How to Delete Cell Content in Calc With 1 Click

[JulieWolf]

I was looking for a way to delete with the delete key, with one click, so I did a google search for "how to configure Delete in Open Office Calc"
and I found this tutorial from 2009 which almost worked (link at bottom).

I did get it to work with 1 or 2 little tweaks[*] so I thought I would rewrite the tutorial as I did it (in 2019):

Tutorial (reworked Feb 2019) for ...
How to delete cell contents immediately with the Delete key like in Excel:

If you press Delete in Calc, by default you get a window with check boxes that lets you choose many things to delete (formats, text, formulas and/or other elements). One quick way to delete cell contents immediately (without all these check box options) is to use the Backspace key. However I assume this would only delete one character at a time, so its not really a 1-Click delete solution. (edit: see first comment below to clarify/correct this assumption)

If you want to use the Delete key for immediate 1-click deletion of a cell's content, you can take a few easy steps:

1. Choose Tools > Customize, Keyboard tab.
Be sure that the Calc radio button is selected.
2. In the Functions area of the window (bottom): under Category select "Edit"
And in the Function box select the FIRST of the two "Delete Contents" items. This is the one that just deletes, with no window.
This populates the previously empty last bottom box, "Keys" with "Backspace" (and "Delete" after you Modify).
3. In the Shortcut Keys area of the window (top), select "Delete".
[* This is what I tweaked, moving it to the last step, which enabled the "Modify" button. Done first as in the 2009 tutorial, Modify was grayed out and un-clickable.]
4. Click the Modify button. In the "Keys" box you will now see "Delete" listed.

It worked for me. The Delete key now will immediately delete a cell's content in Calc. If you don't want Backspace to delete contents, continue instructions below.

*My 2nd tweak was not doing this part, It appears to be optional. (I wanted Backspace to delete as usual without all those options popping up):

If you don't want Backspace to delete contents, then select "Backspace" in the Keys list (lower right) and click the Delete button.
Now scroll through the Shortcut Keys list at the top and select "Backspace" as the function you want to use to bring up the Delete window.
Then in the lower part of the window, as before, under Category select "Edit" and under Function select the SECOND "Delete Contents" item.
Click the Modify button to bring up the interactive Delete window by pressing the Backspace key.

Let me know if this works for you, or needs editing.

Original 2009 Tutorial :
https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Docume ... n_Excel%3F

[robleyd]

One quick way to delete cell contents immediately (without all these check box options) is to use the Backspace key. However I assume this would only delete one character at a time, so its not really a 1-Click delete solution.

In fact, it is a one press solution; if you click (once) on a cell containing data and press Backspace, the cell will be cleared. If however you double click on the cell, to enter Edit mode, you can then use the backspace key to remove one character at a time.

[JulieWolf]

Thank you David. Good to know that Backspace can be either a 1 click to delete all cell content or edit cell content option. I hadn't tried it before going through the above setup steps to make the delete key work.

Thanks for clarifying.