Can AI help me learn keyboard shortcuts and Excel formulas faster?

Yes. AI is very good at this. Describe what you’re trying to do, and it will give you the shortcut or formula and explain how it works. It can also turn the results into a personal cheat sheet or a set of flashcards.

You don’t need to memorize a giant list. Learn the handful you actually use, and let AI help you find them and practice them.

Why this comes up

You’re probably tired of the small stuff. You click through menus for the tenth time today. You copy a formula from a forum and have no idea why it works.

You know shortcuts exist, but every “top 100 shortcuts” list feels like homework. The real worry isn’t “Can I learn this?” It’s “Will I waste time learning the wrong things?”

The honest answer

AI works well here because your problem is specific. A generic list can’t know that you spend your day merging two customer lists in Excel. AI can, once you tell it.

What it does well

• Explains in plain language. Paste a formula and ask, “What does this do, step by step?” You get a walkthrough instead of a mystery.
• Matches your task. Say “I need to find a price from a product code,” and it will suggest a lookup formula.
• Compares options. Ask for VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP side by side. XLOOKUP is the newer, more flexible one in current Excel. VLOOKUP still works and shows up in lots of older files.
• Builds a short cheat sheet. Tell it your app, your operating system, and your daily tasks. You get a list that fits your work, not everyone’s.
• Makes practice material. It can quiz you one shortcut at a time and repeat the ones you miss.

What’s overblown

• AI won’t make you fluent overnight. Your fingers still need repetition.
• It can be wrong. Shortcuts differ between Windows and Mac, between app versions, and between languages. A formula can also have a small error.
• It can’t see your spreadsheet unless you describe it or show it. Without your column layout, the formula may not fit.

AI is a great tutor. It’s a poor substitute for trying the thing yourself.

Three ways to use it today

1. Excel formulas

Describe the job, not the function name. For example:

“I have product codes in column A and prices on a second sheet called Prices. Write a formula to pull the price for each code. Explain each part.”

You might get something like =XLOOKUP(A2, Prices!A:A, Prices!B:B, "Not found"). Ask it to explain the last part. That’s what keeps missing codes from showing an error in your cells.

2. Keyboard shortcuts

Tell it what you do all day:

“I’m on a Mac, and I use Excel and Gmail. Give me the 10 shortcuts that would save me the most time. Say which app each one is for.”

Start with 10, not 100. That’s the whole trick.

3. Flashcards

Ask for a quiz:

“Quiz me on these 10 shortcuts, one at a time. Don’t show the answer until I reply. Bring back the ones I get wrong.”

Five minutes a day beats an hour once a month. Treat this as a small daily habit.

What to do

Do

• Tell AI your app, your operating system (Windows or Mac), and your version.
• Ask it to explain every formula before you use it.
• Test a formula on a few rows where you already know the right answer.
• Keep a cheat sheet of 10 shortcuts. Swap in a new one only when an old one sticks.
• When something doesn’t work, paste the error message and ask why.

Don’t

• Don’t paste private data, like customer names or financial records. Use made-up sample rows instead.
• Don’t apply a formula to a whole sheet before checking a few rows.
• Don’t try to learn 50 shortcuts at once.
• Don’t skip the explanation. If you can’t explain a formula, you can’t fix it later.

FAQ

Should I learn VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP?
If your Excel has XLOOKUP, start there. It’s easier to read and more flexible. Learn VLOOKUP too, because you’ll run into it in older spreadsheets. AI can convert one to the other for you.

Can AI give me the right shortcuts for my exact version?
Often, yes, if you name your app, version, and operating system. Still, try each shortcut before you rely on it. The app’s own help menu or official documentation is a good second check.

How do I make shortcuts actually stick?
Use one new shortcut for a full week before adding another. Ask AI to quiz you for a few minutes each morning. Using it in real work is what builds the habit.

Bottom line

AI won’t memorize shortcuts for you, but it will find the right ones for your work and help you practice them. Start with ten.

Your turn: What’s the one task in Excel or another app that slows you down the most? Share it with the community. Someone may have a shortcut or formula for it.

Tomorrow’s question: How do I use AI to build a simple weekly budget without complicated apps?