Which of the following keyboard shortcuts inserts a worksheet to the left of the active sheet?

Save time with these handy keyboard and mouse shortcuts

Updated on December 2, 2020

What to Know

• Add one worksheet: Press Shift+F11 or select Plus (+) next to the sheet tabs. Or, go to Home > Insert > Insert Sheet.
• Add multiple sheets: Press Ctrl+Shift+PgDn (right) or Ctrl+Shift+PgUp (left) to select adjacent worksheets, then press Shift+F11.
• Or, select a sheet, press and hold Ctrl, select adjacent sheets, then right-click on the last tab and select Insert > Worksheet > OK.

This article explains how to add new worksheets to your Excel workbooks quickly and easily using keyboard and mouse shortcuts. Instructions cover Excel 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, and 2007.

Insert Single Worksheets with Keyboard Shortcuts

There are two different keyboard key combinations you can use to insert a new worksheet in Excel: Shift+F11 and Alt+Shift+F1. Choose the keyboard shortcut that's most comfortable for you to access.

To insert a worksheet using Shift+F11, follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the Shift key on the keyboard.

2. Press and release the F11 key.

3. Release the Shift key. A new worksheet is inserted into the current workbook to the left of all existing worksheets.

4. To add multiple worksheets, press Shift+F11 for each additional worksheet.

Insert Multiple Worksheets With Keyboard Shortcuts

To add multiple worksheets at one time using the above keyboard shortcuts, highlight the number of existing worksheet tabs to tell Excel how many new sheets are to be added before applying the keyboard shortcut.

The selected worksheet tabs must be adjacent to each other for this method to work.

To select multiple sheets, use the Shift key and your mouse or use one of these keyboard shortcuts:

• Ctrl+Shift+PgDn selects sheets to the right.
• Ctrl+Shift+PgUp selects sheets to the left.

Here's an example of how to insert three new worksheets:

1. Select one worksheet tab in the workbook to highlight it.

2. Press and hold Ctrl+Shift.

3. Press and release the PgDn key twice to highlight the two sheets to the right. Three sheets are highlighted.

4. Press Shift+F11 to insert the new worksheets (see the instructions above if you need help). Three new worksheets are added to the workbook to the left of the existing worksheets.

Insert Single Worksheets With the Sheet Tabs

To add a single worksheet using the mouse, select the Plus (+) icon next to the sheet tabs at the bottom of the Excel screen. The new sheet is inserted to the right of the currently active sheet.

In Excel 2010 and 2007, the New Sheet icon is an image of a worksheet but it's still located next to the sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen.

Insert Multiple Worksheets With the Sheet Tabs

While it's possible to add multiple worksheets by selecting New Sheet several times, there's another way to use a dialog box. With this method, the new worksheets are added to the right of all existing worksheets.

To use the Insert dialog box to add multiple worksheets:

1. Select a sheet tabto highlight it.

2. Press and hold the CTRL key.

3. Select additional adjacent sheet tabs to highlight them. Highlight the same number of sheet tabs as the number of new sheets you want to add.

4. Right-click on the last sheet tab you selected and select Insert to open the Insert dialog box.

5. Select Worksheet in the Insert dialog box, then select OK to add the new sheets and close the dialog box.

Insert Single Worksheets With the Ribbon Bar

Another method to add a new worksheet is to use the Insert option located on the Home tab of the ribbon bar in Excel. If you're more comfortable with visual controls, you may find this option the easiest.

Follow these steps to insert a single worksheet using the Insert command:

1. Select the Home tab.

2. Select the Insert drop-down arrow to open the drop-down menu of options.

3. Select Insert Sheet to add a new sheet to the left of the active sheet.

Insert Multiple Worksheets with the Ribbon Bar

It's also possible to insert multiple worksheets using the Insert command on the ribbon bar. Here's how:

1. Select asheet tabto highlight it.

2. Press and hold the CTRL key.

3. Select additional adjacent sheet tabs to highlight them. Highlight the same number of sheet tabs as the number of new sheets you want to add.

4. Select the Home tab.

5. Select the Insert drop-down arrow to open the drop-down menu of options.

6. Select Insert Sheet to add the new worksheets to the left of the active sheet.

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