direction of the cursor in Excel 2000

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dorey
  • Start date Start date
D

Dorey

Does anyone know how I can get the cursor to return from
a column in the middle of a page back to the first column
when I hit enter? it now just drops down one box. The
tools - options way only changes direction to the
adjacent cell
 
Dorey,

If I read between the lines, sounds like you are entering
some data you'd like the cursor to jump from say column E
back to Column A when you're done. Here's a solution that
doesn't require any macro work:

1. Highlight the columns into which you are entering
data. Then right-click and choose the Protection tab in
the window that pops up.
2. Click off the "Locked" radio button and say OK.
3. Choose Tools -> Protection -> Protect Sheet from the
Excel Menus. Click ONLY the Select unlocked cells from
the box that pops up.
4. Now assuming that you want the cursor to jump back to
first column, go to Tools -> Options and select the Edit
Tab. Change the "Direction" to Right.

That, I think, will help you with your problem without
needing to create a macro.

Obviously, you'll need to unprotect the sheet to change
any other columns.

Hope that helps!

Eric
 
Dorey

Assumptions made......

Start in A1, enter data, hit TAB key to B1, enter data. TAB your way to say,
H1, entering as you go.

Enter data in H1 then hit <ENTER> key and you will drop to A2.

Using this method, you will go back to the original column you started from
and down one row.

Gord Dibben Excel MVP
 
Dorey,

Gord's method sure does work, but...

As an accountant I enter data as you have described on an
on-going basis. Here is what I do.

Go to Tools/Options/Edit tab
Change 'Move selection after enter' to RIGHT
Then UNCHECK the 'Move selection after enter' box

RIGHT is now grayed-out in the box.

First, let me explain what we have done. You have just
turned off auto-advance of the cursor after data entry.
This is not a problem, because when you want the cursor
to auto advance, just highlight the range where you want
to enter data. For example, if I wanted to enter a
column of data from A1 to A6, I would highlight the
range, enter the first number in cell A1, and then hit
Enter, which would advance the cursor to cell A2, and so
forth.

If I wanted to enter a row of data, just highlight a row.

But what if you wanted to enter a range of data, a
matrix? Let's say I wanted to enter data in a range from
A1 to C5. In other words I want to enter 15 cells of
data. Just highlight the range and begin entering data
as described above, EXCEPT...

With the default setting, the cursor would advance from
A1 to A2 and then A3, before continuing to the next
column with cell B1. But you wanted to go from A1 to B1
to C1, and then back to A2, row by row. To do that, you
must set the direction of 'Move selection after enter' to
RIGHT. Since I, personally, do NOT want the cursor to
move UNLESS I HAVE A RANGE SELECTED (as I described
above), I UNCHECKED the 'Move selection after enter' box,
but only after having changed the direction to RIGHT.

In my case, I get the best of all worlds!

While Gord's method works (Geez, I learn something every
day), pressing the Tab key after entry and then Enter at
the end of the row is unnatural for me. With my method,
just press Enter after every entry, just as you probably
do now.

Hope that helps.

=Mac=

L. A. McClelland
K2 Enterprises
 
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