Skip to main content

Kutools for Office ā€” One Suite. Five Tools. Get More Done.

How to disable F1 help key in Excel?

Author Xiaoyang Last modified

When you edit an Excel file, you may always use F2 key to edit the contents of a cell. But, you usually press F1 key instead, it will pop out the Helper dialog box. This may be very boring when you need to use the F2 key time and time again. In this article, I will introduce some quick methods to solve this problem.

Disable F1 help key temporarily with VBA code

Disable F1 help key with VBA code

Disable F1 help key temporarily with VBA code

With the following short code, you can quickly disable F1 key for the opened workbooks, but this code will be invalid after reopening the Excel file.

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. In the opened window, please press Ctrl + G keys together to open the Immediate window, then copy and paste this code Application.OnKey "{F1}", "" into the Immediate box, and press Enter key on the keyboard. See screenshot:

a screenshot of entering the code

Then close the code window, and now, when you press F1 key, the helper dialog box will not displayed any more.

Notes:

1. If you want to enable the F1 key, again, you can restart the Excel file, or you can also use this code: Application.OnKey "{F1}" as above procedure.

2. This code is applied successfully in Excel 2007/2010, but is not available in Excel 2013.

Disable F1 help key with VBA code

Except the above short code, you can apply the following code as well.

1. Hold down the ALT + F11 keys, and it opens the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window.

2. Click Insert > Module, and paste the following code in the Module Window.

VBA code: Disable F1 help key

Sub disableF1()
Application.OnKey "{F1}", ""
End Sub

3. Then press F5 key to run this code, and now, the F1 key has been disabled when you press F1 key.

Notes:

1. To enable the F1 key again, please use following code as the same steps as above.

VBAcode: Enable F1 help key

Sub enableF1()
Application.OnKey "{F1}"
End Sub

2. This code is applied successfully in Excel 2007/2010, but is not available in Excel 2013.

Best Office Productivity Tools

šŸ¤– Kutools AI Aide: Revolutionize data analysis based on: Intelligent Execution   |  Generate Code  |  Create Custom Formulas  |  Analyze Data and Generate Charts  |  Invoke Kutools Functionsā€¦
Popular Features: Find, Highlight or Identify Duplicates   |  Delete Blank Rows   |  Combine Columns or Cells without Losing Data   |   Round without Formula ...
Super Lookup: Multiple Criteria VLookup  |   Multiple Value VLookup  |   VLookup Across Multiple Sheets   |   Fuzzy Lookup ....
Advanced Drop-down List: Quickly Create Drop Down List   |  Dependent Drop Down List   |  Multi-select Drop Down List ....
Column Manager: Add a Specific Number of Columns  |  Move Columns  |  Toggle Visibility Status of Hidden Columns  |  Compare Ranges & Columns ...
Featured Features: Grid Focus   |  Design View   |   Big Formula Bar   |  Workbook & Sheet Manager   |  Resource Library (Auto Text)   |  Date Picker   |  Combine Worksheets   |  Encrypt/Decrypt Cells   |  Send Emails by List   |  Super Filter   |   Special Filter (filter bold/italic/strikethrough...) ...
Top 15 Toolsets:  12 Text Tools (Add Text, Remove Characters, ...)   |   50+ Chart Types (Gantt Chart, ...)   |   40+ Practical Formulas (Calculate age based on birthday, ...)   |   19 Insertion Tools (Insert QR Code, Insert Picture from Path, ...)   |   12 Conversion Tools (Numbers to Words, Currency Conversion, ...)   |   7 Merge & Split Tools (Advanced Combine Rows, Split Cells, ...)   |   ... and more
Use Kutools in your preferred language ā€“ supports English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, and 40+ others!

Supercharge Your Excel Skills with Kutools for Excel, and Experience Efficiency Like Never Before. Kutools for Excel Offers Over 300 Advanced Features to Boost Productivity and Save Time.  Click Here to Get The Feature You Need The Most...

Office Tab Brings Tabbed interface to Office, and Make Your Work Much Easier

  • Enable tabbed editing and reading in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Access, Visio and Project.
  • Open and create multiple documents in new tabs of the same window, rather than in new windows.
  • Increases your productivity by 50%, and reduces hundreds of mouse clicks for you every day!

All Kutools add-ins. One installer

Kutools for Office suite bundles add-ins for Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint plus Office Tab Pro, which is ideal for teams working across Office apps.

Excel Word Outlook Tabs PowerPoint
  • All-in-one suite ā€” Excel, Word, Outlook & PowerPoint add-ins + Office Tab Pro
  • One installer, one license ā€” set up in minutes (MSI-ready)
  • Works better together ā€” streamlined productivity across Office apps
  • 30-day full-featured trial ā€” no registration, no credit card
  • Best value ā€” save vs buying individual add-in