Excel Format Painter Shortcut Key

The Excel format painter shortcut key is helpful when you want to copy the cell format quickly but don’t want to use the ribbon icon.

The format painter key sequence is:

Windows shortcut

Alt H F P

Mac shortcut

Not available

There is no format painter shortcut for Mac Excel. The workaround for Mac: First, create a macro to paste formatting. Next, assign a keyboard shortcut to the macro. From now, you can use the format painter shortcut without any trouble.

How to use the Format Painter Shortcut key in Excel

Select the source cell from which the format is to be copied.
Press Alt, H, F, P key sequence
The Format Painter icon will appear
Select the target cell(s) and copy the format by clicking mouse

That’s all!

Here is an example:

You can also reach the format painter command using the Home Tab, Clipboard Group.

Shortcut for older Excel versions

If you are working with an older version of Microsoft Excel use the steps below:

Select the source cell and press Ctrl + C
Select target cell(s) where you want to paste the format
Press Alt, E, S, T key sequence, and press Enter.