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ivanovicch's avatar
ivanovicch
Copper Contributor
Nov 30, 2024

How to use F2 for Excel on iPad Pro M4 with latest Magic Keyboard

Hi Team. Appreciate your assistance with the following:-

In Excel for Windows, whenever I want to edit a cell, I will press F2 on the keyboard and the cell will become editable.

I want to do the same on my Excel installed on my iPad Pro M4 with the latest Magic Keyboard.

Note that the latest keyboard has 6 rows of keys similar to the normal Windows keyboard.

The Magic Keyboard first row has Escape, Decrease Brightness, Increase Brightness, Show Open Apps, Mic, Do Not Disturb mode, Play Backward, Play/Pause, Play Forward, Mute, Decrease Volume, Increase Volume and Lock iPad.

In the last row, the first key is Globe - something like Fn on Windows.

I tried Globe + Decrease Brightness and Globe + Increase Brightness in Excel for iPad, but it doesn’t emulate the F2 feature like in Windows. If anyone has come across this situation and found a solution, please help.

Thank you for your support. 

 

excel
Excel on mobile
  • ivanovicch's avatar
    ivanovicch
    Dec 01, 2024

    Hi All. I went to the Apple store today to check on my issue. Initially they didn’t know either. But after doing some checks - they were able to find the solution - it’s Command + 2 (numeric key). It worked! So weird that it’s difference between Mac and Magic Keyboard. But happy nonetheless. Thank youLorenzo for trying to help - appreciate it.

    • ivanovicch's avatar
      ivanovicch
      Copper Contributor
      Nov 30, 2024

      Thanks but Control + U didn’t work for Excel on iPad Pro.

    • Lorenzo's avatar
      Lorenzo
      Silver Contributor
      Nov 30, 2024

      Notes on MSFT Keyboard shortcuts in Excel for macOS says The shortcuts in this topic refer to the US keyboard layout. Keys for other layouts might not correspond exactly to the keys on a US keyboard 

      Later on the same page the Control+U shortcut is documented:

      Notes on MSFT Keyboard shortcuts in Excel for iOS says If you're familiar with keyboard shortcuts on your macOS computer, the same key combinations work with Excel for iOS using an external keyboard, too

      So, in principal (expect if doc. error), Control+U should work if you use a US keyboard. But maybe you use a different keyboard layout (???)

      • ivanovicch's avatar
        ivanovicch
        Copper Contributor
        Dec 01, 2024

        Hello. Thanks for checking further. I checked my Magic Keyboard version - from General > Keyboards > Hardware Keyboards > shows English (US). 

        I checked Excel on my Mac - Control+U worked as you shared but the same is not working on the Magic Keyboard. 

        I checked to see if my Control key is working - Control+9 hides row in Excel - tried it and it worked. So no issues with Control.

        Also tried the following:-

        1. Globe+U returns ‘u’
        2. Option+U returns ‘¨’
        3. Cmd+U underlines the text in the cell

        Picture of my keyboard:-

         

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