What's New in Excel 2.0 for iPhone and iPad

Hi Excel Fans,

On April 10, 2017, Microsoft released a new version of Excel for iOS that’s a significant update, as indicated by the version number, which is 2.0! Having a consistent experience in Excel regardless of which type of device you’re using is something we’re striving for, whether you’re using an iPad or an iPhone, an Android phone or tablet, or a Windows mobile device, and it begins now. 

We’re happy to announce some very important new features in this version of Excel.  Some were mentioned in the “What's New” message that appears when you launch the new version for the first time, but there’s even more to tell you about. Read on for more details about the many new features now at your fingertips. As always, we encourage you to visit Excel.uservoice.com to request and vote for other features that you’d like to see in Excel for iPhone and iPad.

The major new features are:

1. Collaborative editing - Work with others at the same time in your workbook, also known as “co-authoring”. That's right, you can now edit a workbook at the same time with other people for files stored in SharePoint Online, OneDrive and OneDrive for Business.  Amazing!

2. Shared document notifications - Now you don't need to keep checking your shared documents, workbooks, or presentations. We will send you a notification on your iPhone or iPad when there's activity.

3. New types of charts - Now you can view, create and edit new types of charts, including Waterfall, Histogram, Box & Whisker, Pareto, Treemap, Funnel, and Sunburst to visualize your data in the most effective ways.
   

4. New worksheet functions - Shorten the formulas you write using the new logical functions IFS() and SWITCH(). Read more about IFS and SWITCH on the Office blog.

In addition to the major features mentioned above, there are numerous other features that are new to Excel on iOS.  Here are the highlights:

1. In-cell editing - You can edit right in the cell, so you no longer need to switch your focus to the formula bar when editing.
   
   
   
2. Functions organized by category - When inserting a function by tapping the Fx button, it is easier to find the right function, because they're grouped in categories rather than one very long list.

    

3. "Find" will now find text within formulas, not just cell values.

4. More cell border options - there are more built-in border styles to choose from. You can also choose the line color and line style.

    

5. Easier to insert hyperlinks - you can now insert links by tapping a button on the Insert tab, and keep the display value that was already in the cell. Previously, you had to type the link address into the cell first, then edit the display value if you wanted to show something other than the link address.

6. Fill in any direction – you can now drag-fill in any direction and there's a tooltip with a preview of the values that will fill into the new cells. Previously, you could only fill down or to the right.
   

    

    

7. Table insert options - when you insert a table using existing data, you can choose whether to use the first row as the column headers.

    

8. Filter improvement - you can now search to find values in in filters. If you have a long list of filter values, just type what you’re looking for in the Search field and you’ll find it in the list.

    

    

9. Drag and drop to move rows and columns - just tap and hold on a row or column header, then drag to move it.

    

10. Autocomplete improvements - When editing, you'll be given autocomplete suggestions sooner to make editing faster.

We think it's great that we've been able to add all the features mentioned above, but we realize that some changes may not have a good impact on how you use Excel.  There may be some things that work a bit differently than what you’ve come to expect, and there may be a few buttons or options found in different places. Unfortunately, we had reason to stop supporting some features, even though we tried very hard to avoid doing so. We realize that this can have an impact on how you use Excel on iOS, and we don’t take it lightly.  One such change is that Excel now requires the use of our online service to perform a few actions, such as printing, exporting files to PDF format, and opening workbooks saved in the legacy “XLS” file format.  We realize that performing these actions directly on your device is a very nice convenience, but using an online service offers several advantages, most notably a consistent experience for all types of devices.

We’ll be listening carefully for feedback so that we can make things better, and you can help. Tell us what's important to you, so we can improve Excel in ways that really matter.  Please use the “Send Feedback” button and send us your thoughts and concerns.

For information about What's New in the latest release for Excel on iOS and other platforms, as well as all the Microsoft Office applications, go to Office.com.  Again, please visit Excel.uservoice.com to make your voice heard in the conversation about what features you hope to see next.

Thanks!