Excel Supreme

Windows, panes and sheets

The keys that change what you are looking at rather than what the sheet holds: frozen panes, split windows, the ribbon, and the tabs.

Shortcuts

Action Windows macOS
Hide or show the ribbon CtrlF1 CommandOptionR
Freeze the rows above the active cell AltWFF No default View ▸ Freeze Panes
Split the window at the active cell AltWS No default View ▸ Split
Open the zoom dialog AltWQ No default View ▸ Zoom
Switch to the next open workbook CtrlTab CommandGrave
Cycle back through the open workbooks CtrlShiftTab CommandShiftGrave
Open a second window on the same workbook AltWN No default Window ▸ New Window
Move to the next pane of a split window F6 F6
Close the workbook window CtrlW CommandW
Rename the current worksheet AltHOR No default Format ▸ Sheet ▸ Rename
Hide the current worksheet AltHOH No default Format ▸ Sheet ▸ Hide

When to use it

Frozen panes are the only item here that changes how you read a sheet rather than where you are in it. Freezing the header row keeps the column names in view when you scroll to row 900. Alt + W + F + F freezes everything above the cell you are on, so put the cursor in the first data row before you press it.

The rest is housekeeping for a workbook with many tabs. Once there are more sheets than fit across the bottom of the window, Ctrl + Page Down moves through them in order. That is faster than hunting for a tab that scrolled out of sight.

Checked against

Microsoft 365 Apps for Windows, version 2501, checked on 24 February 2026. Excel for Mac 16.91 on the same day, where the View menu keeps the pane commands and the ribbon has a Command chord. Google Sheets in Chrome 131 has no default chords for any of these rows, so the page does not offer a Sheets tab.

Practice

Practise it: Select to the edge of a block

Select to the edge of a block is where the keys on the other five pages get tested, so start there if this page is the first one you opened.