15

I couldn't find this shortcut in Sheets support. Basically I want a keyboard shortcut that makes me jump to the formula bar.

screen shot

2
  • Can't you just move to the cell and start typing?
    – ale
    Oct 14, 2016 at 12:20
  • 2
    it's not that i want to type.. it's that i want to access the formula that's generating the content in the cell @ale
    – abbood
    Aug 18, 2017 at 13:15

2 Answers 2

14

There isn't one.

If the cell is blank, just start typing.

If the cell has content, press F2 and you'll be able to edit. (Microsoft Excel is the same.)

I'm afraid if you want to get into the formula bar you'll need to use the mouse.

1
  • Actually, Microsoft Excel has an option "Edit Directly in Cells". If you uncheck that option, then F2 will take you to the Formula Bar. Too bad Google Sheets doesn't give you this option. Or pressing F2 twice should take you to the Formula Bar.
    – wisbucky
    Aug 1, 2020 at 8:00
0

As of 2022, there doesn't appear to be a keyboard shortcut that takes the focus from the current cell and then place the cursor into the formula bar.

However, if you need to navigate without the mouse and somehow get the cursor into the formula bar, if perhaps via a painstakingly slow process yet mouse-free, you can:

  • "Move focus out of spreadsheet" shortcut:
    • windows: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + m
    • mac: Ctrl + ⌘ + Shift + m
  • OR "Go to side panel" shortcut (works with period "." or comma ","):
    • windows: Ctrl + Alt + .
    • mac: ⌘ + Option + .
  • Tab to cycle through the UI elements until arriving at the formula bar

For me, this was 20(!) tabs using the first option, and 5 tabs using the second, to cycle from the starting point into the formula bar, but perhaps some sort of automation can convert this keystroke sequence into something that can be more easily invoked with a simple custom keyboard shortcut (which would of course be OS/desktop dependent).

See all shortcuts here: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/181110

1
  • nb: currently the first option using the shortcut to "move focus out of spreadsheet" no longer works at all for me? it's a legit shortcut that should work, but currently ...doesn't. Oh well, the second option (I just added) is less tabbing, anyway
    – michael
    Jan 5 at 3:58

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