Years of Windows Excel taught your fingers the Alt keys. On a Mac, tap ⌥ and they keep working: ⌥ H O I, ⌥ E S V and 471 more.
It's a working sheet. Click or drag across cells, type a number or a formula like =SUM(B2:B6), then press ⌥ H 1 to bold it or ⌥ H U S for a total. ⌘Z undoes.
Made for
and now open it on a Mac. Whatever the job, the keys you reach for most already work.
One shortcut, four keys
Tap Option. Key tips appear on every tab.
H opens the Home tab, with a tip on every button.
O opens the Format menu. Its items get tips too.
I runs AutoFit Column Width. The column fits its text.
Swipe sideways to step through, or keep scrolling.
What you get
Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review, View, and ⌥ 1–0.
Customisable badges in five colours and two sizes, right where Office puts them.
⌥ E S V, ⌥ O C A and ⌥ I R still work.
Double-tap ⌥, type “freeze” or “wff”, press Return.
Record keys, pick a button, see clashes before saving.
Click a ribbon button and a pill shows its keys for next time.
Tips land on the workbook you're using, on any display.
0% CPU while you're not typing. Only acts while Excel is in front.
Make them yours
Settings › Key Tips has five styles and two sizes, chosen from picture cards. Try them here: every key tip on this page follows your pick.
Colour
Size
Playing through the styles. Pick one to stop.
Side by side
| Keys | Excel's built-in KeyTips | With AltBridge |
|---|---|---|
| ⌥HVVPaste Values | Opens the Paste menu | Pastes values in one go |
| ⌥HBAAll Borders | Opens the Borders menu | Adds all borders |
| ⌥HOIAutoFit Column Width | Opens the Format menu | Fits the column |
| ⌥ESVPaste Special › Values | Not one of its keys | Pastes values, the classic way |
| ⌥OCAAutoFit Selection | Not one of its keys | Fits the column |
| ⌥WFFFreeze Panes | Freezes panes; the last F goes into the cell | Freezes panes, nothing typed |
| ⌥ATFilter | Turns on Filter | Turns on Filter |
| Ran cleanly, start to finish | 1 of 7 | 7 of 7 |
Tested side by side in Excel for Mac, October 2026.
Look it up
Type what it does or the letters you press. All 473 sequences are in the list, from Paste Values to the Excel 2003 menus.
Try
Always improving
19 releases since launch on 9 October. Each one installs itself. Tap a card for its notes.
Windows Alt sequences and key tips on your Mac
⌥ H V V and ⌥ H B A work every time
Licence keys, shown in the menu-bar panel
Lifetime licences
A 30-day free trial, no key needed
Report a Problem goes straight to support
Key tips show on every display
No keychain prompts after updating
Tips land on the workbook you're using, with many windows
Works over Excel in full screen and Stage Manager
Still hears your keys after hours of sleep or lock
Lighter on Excel, tidier notices
A new icon: cars crossing the Alt and ⌥ bridge
A Licence page, and a menu-bar icon that does what you choose
Frosted glass and smoother scrolling in Settings
Settings fits every page, no scrolling
Everything in the menu-bar panel, keyboard included
Help and the changelog move to altbridge.app
Bug fixes and improvements
Fixes and refinements, shipped as soon as they're ready
Launch offer
The next 100 get a year free. Leave your email and you'll get the download and your own licence key right here.
FAQs
In Excel, tap ⌥ Option on its own, then type the letters, just like Alt on Windows. You can also hold ⌥ while typing the first letter. Esc or Delete goes back one level; tapping ⌥ again cancels.
macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon or Intel, and Microsoft Excel for Mac set to English.
Yes. Every feature works for 30 days, no key needed.
No. AltBridge only acts while Excel is the front app. Everywhere else, ⌥ behaves exactly as before.
Accessibility, in System Settings › Privacy & Security. It needs it to see your key presses in Excel and to press Excel's own buttons and menus for you.
No. It works Excel's buttons and menus, never your data. If you send a problem report, you see everything in it first, and nothing from your spreadsheets is included.
Open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. You only need to do this once.
They're coming in later versions. Excel comes first.