What is the Formula Bar in Excel & Google Sheets?

This tutorial explains the function of the formula bar in Excel and Google Sheets

 

 

The formula bar in Excel is above the column headers and below the Ribbon. The bar contains the name box to the left, and the formula bar to the right.

Hide and Unhide the Formula Bar

If you cannot see the formula bar, it may be that it has been hidden. There is an option in the Ribbon to show or hide the formula bar.

In the Ribbon, select View > Show > Formula Bar.

 

 

Purpose of the Formula Bar

The formula bar shows the content of the cell that is active or selected in Excel. If the active cell has text or a number in it, then this is shown in the formula bar. You can use the formula bar to edit the content of the cell instead of editing the content directly in the cell.

 

 

The content is displayed in “raw” data format in the formula bar. This means that any formatting that has been applied to the cell is not be shown in the formula bar but is displayed in the worksheet. For example, if a number is formatted to show a currency symbol, this symbol is only be shown in the actual worksheet while the formula bar only displays the actual number.

 

 

If a number has been formatted to have two decimal places, but actually has a lot more (like an interest rate, for example), the formula bar shows all the decimal places, while the worksheet shows the number formatted to two decimal places.

 

 

View and Create Formulas

One of the most important purposes of the formula bar is the ability to view and create formulas.

If you click on the cell that contains the formula, the formula shows up in the formula bar, while the result is shown in the active cell in the worksheet itself.

 

 

If you want to create a formula, you can either type it directly into the cell, or you can type it directly into the formula bar.

 

 

Expand the Formula Bar

If you have a particularly long formula, you can expand the formula bar by dragging the bottom border down in your Excel application.

Place your mouse at the bottom of the formula bar so your mouse pointer changes to a double-headed arrow.

 

 

Hold down the mouse button and drag the bar down to the required size until you can see your entire formula in the bar.

 

 

If a single cell contains multiple lines of text, you can drag the formula bar down to show all the text in the cell.

 

 

You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT + U to expand and contract the formula bar. This adjusts it to a standard size or put it back to the default size.

 

What is the Formula Bar in Google Sheets?

The formula bar in Google Sheets works in much the same way as it does in Excel.

As with Excel, the formula bar sits in the Google Sheet below the Menu and above the column headers.

 

 

You can view the raw data in the formula bar and the formatted data in the active cell in the sheet.

 

 

You can also view the formula in the formula bar while viewing the result of the formula in the sheet.

 

 

You can edit the text or formula in the formula bar as well as directly in the sheet, and as with Excel, you can expand and contract the formula bar by placing your mouse at the bottom of the formula bar so your mouse pointer changes to a double-headed arrow, and dragging down until the formula bar is the size you require.