Excel: Arrow Keys Do Not Move Within Selection

 Last reviewed: November 29, 1994
Article ID: Q50094
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 2.2, 3.0, 4.0

SUMMARY

In Excel versions 2.2, 3.0 and 4.0, the arrow keys can no longer be used to move the active cell within a range of highlighted cells. Instead, pressing an arrow key cancels the selection of the range of highlighted cells and moves the active cell by one cell in the direction specified. This behavior is by program design.

The active cell can still be moved within a highlighted area by using TAB, SHIFT+TAB, RETURN, and SHIFT+RETURN() to move the active cell right, left, up, and down, respectively.

Earlier versions of Excel had both the arrow keys and the TAB and RETURN keys mapped to the same functionality. Excel 2.2, 3.0 and 4.0 add functionality (the ability to select the next cell and remove the selection from the keyboard) by replacing one of these redundant mappings from Excel version 1.50. In earlier versions of Excel, it was not possible to undo a selection from the keyboard with a single keystroke.

KBCategory: kbother
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Additional reference words: 2.2 2.20 3.0 3.00 4.0 4.00

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Last reviewed: November 29, 1994
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