Increase or Decrease Decimals Using Your Keyboard
by Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 7, 2021
Applies to: Microsoft® Excel® 2013, 2016, 2019 and 365 (Windows)
Although there are shortcuts to apply number formatting in Microsoft Excel using the Ctrl key, there are not comparable keyboard shortcuts to increase or decrease decimal places for numbers. However, you can press Alt to access the Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar and then use your keyboard to increase or decrease decimal places.
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Activating keyboard control in the Ribbon
If the Ribbon is not showing, press Ctrl + F1.
Press Alt to activate keyboard control in the Ribbon. Key tips will appear in the Ribbon as a small label or badge. You can also press F10 instead of Alt.
Below is an activated Ribbon after the user has pressed Alt:
Choosing Ribbon commands using the keyboard
To choose commands in the Ribbon using key tips or badge letters:
- Press Alt. Key tips or badges appear on the Ribbon. One layer of badges appear at a time. Once you choose an option (a letter), then a new set of options appear. The key tip badges appear for the active tab.
- Press the appropriate badge letter to activate the desired tab. Do not press Shift.
- Press the appropriate badge letter to choose the command in the active tab.
- Press Escape if you want to exit key tip mode.
Selecting Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal using the keyboard
To increase or decrease decimals:
- Select a cell or cell range containing numbers.
- Press Alt. Key tips appear in the Ribbon.
- Press H to access the Home tab. Do not press Shift.
- Press 0 (zero) to apply Increase Decimal. Press 9 to apply Decrease Decimal.
Adding Increase Decimal or Decrease Decimal to the Quick Access Toolbar
You may want to display the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon and add buttons to it (it's displayed above the Ribbon by default). To display the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon, click the arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar and select Show Below the Ribbon.
To add Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal to the Quick Access Toolbar:
- Right-click Increase Decimal on the Home tab in the Ribbon and select Add to Quick Access Toolbar from the drop-down menu.
- Repeat for Decrease Decimal.
- Press Alt and note that numbers appear on the buttons in the Quick Access Toolbar (so if you press Alt and then 1, you would access the first command).
At this point, you may want to move your most frequently-used buttons to the beginning of the Quick Access Toolbar so that Alt and 1 would access the first button, Alt and then 2 would access the second button and so on.
To rearrange buttons in the Quick Access Toolbar:
- Click the arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar and select More Commands. The Options dialog box appears and In the categories on the left, Quick Access Toolbar should be selected.
- On the right, under Customize Quick Access Toolbar, click the button you wish to move and click the up arrow to move the button up. or the down arrow to move the button down. Continue clicking the up or down arrows until the button is in the desired position.
- Repeat for other buttons.
- Click OK.
Below is the Microsoft Excel Options dialog box where you can rearrange buttons:
Note that the Increase Decimal and Decrease Decimal buttons have been placed at the beginning of the Quick Access Toolbar in the following example:
It's definitely a good idea to rearrange the buttons in the Quick Access Toolbar so your most frequently-used buttons appear in the first nine positions.
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More resources
How to Fill Blank Cells in Excel with a Value from a Cell Above
How to Use Flash Fill in Excel to Clean or Extract Data (Beginner's Guide)
Automatically Sum Rows and Columns Using the Quick Analysis Tool
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