VMware Fusion (free since November 2024) and UTM (free, open source) run Windows 11 on your Mac, so Windows Excel and its Alt shortcuts work. You still need a Windows 11 license and give the VM RAM and CPU. Accelerator Keys adds the same Alt sequences to native Excel for Mac for $39.99/year with no VM.
| Accelerator Keys | a Windows VM (VMware Fusion, UTM) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per year | $39.99 (Excel) or $59.99 (Excel + PowerPoint) | VMware Fusion: $0. UTM: $0 (a paid Mac App Store copy funds the project). Plus a Windows 11 license (Home about $139 — check Microsoft’s page) if you don’t have one |
| Setup time | About 2 minutes: install, grant Accessibility permission, done | 30–90 minutes: install the hypervisor, obtain a Windows 11 ARM ISO, install Windows and guest tools, install Office, activate |
| Keystroke latency | Native — the app sends the ribbon command directly to Mac Excel | Small but noticeable; keystrokes cross the VM boundary and Windows Excel renders inside a window |
| Battery and CPU | Negligible — a 20 MB menu bar app | A second operating system: you assign it RAM and CPU cores when you create the VM, and it holds them while running. Fans and battery drain on laptops |
| Needs a Windows license? | No | Yes. UTM’s own guide says you must have a valid license from Microsoft to run Windows. Your Microsoft 365 subscription covers Excel on Windows |
| Works offline? | Yes | Yes, once installed and activated |
| Alt shortcut coverage | 900+ Excel and 380+ PowerPoint ribbon shortcuts, plus legacy Alt+E / Alt+I / Alt+O / Alt+D sequences | 100% — it is Windows Excel |
| Windows-only Excel features (Power Pivot, Power Query editor, some VBA, some add-ins) | No — you are still in Excel for Mac | Yes |
| Files stay in native Mac apps | Yes — Finder, Spotlight, iCloud, Mac fonts and printing all work as normal | Files live in the Windows VM or a shared folder; two clipboards, two sets of fonts |
Out of the box, Excel for Mac does not respond to the Alt key. On Windows you press Alt, letters appear on the ribbon, and H, O, I autofits a column. On a Mac, the key in that spot is Option, and macOS uses it to type special characters. Your Alt muscle memory stops working the day you switch.
A Windows virtual machine and Accelerator Keys fix this in opposite ways. The VM gives you Windows. Accelerator Keys gives Mac Excel the missing key.
VMware Fusion and UTM run Windows 11 in a window on your Mac. Inside that window you install Excel for Windows, and every shortcut works, because it is Windows Excel. This is the same idea as Parallels Desktop, without the Parallels subscription.
What it costs, as of August 2026:
So “free VM” means free hypervisor. The Windows license, the setup hour, and the RAM are the same as Parallels.
Accelerator Keys is a native macOS menu bar app. When Excel or PowerPoint is in front, it watches for the Option key and drives the real Mac ribbon for you. Press Option and KeyTip badges appear on the ribbon, just like Windows. Type the same letters and the same command runs.
If you go the VM route, both are good, and both are free. A short summary:
| VMware Fusion | UTM | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (since Nov 2024) | Free and open source; optional paid App Store copy |
| Support | Community forums and docs | Community (GitHub, Discord) |
| Windows on Apple Silicon | Windows 11 ARM | Windows 11 ARM via Apple’s Hypervisor framework |
| Polish | Mature commercial product, now unpaid | Simpler; built on QEMU and Apple Virtualization |
| Windows license | Required | Required |
Neither changes the trade-off that matters for this page: you are running a second operating system to get a keyboard feature.
Be clear-eyed about this. Accelerator Keys makes Excel for Mac behave like Windows for shortcuts. It does not add Windows-only features. Choose VMware Fusion or UTM (or Parallels) if you need:
Some users run both: a VM for the occasional Windows-only job, Accelerator Keys for the rest of the day in native Excel.
A free VM removes the Parallels bill but keeps every other cost: a Windows license, an hour of setup, RAM and battery while it runs, and files in two places. If you need Windows-only Excel features, VMware Fusion or UTM is the low-cost answer, and Accelerator Keys is not. If the only thing you miss from Windows Excel is the Alt key, Accelerator Keys gives it back in native Excel for Mac in two minutes.
Yes. Broadcom announced on November 11, 2024 that VMware Fusion Pro and Workstation Pro are free for commercial, educational, and personal use, and the paid versions are no longer for sale. Free users get community forums and documentation instead of a support ticket. You still need your own Windows license inside the VM.
Yes. UTM’s site says it is and always will be completely free and open source. There is a paid copy on the Mac App Store that is identical except for automatic updates; buying it funds development. On Apple Silicon, UTM uses Apple’s Hypervisor framework to run ARM64 Windows at near-native speed.
Yes. UTM’s Windows 11 guide states that you must have a valid license from Microsoft to run Windows regardless of how you get the installer. Microsoft’s own page on Apple Silicon Macs says a unique Windows 11 Pro license is required for each instance, and that product keys are platform agnostic (x64 or Arm).
Yes. Accelerator Keys is a native macOS menu bar app that makes Option act like the Alt key in Excel and PowerPoint for Mac. Press Option, then type the same letter sequence you know from Windows, such as Option, H, O, I for AutoFit Column Width. No Windows, no VM, no reboot, and about 20 MB on disk.
When you need Excel features that only exist on Windows: Power Pivot, the full Power Query editor, certain VBA and COM add-ins, or a firm-mandated Windows-only plugin. If you already own a Windows license, VMware Fusion or UTM is the cheapest way to get all of Windows Excel. Accelerator Keys does not add those features.