5

In almost any other application, Ctrl+Backspace deletes the previous word when editing text. In Excel 2013, it jumps the view to the active cell.

Is there an alternate shortcut for "delete previous word" in Excel? Is there a way to remap Ctrl+Backspaceto this functionality so it's consistent with most other applications?

EDIT: To those coming across this later, the following AutoHotKey rule should do the trick:

#IfWinActive ahk_class XLMAIN
    ^Backspace::
        Send ^+{Left}{Backspace}
        return
#IfWinActive
Lewis
  • 153

4 Answers4

2

I had the same question about 2 weeks ago but I have the solution without using Auto Hotkeys just ctrl + Shift + Backspace works wonders. GL!

Mat Fl
  • 21
2

When in edit mode (select cell and double click of press F2), you can press Ctrl+Shift+<-- to select the previous word and then press Backspace.

That's my best suggestion.

Excellll
  • 12,847
1

To replicate* Word's Ctrl+Backspace, do the following:

Ctrl+Shift+Left followed by either two Backspaces or two Deletes.

The second Backspace or Delete is not required if there is a space immediately to the left of the cursor as that space will be included in the selection.

When deleting multiple words, it is best to select them first with multiple Ctrl+Shift+Lefts, and then delete the words.

* Note that Excel's shortcut does not perform exactly the same as Word's. Word is smart enough to always delete all the appropriate spaces, leaving just one, no matter where the cursor is. The Excel shortcut, on the other hand, just selects (and deletes) all the characters from the cursor to the start of the word to the left, strictly only deleting any intervening spaces.

The equivalent sequence for Word's Ctrl+Delete is, of course:

Ctrl+Shift+Right followed by either Backspace or Delete.

Note that only one Backspace or Delete is required if there is a non-space character immediately to the right of the cursor. Otherwise, the Ctrl+Shift+Right sequence needs to be repeated, as the first sequence only selects the space.

Caveat:

Will not work unless a cell is double-clicked, F2 is pressed, or the formula bar is clicked before entering the text. This can be worked-around after text entry has begun by clicking in the formula bar at the top of the screen.

robinCTS
  • 4,407
1

As far as I know the functionality to delete the last word does not exist in Excel and there is no shortcut for it. Excel is not a word processor, so shortcuts will focus on other aspects.

N>B>: What do you means by "it jumps the view to the active cell"? Ctrl-Backspace does nothing in my Excel 2013. Not in edit mode and not in ready mode either.

Check if there are any add-ins that use the shortcut.

teylyn
  • 23,615