Comprehensive Guide to Microsoft Excel for iPad: Features, Tools, and Limitations

Excel for the iPad is a powerful spreadsheet app that closely resembles its desktop counterpart. While it may not have all the features of the desktop version, it is considered one of the most capable spreadsheet apps for the iPad.

Upon opening Excel on the iPad, users are greeted with a screen displaying two panels. The main panel offers templates for use, while the left-hand side provides different sections to navigate within the app.

The settings section in Excel for iPad allows users to configure basic settings, sign in to their Office 365 account, access cloud services like OneDrive, and toggle push notifications for collaborative work. Various cloud services such as Dropbox and Box are supported.

Users can open documents from the iPad or Files app, access shared documents, and view recently opened documents. The pinning feature allows users to keep frequently accessed documents at the top of the list for easy access.

Users can share documents via Microsoft Outlook or generate links for sharing. The options to rename, move, or delete documents are available, along with viewing document properties. The interface provides a user-friendly experience for managing documents efficiently.

The Excel interface on the iPad closely resembles the desktop version, with a main workspace at the bottom and menu items at the top. Users can navigate the document using gestures like swiping and pinching to zoom, providing a familiar editing experience.

In the top left corner, there is an icon representing the file menu, denoted by a piece of paper with three dots. From this menu, users can save documents, choose the save location, and give the document a title. Microsoft Excel has an autosave feature that automatically saves changes, but users can also manually save if preferred. Other options in the file menu include saving a copy, exporting as PDF or ODS, printing, viewing document history and properties, and accessing help and feedback.

The current worksheet is named 'Sheet 1' and can be renamed, duplicated, or moved by tapping on it. Users can create new sheets by clicking on the plus icon. Duplicating a spreadsheet is possible by tapping on the title and selecting duplicate. Sheets can be rearranged by dragging and moving them around, and options to hide or delete a sheet are also available.

To enter information into a cell, users can double-tap on it and start typing. Undo and redo options are available next to the file menu, as well as through gestures on the iPad. Contextual menus appear when tapping on a cell, offering shortcuts like cut, copy, paste, adding comments, or clearing the cell's contents. Multiple cells can be selected by tapping and holding on the first cell and expanding the selection.

Columns and rows can be resized easily by clicking on the letters or numbers at the top and left sides of the worksheet. By clicking, holding, and dragging the lines next to the letters or numbers, users can adjust the width of columns or the height of rows accordingly.

Under the Home tab, users can change the typeface, font size, style (bold, italic, underline), and color of the text. The font color can be customized from a range of options, with additional choices available for more specific colors. Table borders can be modified by selecting the border options, including no border or borders around every cell. Line style and color can also be adjusted for more customization.

Options to change cell alignment from left or center to right, with different sized cells at top, middle, or bottom. Icons include a paintbrush for preset cell styles changing fill and text color, merge cells for combining selections, and wrap text for adjusting text display.

Number format menu offers various formats like decimal places, currency, date, time, percentage, fraction, or text. Allows customization of how numbers are displayed in the table.

Option to insert or delete rows or columns using icons like a white rectangle with green plus for insertion and red X for deletion. Provides flexibility in adjusting the table layout.

Ability to set specific height or width for cells or choose auto-fit to adjust column width based on content. Enhances control over the visual presentation of the spreadsheet.

Clear function offers options to clear everything including data and formatting, clear only formatting, or clear only contents. Useful for resetting or cleaning up the spreadsheet.

Auto sum menu provides options for summing, averaging, counting entries, displaying maximum or minimum values. Enables quick calculations and analysis of numerical data.

Sort and filter menu allows rearranging data in ascending or descending order, affecting corresponding columns. Filter buttons provide options to reorder numbers from smallest to largest. Enhances data organization and analysis.

Insert menu offers options to insert tables with customizable features like header rows, total rows, banded rows, and columns. Styles can be adjusted for color schemes, and alt text can be added for accessibility.

Innovative feature to insert data from a picture, converting physical tables into digital information for editing. Enables seamless integration of external data sources into the spreadsheet.

Capability to insert photos from the camera roll into the spreadsheet, with options to resize and edit images. Enhances visual presentation and customization of the spreadsheet content.

To edit an image, tap and hold on the white circle with an arrow to rotate it. The 'Picture' tab offers editing options like preset styles, borders, shadows, and shape changes. Effects like shadow and reflection can be added manually. Cropping options include presets and manual adjustments by tapping and holding on the image's edges.

Descriptions can be added to elements on the spreadsheet. To delete an image, tap once on it and choose 'delete'.

The 'Camera' icon allows taking a picture directly into the spreadsheet with similar editing options as discussed. Shapes can be added with preset options, offering editing choices for style, fill color, outline color, and rotation.

Shapes and text boxes offer similar editing options as images, including style changes, fill color adjustments, and outline color modifications. Icons can be inserted with preset options available.

Charts and graphs can be inserted with recommended styles or a variety of options to choose from. Editing options include changing chart styles, layouts, elements, color schemes, and adding descriptions.

Further chart editing options include adjusting axes, axis titles, gridlines, and color schemes. Styles menu provides additional customization choices for the chart's appearance.

Under the 'Insert' menu, comments, hyperlinks to websites, and add-ins like maps or people graphs can be added for additional functionality within Microsoft Office apps.

The Apple Pencil in Microsoft Excel for iPad has multiple functions. By default, tapping on the screen with the Apple Pencil allows drawing. However, users can also use it for navigation by selecting objects, erasing, changing pen options, and inserting additional pens, pencils, and highlighters of different colors.

Microsoft Excel for iPad offers a wide range of formulas categorized into financial, logical, text, date and time, lookup and reference, math and trigonometry, statistics, engineering, information, database, and compatibility. Users can access these powerful formula options for various data analysis tasks.

The data tab in Microsoft Excel for iPad provides sorting, filtering, and data manipulation capabilities similar to those in the desktop version. Users can sort data in ascending or descending order, apply filters, and manage data effectively on the iPad.

The review tab in Microsoft Excel for iPad is useful for collaborative work. Users can add comments to spreadsheets, view comments from others, and engage in collaborative editing and feedback processes to enhance teamwork and productivity.

The view tab in Microsoft Excel for iPad offers various options for customizing the spreadsheet view. Users can show or hide the formula bar, gridlines, headings, sheet tabs, change the view orientation, zoom in or out, and freeze panes to keep specific information visible while scrolling.

Microsoft Excel for iPad provides additional functions like search, find and replace, sharing options, and a helpful 'help' function for quick assistance. Users can search for information, customize search parameters, share spreadsheets, and access guidance on using Excel features efficiently.

While Microsoft Excel for iPad offers a comprehensive set of features, it currently lacks support for advanced functions like conditional formatting. Users can still open spreadsheets created on desktops with conditional formatting, but the iPad version does not allow the creation or editing of such features.