Ctrl + Y in Excel: Functions and How to Use It

From this tutorial, you will know what are the functions of and how to use Ctrl + Y in Excel completely.

There are many shortcuts that we can use in Excel to make us work faster. One of those shortcuts is Ctrl + Y. This Ctrl + Y can become a useful shortcut as it allows us to retrace our activities in Excel and make the changes needed based on that process.

Want to know more about this shortcut and what it can do? Let’s get into it right away.

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The Functions of Ctrl + Y in Excel

Ctrl + Y in Excel is useful to redo our activities in Excel. The activities we can redo are the activities we have undone previously.

How to Use Ctrl + Y in Excel

It is quite easy to use the Ctrl + Y shortcut in Excel. Just press the Ctrl and Y buttons simultaneously on your keyboard to begin redoing the activities you have undone in Excel. Do this until you have redone the number of activities you want.

The maximum number of activities you can undo in Excel is 16. Thus, this is the maximum number of activities you can redo too using Ctrl + Y.

Ctrl + Y Alternative in Excel: The “Redo” Button

Besides using the Ctrl + Y shortcut, you can also redo your actions in Excel through the “Redo” command button. However, sometimes by default, this button doesn’t show up in your ribbon. Thus, to be able to use the button, you have to make it appear first.

To do that, first, click on the “File” button on the top left of your Excel program interface.



Then, click “More…” and choose “Options”.



In the dialog box that shows up, choose whether you want to place the “Redo” button on your ribbon or quick access toolbar. If you want to place it on your ribbon, click “Customize Ribbon” on the left box. If quick access toolbar, click “Quick Access Toolbar”.



Whichever option you choose, after you click on it, look at the left box of the part of the dialog box that shows up and scroll it down. There should be a “Redo” button in it.

Click on the “Redo” button and click the “Add >>>” button in the middle.



If you choose to place the button in your ribbon, you need to create a new group in a ribbon tab first to place the button there. To do that, click on the ribbon tab where you want to place the new group in the box on the right. Then, click on the “New Group” button at the bottom to create the new group.





You can determine where you want to place the new group in the ribbon tab by highlighting the group after which you want to place it by clicking on it or you can just drag the new group after you have created it. You can also rename the group name by clicking on the group that you have just created and clicking on the “Rename…” button at the bottom.



After the new group on your ribbon tab is ready, add the “Redo” button there.

If you choose to place the button in your quick access toolbar, you can immediately add the “Redo” button by selecting it and clicking the “Add >>>” button.

If you have the “Show Quick Access Toolbar” checkbox below the left box, make sure you check it by clicking on it if it still doesn’t have a checkmark. You can also choose the position of the quick access toolbar, by clicking on the “Toolbar Position” dropdown below the checkbox.



After you have added the “Redo” button in your ribbon or quick access toolbar, click the “OK” button in the dialog box.



Done! Now, your “Redo” button should be ready to use in the location you have chosen.



As the button is now ready to use, when you need to do a redo, you can click on it as an alternative to pressing Ctrl + Y.

Exercise

Now that you have understood all about Ctrl + Y in Excel, let’s try the shortcut on your Excel program.

Open an Excel file, do some activities, and undo them. Now, use the Ctrl + Y shortcut to redo those activities. If you want, you can also try to use the “Redo” command button instead.

How is it? Can you use the shortcut?

Additional Note

You can change the maximum number of undoes in Excel, thus changing the maximum number of redoes too, by adding a relevant entry in your Microsoft Windows registry.

However, should you change it, the maximum number should be 100. More than that can make Excel takes up too much memory from your laptop/PC RAM. That can be bad for your Excel program’s performance and other applications you run with Excel, especially if your laptop/PC has a small RAM capacity.



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