Ctrl Shift Enter in Excel | When & How to Use Ctrl Shift-Enter?

Ctrl Shift-Enter in Excel (Table of Contents)

Excel Control Shift-Enter
Explanation of Ctrl Shift-Enter in Excel
How to Use Ctrl Shift-Enter in Excel
Examples of Excel Control Shift-Enter

Excel Ctrl Shift-Enter

Ctrl Shift-Enter is one of the shortcuts used in Excel to perform the calculations with array formulae. It supports to performing the complex calculation using the standard excel functions. It is widely used in the array formulae to apply functions and formulas on a set of data. Use of Ctrl Shift-Enter together helps in converting the data into an array format which consists of multiple data values in excel. It also supports in differentiation between the regular formula and array formula. With this shortcut, there are two major advantages such as dealing with a set of values at a time and also returning the multiple values at a time.

Explanation of Ctrl Shift-Enter in Excel

Before we want to use the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER, we need to understand more about the arrays. The array is the collection of the data including text and numerical values in multiple rows and columns or only in single row and column. For example, Array = {15, 25, -10, 24}
To enter the above values into an array, we need to enter CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER after the selection of the range of cells. It results in the array as
Array= {= {15, 25, -10, 24}}
As shown above, braces are enclosed to the formula by resulting in the range of cells in a single horizontal array. This keyboard shortcut works in different versions of Excel including 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER also works for vertical and multi-dimensional arrays in Excel. This shortcut works for different functions that require the use of data in a range of cells. It is effectively used in various operations like determining sum and performing matrix multiplication.

How to Use Ctrl Shift-Enter in Excel?

CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER is used in many applications in Excel.

Creation of array formula in matrix operations such as multiplication.
Creation of array formula in determining the sum of the set of values.
Replacing the hundreds of formulas with only a single array formula or summing the range of data that meets specific criteria or conditions.
Counting the number of characters or values in the range of data in Excel.
Summing the values presented in every nth column or row within low and upper boundaries.
Performing the task of the creation of simple datasets in a short time.
Expanding the array formula to multiple cells.
Determining the Average, Min, Max, Aggregate, and array expressions.
Returning the results in multiple and single cells applying the array formulas.
Use of CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER in IF functions.

Examples of Ctrl Shift-Enter In Excel

Below are the examples of the excel control shift-enter.

You can download this Ctrl Shift Enter Excel Template here – Ctrl Shift Enter Excel Template

Example #1 – To Determine Sum

This example best illustrates the use of Ctrl SHIFT ENTER in calculating the sum of sales generated for different products. The following data is considered for this example.

Step 1: Place the cursor into the empty cell where you want to produce the worth of the total sales of the product.

Step 2: Enter the formula as total = sum (D6:D11*E6: E11) as shown in the figure.

Step 3: After entering the formula, press CTRL SHIFT ENTER to convert the general formula into an array formula.

Step 4: The opening and closing braces are added to the sum formula. The result is obtained as shown in the figure.

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Step 5: Check the result determining total with the general procedure we used.

The result obtained from the two procedures is the same. But, using the array formula with CTRL SHIFT ENTER is easy in determining total sales by eliminating the calculation of an additional column of sub-total.

Example #2 – To Determine Sum using Condition

This example best illustrates the use of Ctrl SHIFT ENTER in calculating the sum of sales generated for different products using the conditions. The following data is considered for this example.

Step 1: In the first step, determine the details of the seller and product that want to calculate sales generated individually. Consider, Seller =John and Product = PC and enter these details into respective cells as shown in the figure.

Step 2: To determine the sales generated by John in selling PC products, the formula as

=SUM (IF (((A2:A10=F2)*(B2:B10=F3)), (C2:C10)))

Step 3: Press CTRL SHIFT ENTER to have the desired result as shown in the figure.

Step 4: Change the values of F2 and F3 cells to determine sales generated by other persons.

In this way, the calculation of sales generated is automated using the shortcut CTRL SHIFT ENTER.

Example #3 – To Determine the Inverse Matrix

For this example, consider the following matrix A.

Let A = 10 8

4 6

Step 1: Enter the matrix A into the Excel sheet as shown in the below mentioned figure.

The range of the matrix is that B1: C2

Step 2: Highlight the range of cells to position the inverse matrix A^-1on the same sheet.

Step 3: After highlighting the range of cells, input the formula of MINVERSE to calculate the inverse matrix. Take care during inputting the formula that all cells are highlighted.

Step 4: Enter the range of the array or matrix as shown in the screenshot.

Step 5: Once the MINVERSE function entered successfully, use the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER to generate the array formula to have the results of all four components of the matrix without reentering to other components. The converted array formula is shown as

{=MINVERSE (B1: C2)}

Step 6: The resultant inverse matrix is produced as:

Things to Remember

Manual entering of braces surrounding the formula doesn’t work in Excel. We should press the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.
When we edit the array formula, we need to again press the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER since the braces are removed every time we make changes.
While using the shortcut, it requires to select the range of cells to result in the output before entering the array formula.