Specifying the Behavior of the Enter Key

When you type information into a cell, it is normal to press the Enter key at the end of your entry. Excel allows you to specify exactly what should happen after you press Enter. Basically, you can specify that nothing happen (the cell into which you entered information remains the currently selected cell) or that a different, adjacent cell is automatically selected.

To make your specification, follow these steps if you are using a version of Excel earlier than Excel 2007:

1. Choose Options from the Tools menu. Excel displays the Options dialog box.
2. Make sure the Edit tab is selected. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. Either select or clear the Move Selection After Enter check box, depending on whether you want the selection to move or not when pressing Enter.
4. If you select the Move Selection After Enter check box, use the Direction drop-down list to specify the direction of the cell that should be selected.
5. Click on OK.

If you are using Excel 2007, then you should follow these slightly different steps:

1. Click the Office button, then click Excel Options. Excel displays the Excel Options dialog box.
2. At the left side of the dialog box, click the Advanced option. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. The first option in the Editing Options section of the dialog box is entitled After Pressing Enter, Move Selection. Either select or clear the check box, depending on whether you want the selection to move or not when pressing Enter.
4. If you select the After Pressing Enter Move Selection check box, use the Direction drop-down list to specify the direction of the cell that should be selected.
5. Click on OK.