To move through worksheets in an Excel workbook on a Mac, use Option+Right Arrow for the next sheet and Option+Left Arrow for the previous one. If the workbook has many sheets, these shortcuts let you step through them without clicking the tabs. Excel’s documented Mac shortcuts do not provide a direct keyboard command to jump to an arbitrary sheet by name, so for a distant destination you may need to traverse intervening sheets or use the sheet tabs.

Use the Mac shortcuts to move between sheets

First, make sure Excel is active and a worksheet cell is selected. Press Option+Right Arrow to activate the next worksheet in the workbook, or Option+Left Arrow to activate the previous one. Microsoft lists these as Excel for Mac shortcuts for moving between sheets. Keyboard shortcuts in Excel — Microsoft Support

The shortcuts move between worksheet tabs, not between cells or open workbooks. The arrow keys on their own move the selected cell; Command+Tab is a macOS shortcut for switching open apps. If you have several Excel workbooks open and want to change workbook windows, Excel documents Control+Tab and Control+Shift+Tab for switching between Excel windows. That is a separate action from changing worksheets in the current workbook. Keyboard shortcuts in Excel — Microsoft Support; Keyboard shortcuts on your Mac — Apple

A practical way to use the shortcuts in a workbook with many tabs is to treat movement as a sequence: start from the current sheet, move in the direction of the destination, and check the sheet name after each move. If you pass the target, reverse direction with the other shortcut. This is useful when you know roughly where the target sits among the tabs, but it does not make a faraway sheet a single keystroke away.

When the next and previous shortcuts are not enough

The documented Mac shortcuts move to an adjacent sheet. They do not offer a built-in keyboard search that accepts a worksheet name and activates that sheet. Control+G opens Excel’s Go To dialog, but Microsoft documents it as a navigation command in the sheet or workbook; its shortcut table does not describe it as a sheet-name picker. Don’t assume it can find and activate a worksheet just because it is named Go To. Keyboard shortcuts in Excel — Microsoft Support

If the target is far from the active tab, the dependable keyboard-only option in the documented controls is to repeat the appropriate arrow shortcut until you reach it. If you can use a pointing device, select the target’s visible sheet tab. For sheets whose tabs are off-screen, Excel’s sheet-tab navigation controls can help reveal tabs, but Microsoft’s instructions for viewing multiple sheets still direct users to click a sheet tab; they do not document a keyboard command for jumping directly to a hidden tab. View multiple panes, sheets, or workbooks — Microsoft Support

That limitation matters in very large workbooks: there is no official Mac shortcut in Microsoft’s current list that turns a known tab name into a direct destination. A workbook index sheet with links can provide a useful map if one already exists, but a link’s availability and keyboard behavior depend on how that workbook was built. Do not treat such an index as a standard Excel feature or assume every workbook contains one.

If the shortcut seems to do something else

On a MacBook, function-key behavior can vary with macOS settings and keyboard hardware. The sheet-switching shortcut above uses Option and an arrow key, not a function key, so it avoids that common source of confusion. If you are trying other Excel shortcuts that require F keys, Apple explains that the top row may control Mac features by default; pressing Fn/Globe with the function key makes it act as a standard function key. How to use the function keys on your Mac — Apple

If the arrow shortcuts appear to move the active cell instead of changing sheets, check whether Excel is still in cell-editing mode and finish or cancel the edit first. Also confirm Excel has focus: macOS app switching changes the active app, while Excel’s sheet shortcuts work inside the workbook. Microsoft notes that operating-system settings or utility apps can conflict with some Excel for Mac shortcuts, so a conflict may require checking those settings rather than substituting a Windows shortcut. Keyboard shortcuts in Excel — Microsoft Support; Keyboard shortcuts on your Mac — Apple

A quick workflow for a workbook with many tabs

  1. Select a cell on the current worksheet and note the active sheet name.
  2. Press Option+Right Arrow or Option+Left Arrow to move one sheet at a time toward the target.
  3. Check the active sheet name as you go; reverse direction if you pass it.
  4. For frequent visits to the same distant sheet, use a workbook-provided index or link if available, or the sheet tabs when you can use a pointer. Excel does not document a direct Mac keyboard shortcut for selecting any sheet by name.

Wallo can help organize open Mac windows and to-dos by goal, with keyboard focusing, when the task spans several windows. It does not provide an Excel sheet picker; use Excel’s worksheet navigation controls for moving between tabs.

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