Keyboard shortcuts for heavy Excel user

[TimD5]

Hi,
I use Excel in Windows extensively, so keyboard shortcuts are a necessity. I got everything to work except for one thing: I have to fully release the keys between shortcuts. As an example, to select all the cells in a column, I can select the top cell and press CTRL+SHIFT+Down, which works fine. If I then want to select the next column over in Windows, I would keep holding down SHIFT, stop pressing CTRL, and press Right. In Parallels, this doesn't work (the selector simply moves to the right instead of highlighting both columns). The only way I can get it to work is to fully release all keys after pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Down, and then press SHIFT+Right. This may seem like a small detail, but it's an annoyance when working with big spreadsheets. Does anyone have a solution for this?

Thanks!

 

[Dmitry Geynisman]

Hi,
I use Excel in Windows extensively, so keyboard shortcuts are a necessity. I got everything to work except for one thing: I have to fully release the keys between shortcuts. As an example, to select all the cells in a column, I can select the top cell and press CTRL+SHIFT+Down, which works fine. If I then want to select the next column over in Windows, I would keep holding down SHIFT, stop pressing CTRL, and press Right. In Parallels, this doesn't work (the selector simply moves to the right instead of highlighting both columns). The only way I can get it to work is to fully release all keys after pressing CTRL+SHIFT+Down, and then press SHIFT+Right. This may seem like a small detail, but it's an annoyance when working with big spreadsheets. Does anyone have a solution for this?

Thanks!

Hi @TimD5, please open virtual machine's configuration > Hardware > Mouse & Keyboard > Keyboard: > select 'Optimize for games'. Let me know if that helps.

 

[TimD5]

Thanks for your help Dmitry but it didn't work unfortunately I've spent a bunch of time trying to get this to work and I think I'm going to give up at this point. Great product, but the Excel shortcut issues will slow down my progress too much. Thanks again for trying, Dmitry.

 

[SteveT11]

Hi There, I have figured it out. I'm a heavy Excel user.

Go to Configuration
Go to Mouse and Keyboard
Go to Open Shortcuts Preferences
Go to your Virtual Machine
Add the CMD (down) in the from / To put Ctrl (Down)
Do it for any variations...
I did it for CMD (Down), CMD / Shift (Down), CMD (up), CMD / Shift (up)

Works perfectly for me in Excel....

 

[EduardoM7]

Hi,

Any update about this issue?

I am really considering to use BootCamp instead of Parallels only due the lost of productivity without proper Excel shortcuts.

 

[EduardoM7]

Hi,

Any update about this issue?

I am really considering to use BootCamp instead of Parallels only due the lost of productivity without proper Excel shortcuts.

I have discovered the solution.
It's a in-app Excel configuration: Options > Advanced > "Transition Navigation Keys" has to be unselected. This usually doesn't comes selected, but it's just uncheck it.
This should resolve shortcuts issues when using Excel on Parallels!

 

[SebastianP5]

Hi Eduardo,

Could you share your Excel profile? It would be a huge help, as I am a heavy Excel user as well and just migrated over.

Thanks!

 

[LeighM2]

I found the solution finally (see attachment).

Go into Parallels Desktop Preferences / macOS System Shortcuts ...then set the value for "Send macOS system shortcuts" to "Always".

You will then be able to use the normal shortcuts such as the control key + up to go to the top cell in the range, or control + shift + up to select from current cell to top cell in the range etc. etc.

 

[ApoorvA]

This worked. Thanks LeighM2

 

[JohnW112]

I found the solution finally (see attachment).

Go into Parallels Desktop Preferences / macOS System Shortcuts ...then set the value for "Send macOS system shortcuts" to "Always".

You will then be able to use the normal shortcuts such as the control key + up to go to the top cell in the range, or control + shift + up to select from current cell to top cell in the range etc. etc.

You are the real MVP