Shortcuts like Excel on PC?

[AntBlabby]

I just got MS Office 2004 for Mac and am sadly disappointed that all
the great shortcuts from Excel on a PC are missing. Moreover, I don't
seem to be able to access the menu by keystrokes. Even more
frustrating is that there is no equivalent--or at least I can find
it--as Alt+equal sign which is the same as clicking the sum sign on the
toolbar. I just am used to doing everything so fast without the mouse
to access the menu, using F4 to repeat, F2 to get into a cell to edit,
etc. Is there a way to set up the Mac version customized for these
shortcuts? If not, what a shame. And why is Excel so far behind on a
Mac as it seems???

 

[JE McGimpsey]

I just got MS Office 2004 for Mac and am sadly disappointed that all
the great shortcuts from Excel on a PC are missing. Moreover, I don't
seem to be able to access the menu by keystrokes. Even more
frustrating is that there is no equivalent--or at least I can find
it--as Alt+equal sign which is the same as clicking the sum sign on the
toolbar. I just am used to doing everything so fast without the mouse
to access the menu, using F4 to repeat, F2 to get into a cell to edit,
etc. Is there a way to set up the Mac version customized for these
shortcuts? If not, what a shame. And why is Excel so far behind on a
Mac as it seems???

Well, personally I'm rather disappointed that, since WinXL didn't even
*exist* until years after MacXL, MS didn't keep the great Mac shortcuts
when they ported XL to Windows.

I'm also rather disappointed that WinXL still hasn't implemented the
ability to customize the keyboard so that any command can be implemented
by nearly any shortcut.

Still, I guess it's more a matter of what you're used to...

For WinXL's Alt-equal, a quick trip to Help, or to
Tools/Customize/Customize Keyboard... reveals that the Mac Autosum
shortcut is CMD-Shift-T, but you can change it if you like.

CTRL-u enters a cell for editing, and you can use the technique here for
F2:

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/excel/f2.html

You can find these and other shortcuts in Help ("Keyboard Shortcuts").

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Still, I guess it's more a matter of what you're used to...

Oh - as for accessing the menu by keystrokes, that's a MacOS X
system-wide function, though less convenient than the Win method. You
can turn it on in System Preferences/Keyboard and Mouse/Keyboard
Shortcuts, then turn on Keyboard Navigation.

 

[AntBlabby]

Thanks for the help. I had really expected that the Excel 2004 I
bought would replicate the current PC version so that I wouldn't have
to learn two sets of shortcuts and then keep them straight depending on
where I was. In fact, I wonder why they are different...doesn't it
seem that MS would want them to be interchangable, seamless? Well,
when I get home, I'll try your recommendations. Thanks!

 

[Jim Gordon MVP]

Hi,

Windows keyboards don't have the APPLE key (aka Command key) on their
keyboards so Microsoft had to come up with something different when then
ported Excel from the Mac to Windows.

It is a shame that Windows did not properly emulate the Mac keyboard, so
when the code was brought from the Macintosh to Windows something had to
change.

And yes, I am telling you that Excel started off on the Mac, not on the
PC. The problem you are having is because the Windows version was not a
perfect copy of the Mac version - not the other way around.

-Jim Gordon
Mac MVP