (Shift + Space), entire column - (Ctrl + Space), cell array in the direction of the arrow - (Shift + Arrow), cell array including all worksheet data - (Ctrl + Shift + 8).

Selected text: cut (to clipboard) - (Ctrl + X), copy (to clipboard) - (Ctrl + C). Paste from clipboard - (Ctrl + V). Delete one character from the cursor: to the right (Delete), to the left - (Backspace). Changing the active cell - (F2). Deleting the current value and changing the active cell - (Space).

Other Excel hotkeys

Opening the text search window - (Ctrl + F), replacing text - (Ctrl + H), selecting a style - (Alt + "). Automatically create a chart on a new sheet (F11). Change a cell comment - (Shift + F2). Calculation of AutoSum of selected cells in a column - (Alt + =); the value of the sum is entered in the cell of this column in the next line under the selection. Insert the current one into the selected cell: date - (Ctrl + Shift +4), time - (Ctrl + Shift +6). ). Spell check - (F7).

Algorithm of actions

If necessary, some difficulties arise. After all, performing this operation is associated with the loss of data in all cells of the merged area, except for the very top left one. First, you need to select the area of cells to be merged, right-click on the selection area, and select “Format Cells...” from the drop-down menu. The “Format Cells” window itself appears, in it select the “Alignment” tab and check the box next to the “merge cells” item. In general, Excel does not provide hotkeys to perform the operation in question.

Merging cells is easier to do using the special “Merge and Center” button, which is located in the “Home” menu. If you do not need to place the data in the center, click on the label to the right of this button and select the appropriate item from the drop-down submenu. By the way, if you have to use this operation often, it is better to place this button on the quick access panel. To save data from cells other than the top left of the merged area, you need to move their contents to another location or add them to this cell using copy (or cut) and paste operations.

Other possible ways to merge cells without losing data involve the use of macros, which can be found, for example, on Excel forums. The principle of macros is the same as manually, but it is faster and more invisible to the user.

How to insert a row using hotkeys

Often there is a need to insert a row into an Excel worksheet. The hotkeys used for this operation are Ctrl + plus sign. In this case, you should select the line above which you want to insert a new one. This selection can be performed using a hotkey combination (Shift + Space) or by left-clicking in the number area on the left of the corresponding line when the cursor changes to an arrow. If a row is not selected, then the hotkey combination (Ctrl + plus sign) leads to the appearance of the corresponding “Add Cells” menu, which prompts you to choose what to insert: cells shifted down or right, row or column.

Excel hotkey “Delete Row” - (Ctrl + minus sign). To delete a line, select it and press this key combination.

When you press the Alt key on the application menu bar, hotkey hints for the corresponding menu sections appear. This is illustrated in the figure. Available for program versions starting from Excel 2007.

Paste Special in Excel

Often you need to insert only values or just formulas into a cell. There is an option for this in Excel - paste special. The hotkeys for this are (Ctrl + Alt + V).

Pressing these keys will open the Paste Special dialog box. It is available if an object, cell contents, text on a sheet or in another program was copied or cut immediately before. In the window, select the item you are interested in: formulas, values, formats, notes, or another of the suggested options.

Thus, after reading the contents of this article, you learned what Excel hotkeys exist and how to use them. Naturally, not all existing combinations are described in the article. For a more complete study of the topic, you should use special literature.