Copy and Paste in Excel (Shortcut)

If you work with Excel on a regular basis, there’s a good chance that you’ve had to copy and paste data at some point.

While this task is pretty straightforward, there are a few things you can do to make the process faster and easier.

While there are multiple ways to copy and paste data in Excel, using keyboard shortcuts is the fastest and most efficient way to do it.

In this tutorial, I will give you the keyboard shortcut to Copy and Paste data into Excel.

Shortcut to Copy and Paste in Excel

Below is the keyboard shortcut to Copy in Excel:

Control + C

Below is the keyboard shortcut to Paste in Excel:

Control + V

If you’re using Mac, then use the Command key instead of the Control key.

How to Use the Keyboard Shortcut to Copy and Paste in Excel

Below are the steps to use the above keyboard shortcut:

  1. Select the cells or the range of cells that you want to copy
  2. With the cell selected, hold the Control key and then press the C key. This will copy the selected cells to the clipboard
  3. Now select the destination cell where you want the copy itself to be pasted
  4. Hold the Control key and press the V key

Note: You can also use the Enter key instead of the Control + V, but then you would not be able to paste the copied cells again. With Control V, you can continue to paste the copied cells multiple times.

Important Things to Know About Copy and Paste in Excel:

  • When you copy a cell or a range of cells, you can paste it in multiple places if you want. to do that, you can continue to use the keyboard shortcut Control + V. For example, if I copy cell A1 and I want to copy it to cells B1 and D1, I can first copy the cell by selecting cell A1 and then using the keyboard shortcut Control + C, and then paste it using Control + V on B1 and then on D1
  • When you copy and paste using the above keyboard shortcut it is going to copy everything from the source cells (including the cell content, any formula if there is any, and the formatting of the cell including the conditional formatting)
  • If you only want to paste the content or only the formula or only the formatting etc then instead of Control + V, use Control + ALT + V. This will open the Paste Special Dialog box, where you will find the options to selectively paste what you want
  • You can copy and then paste the copied cells in the same worksheet, in a different worksheet in the same workbook, or even in different workbooks. You can also copy and paste using the same keyboard shortcuts between applications such as copying the data from Excel and pasting it into Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint.

Alternate Ways to Copy and Paste in Excel in Excel:

  • Why the keyboard shortcut is the fastest way to copy and paste in excel, you can also select the cells, right-click, and then click on the copy option to copy the cells, and then go to the destination cell, right-click again, and then use the paste options
  • Another way to copy and paste in Excel would be to first select the cells that you want to copy, then hold the Control key, then bring your cursor to the edge of the selection and then drag it toward the destination cell. This creates a copy of your data and put it in the destination cell as well. However, this method is only suited when you want to copy and paste to nearby cells only

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I am a huge fan of Microsoft Excel and love sharing my knowledge through articles and tutorials. I work as a business analyst and use Microsoft Excel extensively in my daily tasks. My aim is to help you unleash the full potential of Excel and become a data-slaying wizard yourself.

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