Microsoft Introduces A Host Of Advanced Tools To Excel Web

Microsoft 365

Key Takeaways

Excel for the web receives new features for easier resizing, adding rows/columns, and unhiding.
Improved navigation, drag and drop support, and cell highlighting enhance user experience.
All changes are now available to all Excel web users.

Excel is one of the Microsoft 365 services that receive a lot of attention from Microsoft, and users get the benefit in the form of new features every month, just as it did in June. And now that a new month has started, the software giant has already started rolling out another set of changes to Excel for the web, aiming to make spreadsheet tasks “simpler, faster, and more enjoyable”.

Excel for the web gets several advanced features

Resizing and adding rows and columns get easier

There are as many as six changes you’ll notice if you’re using Excel for the web. To begin with, you can now hover over the border of a row or column header and then hold the handles to drag and resize. Besides resizing rows and columns with ease, you’ll also be able to insert them with just a click. You can hover your mouse pointer over the right edge of the header of the column or row and click the + sign to add another row or column beside it.

A faster way to unhide rows and columns

Microsoft Excel for the web already supports hide and unhide rows and columns. While you can hide them by following the same old steps, unhiding capability has become a lot more simplified, resulting in users getting access to hidden rows and columns instantly. All you have to do is hover your mouse pointer over the edge of the hidden row or column header and then select the small arrow.

Microsoft has also modernized the ways to freeze panes in Excel. You can now simply drag the handles in the top left corner of the headers and then drag it the position you want. Doing so will ensure that the data in the frozen pane always stays visible even when you’re scrolling through the excel worksheet.

In addition, Excel for the web now supports drag and drop for rearranging elements on your worksheet. Select the row or column and then hold and drag to the desired position when the cursor becomes a hand icon. And lastly, you can also highlight rows, columns, range of cells simply by selecting them to ensure that critical information isn’t overlooked.

Availability

Many a time, Microsoft introduces new capabilities to Insiders first and then brings them to general users. This isn’t the case with the aforementioned features, as they’re all being rolled out to all Excel web users.