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I have a time log spreadsheet. I have a new sheet for each day. In each sheet, I have a transactional record of how my time was spent. When I start or end a task, I usually type in the time ("11:00 AM" for example).

Is there a shortcut to inserting the current time into a field? I'm sure it can be done with a macro, but I'm not very knowledgeable about macros. I'd like to simply highlight a field and hit some sort of shortcut key to insert a static value of the current time.

Thanks for any help!

2 Answers 2

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Select the cell you want to enter the time, and hold down the Ctrl, Shift and : keys at the same time on the keyboard. This keyboard shortcut will instruct Excel to enter a static time into the selected cell.

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  • Luck is on my side today ;) Aug 13, 2010 at 16:13
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    Strictly speaking it's the semi-colon (;), rather than a colon (:) although they are on the same key.
    – MrWhite
    Aug 13, 2010 at 16:15
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    @w3d: On my keyboard (TR-type), they are on different keys. When I use the colon (:) I get the time, and when I use the semicolon (;) I get the date. Aug 13, 2010 at 16:17
  • @Mike C.: You're more than welcome. Aug 13, 2010 at 16:19
  • @Mehper Ah OK I see. It's the MS docs that are a bit misleading! Do you need to press SHIFT to get a semi-colon as well?
    – MrWhite
    Aug 13, 2010 at 16:34
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Insert a static date or time:

Current date: Select a cell and press CTRL + ;

Current time: Select a cell and press CTRL + SHIFT + ;

Current date and time: Select a cell and press CTRL + ; then SPACE then CTRL + SHIFT + ;

Source.

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    BTW, for anyone hoping these work in Word, they don't.
    – krowe
    Sep 17, 2014 at 7:27

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