Many of the formulas in my
spreadsheets are long and complicated. When I need to make an
adjustment, I could click on the Formula bar
and edit the formula in the target cell, but I prefer to keep
my fingers on the keyboard—using the F2 key instead to give me
access to editing the formula. And there’s the problem:
Instead of giving me the immediate option of more easily
editing the formula inside the Formula bar
, the F2 key only let’s me do the editing inside the
crowded space in the cell itself. If I want to do the editing
in the less-confined space of the Formula
bar, I have to take my fingers off the keyboard, grab
the mouse and move the cursor up to the Formula bar. No big
deal, you may think. But when you’re adjusting loads of
formulas in many cells, that small step costs me lots of time.
So, is there some way to get the F2 key to default directly to
the Formula bar instead of the cell?
Yes, you can program the F2 button to
give you immediate access to the formula in the
Formula bar so you can immediately edit the
formula there…
…rather than in the crowded space of the cell.
To do that in Excel 2003, click on Tools
, Options and the Edit
tab. Then remove the check next to Edit
directly in cell , and then click on OK
.
In Excel 2007, access the F2 default switch by clicking
on the Office Button and then on
Excel Options at the bottom of the screen
(see screenshots below).
And finally
remove the check next to Allow editing directly in
cells (see screenshot at left).
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