Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V to copy/paste formats not working in Excel

Question

I have been using the Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V to copy/paste formats in Excel for years but they have stopped working. The computer beeps when I try them. There is no Customize Keyboard option in Excel either. Were these options removed?

Answer 1

Thanks Max. I'm glad there is someone else out there who had the same experience. I was beginning to think I had imagined it... So MSFT - any chance of getting this fixed?

Answer 2

Thanks Rich-M. The wonderful thing about Ctrl+Shift+C/V is that it was unrelated to separate Copy-Paste activity. I can copy a format once using the keyboard shortcut and then repeatedly paste that format in other cells, even if I copy and paste other different items in between. For people working on large complex spreadsheets, it is really important.

Answer 3

I don't paste formats very frequently, but I can certainly see how being able to continue to paste even after making other changes is helpful. The regular copy/paste you used to be able to do that also, and I used that all the time to continue to paste the same thing. Then they changed it so that if you did anything else you lost the copy and had to copy it again. Had to find the workaround to use the Clipboard to paste from so that I didn't have to continually go to different sheets to copy the item again and again.

Answer 4

OMG this is soo hilarious!

I have worked with CAD, BIM and Office products for 30 years and absolutely am a keyboard shortcut fanatic. What is amusing to me is to see newer users -think anyone who has used the software less than 10 years (haha) - entirely dependent on ribbons, icons and menu picks. I have laminated a couple copies of the BIM shortcuts which I adorn their monitors with for the 1st 3 months in office. Really this is the software that most of my users spend 7 hours a day operating. A 0.05 second time saving on every action is a big chunk of time.
The whole Alt-Char-char-char thing kind of drives me crazy.

Finding support staff who know nothing about versions from 20 years ago (or keyboard shortcuts in general) is not surprising.

Thank you to those who cut their teeth on the version where everything was a keyboard shortcut ("after 25 years") and contributed not only their frustration, here but some awesome resources. Kudos!

I just had an interesting conversation with MS Copilot who told me my users can save 70 hours annually by using Revit keyboard shortcuts.
I asked them to break it down...
Certainly! While I don’t have specific studies on the time saved by usingAutodesk Revitkeyboard shortcuts, I can provide a general estimate based on existing research.

The premise of our calculations is based on observations that most people lose an average of2 seconds per minuteof work by switching back and forth from their mouse instead of using analogous keyboard shortcuts^1^. Let’s break down how this estimation was derived:

1. Mental Preparation*: When using a mouse, mentally preparing to perform an action takes approximately*1.35 seconds^2^.
2. Moving Hands*: Transitioning from the mouse to the keyboard takes about*0.4 seconds^2^.
3. Pointing with a Mouse*: Pointing (excluding the click) takes around*1.1 seconds^2^.

While I am not sure I am on board with those times, but thelink there was an interesting read

Of course I am not going to calculate the time I just wasted amusing myself in the forums looking for an answer for something microsft "fixed"

Answer 5

So this is really, REALLY annoying:

• Powerpoint: ctrl+shift+c/ +v respectively, still work for copy/ paste formats.
• Word: ctrl+shift+c/ +v respectively, no longer work. However, replace the shift with the alt key, and it works: ctrl+alt+c/ +v is now working for copy/ paste formats in Word.
• Outlook: ctrl+shift+c/ +v respectively, still work for copy/ paste formats.

Which odd-thinking individual or programmer team found it useful to change what were consistent shortcuts between applications, to different shortcuts - within the same office package??! I mean, really???

As to the community here, I am still always baffled that so-called Microsoft Agents/ Moderators here, don't seem to be equipped with the full product knowledge, to be able to answer these questions. Anyhow.

So the above is a fact, the key sequence has simply been changed in Word, the functionality has not been removed.

For those who responded with the hint to the format painter - thanks but that is off-topic. Who uses a mouse...

These people here seem to have found a solution to customizing shortcuts:

How do I change the keyboard shortcut for paste formatting (format - Microsoft Community

Copied from there for ease of reference:

• user asks:

Since my MS Word has recently been updated, the keyboard shortcuts for copying and pasting formatting have changed to Alt+Ctrl+C and Alt+Ctrl+V, respectively. However, I have become conditioned to using Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V. But now, when I do the latter key combination, it pastes from the clipboard as plain text (without formatting). When I try using the new key combination to paste the formatting (Alt+Ctrl+V), a popup mentions creating a clip or something, while my webcam shows up on the lower-left corner of the screen. When I went to change the keyboard shortcut for the paste formatting (File>Options>Customize Ribbon>"Keyboard Shortcuts:" Customize button>Blog Post Tab), the only one I could find on the list was "CopyFormat" and nothing called "PasteFormat." The "Commands" are listed in alphabetical order, and the list goes from "nonpublic" straight to "Research", which between those two should be the "CopyFormat" command.

• answer given:

The problem is the selection of the Blog Post Tab category, which for some reason has an incomplete list of commands associated with it. Instead, choose the All Commands category (near the bottom of the Categories list), and you'll find PasteFormat where you expect it.

THAT is a good answer.

After 25 years with Office, I had not know that you can actually customize all keyboard shortcuts.

Should have learnt that back in my training days.

Good day to all here!