Taking Advantage of the Numeric Keypad
Taking Advantage of the Numeric Keypad
Seeing that pressing the Enter key automatically advances the cell
pointer to a new cell in the next row down — conveniently getting you in
place for your next entry — I don’t see that you have any excuse for not
entering ranges of numerical entries from your keyboard’s numeric keypad.
(After all, your keypad does have an Enter key nearby even if it’s
embedded in the standard keyboard, as is the case on almost all laptops.)
When it comes to entering spreadsheet numbers with any speed,
using the number keys along the top row of the standard QWERTY keyboard
just doesn’t cut it.
Unfortunately, the numeric keypad on your computer is not really the
equivalent of the old adding machine’s 10-key number pad. On the computer
keyboard, the keypad mostly does double-duty with other keys
(cursor keys when the pad stands apart from the standard keyboard, and
other letter and punctuation keys when it’s embedded within the keyboard
itself).
As a result of this double functioning, you have to engage the numeric
keypad in Excel by pressing the Num Lock key before you can use the
pad to enter your spreadsheet numbers. This locks in the number function
and simultaneously locks out the secondary cursor or letter-key
function. (Excel lets you know when the number function is engaged by
displaying the NUM indicator on the status bar.)
Seeing that pressing the Enter key automatically advances the cell
pointer to a new cell in the next row down — conveniently getting you in
place for your next entry — I don’t see that you have any excuse for not
entering ranges of numerical entries from your keyboard’s numeric keypad.
(After all, your keypad does have an Enter key nearby even if it’s
embedded in the standard keyboard, as is the case on almost all laptops.)
When it comes to entering spreadsheet numbers with any speed,
using the number keys along the top row of the standard QWERTY keyboard
just doesn’t cut it.
Unfortunately, the numeric keypad on your computer is not really the
equivalent of the old adding machine’s 10-key number pad. On the computer
keyboard, the keypad mostly does double-duty with other keys
(cursor keys when the pad stands apart from the standard keyboard, and
other letter and punctuation keys when it’s embedded within the keyboard
itself).
As a result of this double functioning, you have to engage the numeric
keypad in Excel by pressing the Num Lock key before you can use the
pad to enter your spreadsheet numbers. This locks in the number function
and simultaneously locks out the secondary cursor or letter-key
function. (Excel lets you know when the number function is engaged by
displaying the NUM indicator on the status bar.)
