Don't think there's a built-in shortcut key,
but here's a play to set-up the centring for: CTRL+j
(Try on a spare copy/new book)

Press Alt+F11 (to go to VBE)
Click Insert Module
Copy and paste the sub CentreAcrossCells
below into the whitespace on the right

'---------
Sub CentreAcrossCells()
If Selection.Cells.Rows.Count 1 Then
GoTo Pop
End If
If Selection.Cells.Count = 1 Then
Selection.Cells.HorizontalAlignment = xlCenter
ElseIf Selection.Cells.Count 1 Then
Selection.Cells.HorizontalAlignment = xlCenterAcrossSelection
End If
Pop:
End Sub
'---------

Press Alt+Q (get back to Excel)

In Excel, press Alt+F8
Select "CentreAcrossCells" in the macro list
Click "Options"
Enter a "j" for the shortcut key OK

Test it out. In any sheet:
Select a single cell with text (say), press CTRL+j
The text will be centred in the cell

Select another cell with text and an empty cell just to the right of it,
then press CTRL+j. The text will be centred across both cells

Note that if you select more than one row, nothing will happen
--
Rgds
Max
xl 97
---
Singapore, GMT+8
xdemechanik
http://savefile.com/projects/236895
--
"SM" wrote in message
...
Is there any keyboard shortcut for centring whatever is inside a
cell/selection of cells? For instance, in Word, "Ctrl E" will centre
text
on a line. Is there anything similar for Excel?