Navigate & range-select

What it does

Click a cell to select it. Shift+click or Shift+Arrow another cell to extend the selection into a range — it renders as a translucent highlight with a solid outline, anchored where you first clicked. Arrow keys, Tab, and Enter move the active cell (Tab right, Enter down after committing an edit).

Ctrl+Arrow (Cmd+Arrow on Mac) jumps to the edge of a block of data, Sheets-style — the fast way to skip to the end of a column or row of numbers instead of holding the arrow key. Both chords work on every platform, but macOS reserves Ctrl+Arrow for switching Mission Control spaces and never delivers the keystroke to the browser at all, so Cmd+Arrow is the one that actually works on a Mac (matching Sheets' and Excel's own Mac bindings):

• If the active cell AND the next cell in that direction both have content, it jumps to the last cell of that contiguous run.
• If the next cell is empty, it jumps forward to the first cell that has content — or to the sheet's current edge if there's no more data ahead.
• If the active cell is empty but the next cell has content, it lands on that immediately-adjacent cell — the classic "double Ctrl+Down": from a blank cell above a column of data, one press reaches the top, a second reaches the bottom.
• Already at the edge? Ctrl+Arrow doesn't move.
• Ctrl+Shift+Arrow does the same jump while extending the range selection, instead of relocating the lone active cell.

Try it

Click A1, then press Ctrl+→ to jump straight to C1 (the end of that run) — compare with holding the plain right arrow, which walks one cell at a time.

Verified behavior

Matches Google Sheets: In Google Sheets, clicking a cell selects it alone; shift-clicking or shift-arrowing another cell extends the selection into a rectangular range (anchored at the first click, with the moving corner following the pointer/ arrow), rendered as a translucent blue fill with a solid outline. Arrow keys, Tab, and Enter move the active cell one cell at a time (Tab right, Enter down after a commit). Ctrl+Arrow ("jump to data edge") is the fast-navigation chord: from the active cell, in the arrow's direction, it (a) jumps to the LAST cell of the contiguous non-empty run when BOTH the active cell and the adjacent cell have content, (b) jumps to the FIRST non-empty cell ahead when the adjacent cell is empty (regardless of whether the active cell itself has content), (c) lands on the immediately-adjacent cell when the active cell is empty but the adjacent cell has content — the classic "double Ctrl+Down" from a blank cell above a data column: one press reaches the TOP of the data, a second (now from a non-empty active cell) reaches the bottom — or (d) jumps to the edge of the sheet when there is no more data in that direction. At the sheet's edge already, Ctrl+Arrow is a no-op. Ctrl+Shift+ Arrow applies the same jump to the moving corner of the selection, extending the range instead of relocating the lone active cell.

Clicking a cell makes it the sole active selection

Given

When I click B2

Then

• the active cell is B2

Tab moves the active cell one column right

Given

When I click A1, then press Tab

Then

• the active cell is B1

Committing an edit with Enter moves the active cell down

Given

• A1 = 5

When I type 9 into A1

Then

• A1 shows 9
• the active cell is A2

Shift+Arrow extends the active cell without losing track of the anchor cell

Given

When I click B2, then press Shift+ArrowDown, then press Shift+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is B4

Ctrl+Right, adjacent cell non-empty: jumps to the far edge of the contiguous run

Given

• A1 = 1
• B1 = 2
• C1 = 3

When I click A1, then press Control+ArrowRight

Then

• the active cell is C1

Ctrl+Right, adjacent cell empty: jumps forward to the first non-empty cell

Given

• D2 = 9

When I click A2, then press Control+ArrowRight

Then

• the active cell is D2

Ctrl+Down, active cell itself empty: same forward-jump rule applies

Given

• A6 = 9

When I click A2, then press Control+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is A6

Ctrl+Right with no more data ahead: jumps to the sheet's current edge

Given

When I click A3, then press Control+ArrowRight

Then

• the active cell is Z3

Ctrl+Down mirrors the same rule vertically

Given

• A5 = 1
• A6 = 2
• A7 = 3

When I click A5, then press Control+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is A7

Ctrl+Arrow already at the sheet's edge is a no-op

Given

• Z1 = edge

When I select Z1, then press Control+ArrowRight

Then

• the active cell is Z1

Ctrl+Down, active cell empty and adjacent cell non-empty: lands on the TOP of the data, not the bottom

Given

• A2 = 1
• A3 = 2
• A4 = 3

When I click A1, then press Control+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is A2

Ctrl+Shift+Down extends the range selection while jumping to the data edge

Given

• A1 = 1
• A2 = 2
• A3 = 3

When I click A1, then press Control+Shift+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is A3

Cmd+Down (Mac binding) jumps to the data edge, same as Ctrl+Down

Given

• A5 = 1
• A6 = 2
• A7 = 3

When I click A5, then press Meta+ArrowDown

Then

• the active cell is A7