UPDATE: CAN'T Fix? : Formula Bar Now at Bottom of Excel (for Android) Screen

Anonymous
2022-01-15T19:25:31+00:00

Happy 2022!

A couple days ago, I opened a spreadsheet (that I update, daily), & discovered that the Formula Bar had moved to the bottom of my screen. It still does what it's supposed to, but this positioning makes life difficult in multiple ways (details below).

I can't find an update to the Excel app, or Android OS, that seems recent enough to be responsible, though the Excel screen did seem to become set, approx the same time, to match phone's day/night color schemes.

I can't find any mention, or images – online, on Microsoft.com, in tech pubs/blogs, or community forums – of this behavior, or of any way to move the Formula Bar.

Can anyone provide insight into what happened, or how to fix it?

NOTE : System + app versions follow screenshot, along with "difficulties caused" – mentioned above.

Many thanks for any solution(s?) &/or insights❗

___________________

UPDATE: This morning [22-May'22], I opened Excel, on my Android phone, & MS "asked" whether I've enjoyed the "Updated Feature: …Has your editing experience become easier having the Formula Bar at the bottom?" {see add'l att}

BINGO ❗ IT'S A FEATURE, NOT A BUG

[Does not explain why an MS rep would request info, trying to replicate the "Feature"]

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PHONE : Samsung Galaxy S21 (5G)

OS : Android version 12 

  : One UI version 4.0

  : Android security patch 1-December'21

EXCEL (for Android) : V 1.0.1 (16.0.14729.20146)

PROBLEMS

• Decades of Excel habits, using Formula Bar at top.

• Pop-ups, while typing (suggestions, option selection, etc.), display on top of toolbar, making click/select errors – that clear all content from formula/data entry field – inevitable.

• Enlarging the Formula Bar covers bottom (typically more important) rows of spreadsheet, + makes them trickier to access.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For business | Android

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-04-13T16:01:50+00:00

    Microsoft Works, in 1988 was my start

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-04-13T15:49:02+00:00

    Add me to the list - it just happened! (Samsung S8). Very annoying and certainly NOT an improvement.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-04-13T13:27:14+00:00

    Hi, I began using Excel when MS first sold the software. That had to be in 1987 or 1988. The formula bar was always at the top.

    When I paid for Office on my Android devices several (multiplied by a few) years ago, having the formula bar at the top made life simple.

    Yesterday, 04/12/2022, suddenly, my app closed, causing flashbacks of hours of complex formula writing and format tweaking going down the tubes. Remember the pre-autosave era? I flipped to the Office interface and anxiously waited the 0.8 seconds it took to open. My heart dropped because the thing opened in Google Sheets. I hate GS because the formula bar is at the bottom.

    So, I closed Office, went to settings>apps>Office, and cleared the default for opening spreadsheets with almost reflex action. To be sure, I cleared the cache. Why not? I was there. Then I reopened Office, clicked on my workbook, and 🤬 it opened in Google Sheets again. What kind of BS is GS pulling on MS?

    Then I realize the option screens appear to be MS Office. A few clicks later and I verify that it is indeed MS Office. I tried to continue my current project, and because my eyes have muscle memory, they looked for the formula bar at the top. After 35 years, my brain cannot retrain to overcome that place to look. Besides, as soon as I begin typing in it using a keypad, the pad covers the screen.

    Now I have to waste additional time to format that input by pressing the down arrow to see the spreadsheet.

    When did the software happen? According to Google Play, 04/01/2022. April Fool's, right?

    Now I read it was intentional? Did a Google person transfer to MS to work on Excel? Did they change it to make their life easier?

    Fix it, MS. You should never fix what is not broken. It is an excellent way to alienate MS loyalists. This change was particularly egregious because it was a sleeper, and MS provided no notice.

    This post should serve as a call to action. Everyone, please visit the office bug report and express your opinion. Copy/paste mine if you do not want to write.

    Yes, I already told them what I thought.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-04-13T12:45:45+00:00

    What's somewhat even more frustrating, is that NOT ONE of the tech sites, have reported anything about this either.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-04-13T07:03:51+00:00

    Samsung S10 5G

    I have the same problem :(

    Image

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