Boost Your Productivity with Excel Mouse Double Click Tricks

In my first job, we had to go through a rigorous 3-week training before we got any real work.

One of the trainers was a 40 something guy with awesome Excel skills.

I used to call him the Excel Superman.

I still remember the first thing that he told us was to avoid the use of the mouse as much as possible and use the keyboard instead.

Till date, I completely agree with him.

If you want to be super fast in Excel, start using the keyboard.

BUT… Don’t dump the Mouse.

In this article, I will show you some indispensable mouse double click tricks.

Hopefully, you would agree that in some cases, using the mouse can add to your productivity.

Note: Unless until mentioned, a button click would refer to the left button of the mouse.

Collapse the Ribbon by Clicking on Tab Names

If you double-click on any of the tabs in the ribbon, it will collapse the ribbon menu and you will get more worksheet space visible on your screen. It works as a toggle, so when you double click again, the ribbon menu appears again.

Autofit Column Width at One Go

This one is mighty useful if you have to autofit multiple columns at one go. Select the columns that you want to autofit and double-click on the column heading separator (when you hover over the separator, your cursor would change to an icon with two arrows)

NOTE: If you want to autofit all the columns, simply left-click on the triangle icon in the top left to select the entire worksheet, and then double-click on any column header separator.

Copy the Format Using Format Painter

You can copy the formatting style and apply it to a different set of cells using this trick. To copy format, select the cells (from which you want to copy the format) and double click on Format Painter Icon (in Home –> Clipboard)

You would notice that the cursor now changes to plus icon along with the format painter icon. Now simply select the cells where you want to copy the format, and poof, it’s done.

Note: If you only want to copy the format once, click once on the format painter icon. When you double click, the format painter remains active and you can use it again and again. 

Close the Excel Workbook by Double Clicking on the Excel Icon

If you double click on the Excel Icon at the top left of the workbook, it displays the dialogue box where you can close Excel workbook with or without saving it.

Quickly Select Text in a Cell in Excel

If you get into the edit mode in a cell in Excel (by double clicking on the cell or using F2), and you double click on a word, it gets selected. Now to select more text, simply drag the mouse while the left button is pressed.

Note: Usually in office applications, if you double click on a word, the entire word gets selected, and when you triple click, the entire sentence gets selected. Triple click doesn’t work in Excel, so you need to drag after the double click.

Autofill Series with a Double Click

Autofill is a powerful feature that enables the user to quickly fill a series (vertically). For example, if you have data in a column, and you have to apply a formula in the adjacent column, instead of filling each cell, simply fill one cell, select it, and double-click on the bottom right of the selection to autofill.

You can also use this for numbers/months/quarters. Remember, for this to work, you need to have data in the adjacent column.

Rename Worksheet Names

How do you rename a worksheet? You double click on the tab name and type the new name. If you have been doing it some other way (which is highly unlikely), stop it and start using the mouse.

At one point in time, I had become obsessed with keyboard shortcuts and I was using the shortcut Alt + O + H + R for renaming a worksheet. But eventually, I realized using the mouse is easier and faster.

Go to the Last Row/Column with Data

This isn’t as much a trick as it is a good-to-know phenomenon. When you double click on the edge of a cell selection (vertical or horizontal), it will jump to the last cell which has the data.

This is not the most efficient way, and I prefer using the keyboard (control + arrow keys).

The reason I have featured it in this article is that it drives many people crazy. So now, the next time it happens, you would know why your cursor jumped to a cell miles away.

I am a Keyboard Shortcuts fanatic, and I have memorized hundreds of Excel Keyboard shortcuts.

However, I still believe there are situations where usage of the mouse (or a combination of mouse + Keyboard) should be used for maximum efficiency.

What about you – Are you a Mouse person or a Keyboard person?

What’s your favorite mouse trick?

Do share with me in the comments section.

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