# Solved: Excel 2007 issue: "format cell" keyboard shortcut (CTRL+1) not working



## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

I am running Windows Vista Business SP1 and Excel Enterprise 2007. I work in finance, so having all of Excel's keyboard shortcuts available is critical to me. I often use the shortcut [ctrl]+1, which pops up the "format cell" window. However, this shortcut does not work anymore for me. All my other [ctrl]+ shortcuts work well, however, so I am confused as to what is causing the problem.

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Hi there, and welcome to the board!

I was so excited when I read your thread title, because I haven't really found many people who use that keyboard shortcut and think it's as critical as I do. I use it _quite_ frequently! Okay, so anyway, where was I... right-o, I'd think a couple of things off the top of my head. First would be your keyboard. Are there any other items associated with those keys? Can you use the old keyboard shortcut? (I.e. all 2003 keyboard shortcuts are forward compatible, so through the menu shortcuts? Alt + O, E??) If still no, something is wrong with the program, and you should run a Detect & Repair. If it does work, it makes me suspect your keyboard first and foremost, a macro secondly.


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks for the response. All the other shortcuts work fine, except for CTRL+1. How do I check that it's not a macro that's causing the problem? Any other advice?

I have run detect/repair and reinstalled Office completely, but the problem persists.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Yeah, check the add-ins first. They exclusively run code in hidden workbooks. Hit the Office button, click Excel Options, click Add-Ins on the left, click the Go button when it appears near the bottom. Uncheck everything. See if the problem still exists. If it doesn't, add them back one by one, checking for the functionality after every add-in is re-installed. You'll eventually find the culprit.

If that doesn't fix it, close all workbooks, hit Alt + F11, then hit Ctrl + R. Check to see what the bold filenames are on the left. You may have a workbook named Personal.xls (or if made in 2007, Personal.xlsm/xlsb). If you see that, expand it and double click the ThisWorkbook module. If you see any code in it, copy and paste it here (unless you know how to read it).

You may just want to run a Detect and Repair anyway, just to see if that helps. Also, is it just one file? Or all files?


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply. The problem exists for all files, not just one file.

Unchecking all the add-ins didn't fix the problem, so none of the add-ins were culprits.

I ran Detect and Repair, but no luck either.

Finally, I did the Alt+F11, Ctrl+R sequence and checked the VB window that popped up. There are no "personal.xls" or "personal.xlsm/b" workbooks.

I know this is a relatively small problem, but it's driving me crazy! I use the shortcut just about every time I use Excel, and now I have to use "right-click key"+F instead....


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Okay, try this. Hit Alt + F11 again to open the VBE, then hit Ctrl + G to open the Immediate Window. Copy and paste this line...

Application.OnKey "^1"

Make sure your cursor is at the end of the statement and hit Enter. You won't actually see anything happen, but close out the VBE and go back to Excel, then try your keyboard shortcut again. Anything?


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

First, I greatly appreciate your effort to help me out on this. Thanks again.

I tried that and it didn't work. To ensure that I had indeed typed exactly what you wrote, I shut down Excel a few times and then restarted it, then got into VBE and made sure that the line of code was present in the "Immediate" window at the bottom--it was every time I checked. I made sure to hit the Enter key after the line. Still, nothing....


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Hmm, well, like I said the next thing I'd look at would be your keyboard. What kind is it? Have you tried another one? Do you have an F lock key or something like it? Are any of your keys double keys (i.e. they have an alternate keystroke value)? Try another keyboard. I know it may be a pain, but hardware does go bad sometimes too. It doesn't sound like the application though..


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

It's definitely not the keyboard, since the Ctrl and the "1" buttons all work fine. Also, all other Excel shortcuts work (or at least all the ones I usually use) except for this one. I'm using a VAIO laptop, by the way, so the keyboard is the one that comes with the laptop. When I dock the laptop and use an external keyboard, the issue remains.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Have you tried a Detect and Repair yet?


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

Yes, as I mentioned above, I tried before I started the threat and again at your suggestion. Didn't work either time.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Do you have Outlook as well? If so, open it up and hit Ctrl + 2, then Ctrl + 1. It should change to the Contacts page, then back to the Mail page. Trying to see how wide-spread this is. I'm not really sure where to go from here. No add-ins are affecting it, no code, resetting it via code doesn't work, it's not workbook specific, so let's rule out other applications and make sure it's only Excel.


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

Wow!! This is so weird. You are right, it's not Excel! I tried Ctrl+2 in Outlook, which opened up my calendar, then I tried Ctrl+3, which opened up my contact list, and then I tried Ctrl+1 and nothing happend. So it looks like Ctrl+1 does not work in Outlook either.... What could it be?? Now I'm really confused.

My "1" key works, my "!" key (i.e. Shift+1) works, my Ctrl key obviously works... I am dumbfounded.


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## illjoe (Dec 14, 2008)

YESSSS!!! I figured it out... finally! And thanks to you for tipping me in the right direction!

This was the problem, which took me forever to figure out and is totally unintuitive. I went to Start - Control Panel - Change Keyboards or Other Input Methods (under Clock, Language, and Region). In the pop-up window, I clicked on the Keyboards and Languages tab, then Change Keyboards. In the Advanced Key Settings tab, I noticed that the "Hot Key" sequence for the English language was set to "Ctrl+1"!!!

I have no idea how this came to be, but I unchecked it and now everything works perfectly.

Thank you so much for troubleshooting this with me and pointing me in the right direction. I would've never been able to figure it out alone, and probably would've ended up re-installing the OS from scratch out of frustration.


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## Zack Barresse (Jul 25, 2004)

Great!! I was just about to say look at your hardware configuration. So glad you got it figured out!! I know how much you probably use it (I use it constantly), so I can only imagine how frustrating it could have been for you! 

You can click the Solved button at the top of the thread to mark it such.


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