Computer Mouse Vs Keyboard in MS Excel
If you want to excel in MS Excel, adopt a method that is fast and does not distort your cell references. One, therefore, needs to be cautious when using some of MS Excel shortcuts and tricks. Sometimes you may find keyboard shortcuts that are fast than computer mouse operations and vice versa. I find it faster and easier to delete contents of a cell or range of continuous cell’s contents using a mouse due to the following reason: a mouse is the most flexible Computer component to use since it has minimal operations and you can use it without having to look at it. On the contrary, a computer keyboard has many keys and requires one to first check on the keyboard than on the screen to confirm whether changes have been effected.
Practical case of deleting cell contents using a mouse in MS Excel
Consider cases where you need to delete contents of a cell or contiguous cells.
1. First, click on the cell to delete its content.
2. On the right bottom of the cell hover the mouse button till you see a black plus sign. Then drag the mouse towards the top left of the cell.
3. The same can be done to a range of cells that are next to each other.
In the above screenshot, Assume we want to delete the range of cells in yellow using a mouse.
4. First, highlight the range shaded in yellow.
5. Hover the mouse at the bottom-left part of the shaded region until you see a black plus sign then drag mouse up to the top left part of the shaded region.
It is clear from the steps above that the procedure is fast and does not alter the cell references of your worksheets. However, caution must be exercised when deleting contents of a cell using the right-click and delete option. This causes shifting of cells either up or down, left or right. Cell references are the major concept behind which spreadsheets were designed, and if altered, they can mess up the whole data model. This one of the techniques of using the mouse to manipulate data on MS Excel spreadsheets among many others that range from worksheet navigation to worksheet zoom in and out.
To equip yourself with these MS Excel tips, tricks and shortcuts, please plan to attend our upcoming Advanced Microsoft Excel training where we assure you 100% productivity and efficiency in your daily work activities.