Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Tab Key Jumps a Screen at a Time.
In Excel, different keys have different purposes when it comes to navigating around your worksheet. Normally, when you press the Tab key you will notice that Excel moves the cell cursor one column to the right. Not all spreadsheet programs behave this way, however. For instance, when you press the Tab key in Lotus 1-2-3, the cell cursor jumps a full screen to the right, instead of a single column.
Excel, in its efforts to make life easier on people who are just changing to the program, will emulate the navigation keys used by Lotus 1-2-3. If you press the Tab key in Excel, and the cell cursor jumps one screen to the right, then your system is using the navigation emulator instead of the native Excel navigation keys. To change back to the Excel defaults, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Advanced options in the Excel Options dialog box.
That's it. Your Tab key should now work as expected, moving one column to the right each time you press it.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6710) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Tab Key Jumps a Screen at a Time.
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2016-12-13 09:01:34
Bill McDavitt
Microsoft's Help was no help at all. A quick Google search led me to this page which in turn was precisely the information I was after. Despite using Excel for ~15 years, I still have plenty to learn. Many thanks for making this post.
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
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Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: 
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