Below you’ll see the “Values (V)” telling you that “V” is the shortcut key for pasting only Values (“T” is for Transpose, “N” is for link, etc.). Hover over each icon to (a) get its shortcut key and (b) get a preview of what the paste option will look like. So the fastest way to paste values is RC-V (or MK-V if your right hand is on the keyboard already). Typing “V” is faster than maneuvering and clicking the mouse since it’s an easy target for the left index finger (no need to move the hand across the keyboard). If you want to paste Values, then either click on the “123” icon (slower) or simply type the shortcut for it, which in this case is “V” (faster). Paste Options Menu: RC or MK - use RC if your right hand is on the mouse and MK if it’s on the keyboardĮach method will bring up the same basic Paste Options menu below, which includes the following six options from left to right (I’m also giving their shortcut key): “normal” Paste (P), Values (V), Formula (F), Transpose (T), Formatting (R) and Paste Link (N): If your right hand is on the keyboard, simply hit the Menu Key (MK). To start at the beginning, what’s the fastest way to bring up the basic Paste Options menu that you see below? If your right hand is on the mouse, simply right click (RC).

So, in effect, RC=MK, except one uses the mouse and the other uses the keyboard (note: some keyboards surprisingly don’t have a menu key.

The Menu Key basically gives you the same menu as Right Clicking does. Below is a picture of the Menu Key in case there’s confusion (it’s at the bottom right of the keyboard). As for nomenclature, RC stands for Right Click and MK stands for Menu Key.

The animation below shows some of the neat things Paste Special can do in Excel: pasting just values (no formatting or formulas), pasting a picture (that you can move around) and pasting formatting onto other numbers.īelow are what I’ve found to be the fastest Paste Special methods for various tasks. And pasting can be used in ways you’ve never imagined. But sometimes you want to do more - or less - when pasting. Ctrl+V performs the basic paste operation - and includes the formulas and formatting, if any. The fastest way to cut, copy and paste is by using the keyboard shortcuts Ctr+X, Ctr+C and Ctr+V.

Keyboard shortcut for paste values