Excel Edit Cell Shortcut: F2 (and moving inside a cell)

Double-clicking to edit means grabbing the mouse every time. F2 keeps your hands on the keyboard.

Edit the cell

Select the cell, press F2. The cursor lands at the end of the text. Mac: Control + U (or F2 with fn).

Move inside the cell

Replace the whole cell

Don’t press F2 — just select the cell and type. Whatever you type replaces the contents.

Edit in the formula bar instead

Useful for long formulas: click in the formula bar, or press F2 then Ctrl + Shift + U to expand the bar.

F2 does something else on my laptop

Laptop function keys default to volume or brightness. Press Fn + F2, or turn on Fn Lock (Fn + Esc on most).

Check it worked

After F2 the status bar (bottom-left) says Edit instead of Ready.

Bonus

F2 also renames a selected file in Windows and a selected sheet tab? No — for a sheet tab, double-click it. For a chart element, F2 does nothing; select and retype.