Microsoft Excel: Thirteen Double-Click Tricks

The impact of single-clicking on a menu or object in Microsoft Excel is generally intuitive, but double-clicking sometimes reveals hidden shortcuts. In this article I'll discuss a baker's dozen of techniques where double-clicking can save you time and effort.

1. Skip the OK button: Unless you're clicking a checkbox, double-click on your choice within any dialog box in Excel to select that option and click OK simultaneously. For instance, press Ctrl-1 to display the Format Cells dialog box. Double-click on any format within the Number tab to apply the formatting and close the dialog box in one step.

2. Maximize file windows: Double-click on the title bar of Excel's Open or Save As windows to see more files and folders. Double-click the title bar again to restore the default window size. You can double-click on Excel's title bar or a worksheet window as well.

3. Split a worksheet: Double-click either of the split handles in Figure 1 to view two sections of the same worksheet at the same time. Double-click on a split to remove it.

Figure 1: Double-click the slit buttons to view two sections of a worksheet simultaneously.

4. Fill handle: Just about everyone knows that you can grab the little black notch in the right-hand corner of a cell and drag down to fill a range of cells. Double-click this Fill Handle instead to copy data or formulas down until a blank cell is encountered in the adjacent column. In Excel 2010 and later, this feature copies down to the bottom of the contiguous block of cells, meaning it can skip past blanks in the immediately adjacent column.

5. Lock the Format Painter: Most users click once on the Format Painter to transfer formatting from one cell or drawing an object to another. To apply the same formatting to a number of non-contiguous cells, double-click the Format Painter and then format as many cells as you wish. Press Escape once you finish with the Format Painter.

6. Rename a worksheet tab: Although you can right-click on a worksheet tab and choose Rename, double-click the tab to immediately edit the name.

7. Adjust column widths: Double-click the right edge of any column on the worksheet frame to automatically resize that column to fit the width of the longest cell entry. Or, select two or more columns and double-click the right edge of a column to resize multiple columns at once.

8. Collapse the ribbon: Double-click any ribbon tab in Excel 2007 and later versions to collapse or expand the ribbon interface, thereby giving you more (or fewer) rows onscreen.

9. Navigate a worksheet: Double-click any border of a worksheet cell to move your cursor in that direction until it encounters a blank cell or the worksheet frame.

10. Edit a cell: Double-click any worksheet cell to edit its contents in place rather than moving your mouse to the formula bar.

11. Identify Precedent Cells: This technique requires that you first turn off the Allow Editing Directly in Cells option under the Advanced section of the Options window in Excel 2007 and later. In Excel 2003, this option appears on the Edit tab of Excel's Options window and is labeled Edit Directly in Cell. In either case, once you turn the option off, double-clicking a worksheet cell will highlight the precedent cells that a given formula refers to.

12. Close Excel: Double-click the Excel logo in the top left-hand corner of any version in Excel (or the Office button in Excel 2007) to exit the program. You may be prompted to save any open workbooks.

13. Pivot Table Drill-Down: Double-click on any numeric value within a pivot table to create a new worksheet that reveals the underlying records that comprise that amount.