The formula bar is a useful tool for editing the contents of cells, particularly for creating and editing formulas.

When working in a Sheet view, the formula bar sits between your column headers and the toolbar and will display the contents of the currently selected cell, whether it contains a formula or manually inputted data.

What is the Formula Bar?

The formula bar allows you to easily add and edit existing formulas. It is especially useful for seeing and editing complex formulas like this:

From the formula bar, you can click on any part of the formula to make changes. You can even edit cell entries that are not formulas like long text passages, dates, names, and more.

Hiding and Unhiding the Formula Bar

Like some other view elements, the formula bar can be hidden and unhidden via the Views menu in the top menu bar. Open the View menu from the workbook menu and toggle the formula bar on and off from the dropdown.

If you open a Sheet view and don't see the formula bar, it is likely hidden.

Using the Formula Bar

To access the formula bar, click on a cell that you wish to add or edit a formula or data in and then click on the formula bar at the top. From here you can navigate within or edit the formula as desired. When you've finished inputting or editing your formula, hit the Enter key on your keyboard and the corresponding cell will automatically update.

Read on to learn more about working with Formulas and Advanced Data Types, including Formula Output Syntax for Data Types and The Column Formula Data Type.