Global shortcuts
A keyboard hook on Excel’s UI thread watches for two modifier families — Ctrl+Shift and Alt+Shift — and runs ModelXcel Pro commands directly from the grid. These are the only shortcuts that work without a pane or editor focused. This page lists every one and the precise condition under which it fires.
How the global hook works
When the add‑in loads it installs a low‑level message hook on Excel’s UI thread. On each keystroke the hook only considers two modifier combinations — Ctrl+Shift (without Alt) and Alt+Shift (without Ctrl) — plus a couple of narrow cases (bare Esc, and the Formula Explorer keys). Three providers are consulted in order: Formula Explorer, then the global command set, then Smart Formatting. The first provider that handles the chord wins, and the keystroke is swallowed so Excel never sees it. If no provider handles it, the keystroke passes straight through to Excel.
- It is per‑Excel‑instance, not OS‑wide. The hook lives on Excel’s thread; it does nothing in other applications.
- It is ignored in some states. While a modal dialog is open, while focus is in an editable control (a text box, combo box, or spinner), or while Excel is mid‑edit, the hook stands down and the keystroke goes to Excel — see Settings & conflicts.
- It de‑duplicates. A 250 ms debounce and key‑repeat suppression keep a toggle (like Auto Format) from firing twice on one press or repeating while held.
Ctrl+Shift shortcuts
Smart Formatting commands plus the feature‑launch commands. Every one fires from the grid; the Context column flags the few that need something more.
| Shortcut | Context | Action | Availability / condition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ctrl+Shift+J | Global | Format Selection (Smart Formatting) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes named styles to the selection. |
Ctrl+Shift+Q | Global | Format Sheet (Smart Formatting) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes styles across the active sheet. |
Ctrl+Shift+X | Global | Auto Format (toggle) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Turns format‑as‑you‑type on/off. |
Ctrl+Shift+R | Global | Risk Heatmap (toggle) | Open workbook | Press again to clear the heatmap. |
Ctrl+Shift+I | Global | Open TrustLens for the selected cell | A cell selected | Opens the TrustLens workbench. From a Worksheet Map cell (map pane visible), it targets the underlying source cell — see the exported‑Map callout below. |
Ctrl+Shift+Y | Global | Classic Pretty Print | A cell selected | Always opens Classic Pretty Print — never the CalcScope tree or Dock CalcScope. From a Worksheet Map cell, it targets the underlying source cell. |
Ctrl+Shift+W | Global | Open Flow Diagram | A cell selected | Opens Formula Explorer on the Flow Diagram tab. |
Ctrl+Shift+S | Global | Sensitivity | A cell selected | Tornado / driver ranking for the output. |
Ctrl+Shift+M | Global · map pane | Analyze Map | A Worksheet Map pane open and visible | Acts on the visible map pane; does nothing if no map pane is open. |
Ctrl+Shift+G | Global · map pane | Navigate between map and source (Go to Source / Back to Map / Open Map) | A Worksheet Map pane open and visible | Context‑aware and bidirectional. Also bridges an exported Map workbook and its source workbook — see the callout below. |
Ctrl+Shift+E | Context‑sensitive | Formula Explorer Explain, or Export Map | See the precedence rule below | Resolves to one of two commands depending on focus. |
Ctrl+Shift+E is two commands, resolved by focus
Because the Formula Explorer provider is consulted before the global command set, Ctrl+Shift+E resolves like this:
- If a Formula Explorer pane has keyboard focus (focus is inside the pane or its outline grid), it runs Formula Explorer’s Explain on the selected row and the keystroke is consumed there.
- Otherwise it falls through to Export Map — which itself only does something when a Worksheet Map pane is open and visible. With neither a focused Formula Explorer nor a visible map pane, nothing happens and the keystroke passes to Excel.
Navigating between an exported Map workbook and its source
Export Map writes the worksheet map to a separate workbook that remembers where it came from (a hidden source‑workbook property). With both that exported workbook and its source open, and the Worksheet Map pane visible, the map shortcuts work across the two workbooks:
Ctrl+Shift+G— Go to Source. On a cell in the exported map, it jumps to the matching cell in the source workbook. On a source cell it reads Back to Map or Open Map instead — the pane’s navigation button shows the current mode.Ctrl+Shift+I/Ctrl+Shift+Y. From an exported map cell, these open TrustLens / Classic Pretty Print for the underlying source cell, not the map cell.
The source workbook must be open; if it isn’t, Go to Source tells you so. (With the mouse, selecting a mapped cell only previews its source target — to navigate, use Go to Source / Ctrl+Shift+G or double‑click a node in the diagnostics tree.) See Worksheet Map for the export itself.
Alt+Shift shortcuts
Two unrelated families share the Alt+Shift modifier: Smart Formatting direct‑style shortcuts (letters) and precedent navigation (digits and bracket). They never collide — one uses letters, the other uses digits.
Smart Formatting direct styles
Apply one named style to the current selection in a single keystroke. These obey the Smart Formatting shortcut master toggle (turn the toggle off and all six stop working).
| Shortcut | Context | Action | Availability / condition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alt+Shift+N | Global | Apply the Number style (MxNumber) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Routes to the input‑number style for non‑formula cells. |
Alt+Shift+P | Global | Apply the Percent style (MxPercent) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes a named style to the selection. |
Alt+Shift+D | Global | Apply the Date style (MxDate) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes a named style to the selection. |
Alt+Shift+F | Global | Apply the Factor style (MxFactor) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes a named style to the selection. |
Alt+Shift+R | Global | Apply the Ratio style (MxRatio) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes a named style to the selection. |
Alt+Shift+H | Global | Apply the Section Header style (MxSectionHeader) | Smart Formatting shortcuts enabled; active license | Writes a named style to the selection. |
Precedent navigation
Jump from a formula cell to its precedents without leaving the keyboard. These are not affected by the Smart Formatting toggle — they are part of the always‑on global set. The numbering follows an audit convention: 1–5 address the first five precedents; 6–9 address the last four (so 9 is the last precedent, 8 the second‑last, and so on).
| Shortcut | Context | Action | Availability / condition | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alt+Shift+1 … 5 | Global | Go to the 1st…5th precedent of the active cell | Active cell holds a formula | Navigation only — nothing is written. |
Alt+Shift+6 … 9 | Global | Go to the 4th‑last…last precedent | Active cell holds a formula | Tells you which keys are valid if the formula has fewer precedents. |
Alt+Shift+0 | Global | Return to the cell where you started navigating | A precedent jump has happened this session | The “home” of the current trail. |
Alt+Shift+[ | Global | Step back to the previous cell in the trail | A precedent jump has happened | Walks back up the navigation stack. |
What precedent navigation skips
Precedents are read from the formula in declaration order (cross‑sheet references and named ranges included). A cross‑workbook precedent or a named constant (a name with no cell, e.g. Rounding = 0.000001) is reported rather than navigated to — you get a short message instead of a jump, because there is no cell to land on.
Why Ctrl+Alt is never used
ModelXcel Pro deliberately avoids Ctrl+Alt chords. On many European keyboard layouts Ctrl+Alt is AltGr, the modifier that types @, €, #, and other characters — binding commands there would hijack ordinary typing. Ctrl+Shift and Alt+Shift+digit have no default Excel binding and behave the same on every layout, so those are the families used here.
The Smart Formatting shortcuts can be switched off
Ctrl+Shift+J/Q/X and Alt+Shift+N/P/D/F/R/H are governed by a single master toggle in Settings. Precedent navigation and the feature‑launch chords are not. See Settings & conflicts for the toggle and why it exists.
Related
- Panes & editors — contextual shortcuts, including Formula Explorer’s own keys.
- Settings & conflicts — the master toggle, ignore rules, and troubleshooting.
- Format Selection & Sheet · TrustLens · Risk Heatmap — what these commands do.