Apple PENCIL should NOT automatically start "drawing mode" in Excel (and Word)
The Apple PENCIL is NOT ONLY a drawing tool!
Like in many other apps it should also be possibe to use it as a (more precise!) substitute for the finger!
For example in Apples notes app, you can perfectly and very precisely use the pencil to move the coursor, to select text and to start actions by tapping a button.
All this should be possible in Excel (and Word) too!!!
(Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, ...)
Walter
shared this idea
This was updated in the June release
27 comments
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Anonymous
commented
How do you insert a text insertion, rather than a graphic in Notes and Gmail?
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Anonymous
commented
Gordon W solved my excel issue above. Just use ”Select Objects” in Drawing. Thanks.
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Anonymous
commented
TOTALLY agree. For £119 I want to be able to use it as a precise pointer as well as being a drawing tool.
I feel it was slightly mis-sold to me... -
Mike
commented
After toggle off always draws ink it still leaves the stylus function corrupted by automatically entering draw mode - So the toggle off is almost useless. I do not want to draw in excel! I do not want to have to navigate from the draw tab every time I put pencil to a new sheet or open the app or switch between tables and sheets. It's madness. According to a Microsoft help agent this is Apple is doing and Microsoft have no control, that is scarcely believable!.
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Anonymous
commented
I’ve turned off the “always draws ink” function in both word and excel and nothing changed. Is there any more recent solution for this problem. As many others have said, it’s very irritating and inefficient!
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Jerry Bohley
commented
Contrary to the post above ... you have same problem in notes... I cannot use the pencil in notes without it wanting to insert a foreign section to sketch in. Please this is maddening. Give us the ability to use the pencil, to edit a note without interference of arbitrarily throwing in a block for sketching. After all the app is named “NOTES” ...not “SKETCH.” How about a way to temp disable the sketch feature
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Rodney
commented
SO,.... I was able to make the pencil act as a selection device. HOWEVER, I really would like to be able to use the pencil to draw with, erase, highlight, etc. When I have the excel setting to allow it to draw, I CANNOT select any of the other functions?? Doesn’t that defeat the functionality? Please advise if there is a setting I am missing
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Vegard Bakke
commented
For those how cannot find Word/Excel/Powerpoint in the Settings menu:
There is a bug in the Settings app whiched bugged me until I found this linkhttps://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/274921/app-settings-are-missing-in-the-settings-app
Basically close Settings, by "double click" the home button, to view all the open applications. Then close the app, by swiping it upwards.
When you reopen Settings, the apps might be present. (At least that happend to me. : )
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Leon Stearns
commented
To permanently stop the pencil from drawing, go to your iPad settings. Scroll down through apps to Excel and/or Word and select the app. There is an on/off switch for "Apple Pencil Always Draws Ink" Problem immediately solved.
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Tim McManus
commented
It was noted that this was release in the June 2017 update, and there is also a note below to look in Settings->Excel, but I cannot find anything in Setting for Excel. How does one turn off the default drawing feature?
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Anonymous
commented
In the iOS 10 settings app, Excel has an 'Apple pencil always draws ink' switch. Turning to off appears to disable ink in Excel.
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Anonymous
commented
Edit: Gordon W's "fix" below seems to be working without me having to "draw->select objects" every time.
Thank you Gordon W!
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Anonymous
commented
This is conjecture, but I imagine there is a stalemate between Microsoft and Apple. For this issue to be fixed, one of them has to subordinate to the other. I don't think that's going to happen. They are already in standoff mode now.
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Anonymous
commented
Dear Microsoft,
I am still in my 30 day trial period. If you don't fix this issue, I will cancel my subscription. Gordon W's comment does not fix the issue merely allows the pencil to be used to select 1 box until you try to adjust the data in it. This issue is the same with all Microsoft applications for iPad (word, PowerPoint, etc). -
Gordon W
commented
To disable the auto draw feature and use the pencil as a more accurate finger, touch the "draw" tab at the top of the screen. The touch the "select objects" button to disable the auto draw
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Steve
commented
Is anyone with authority on this going to give an answer for a fix to this issue? I basically bought a $100 boat anchor. I bought this to use as a precise pointer for excel spreadsheets on my Ipad pro and it just keeps trying to draw in the excel cells unless I use my finger to start the cell modification.
I wouldn't think this would be that big of a deal to put a non-draw option to this program.
I see that people have been complaining about this feature for roughly 2 years with no answers. -
Glen Duval
commented
Also just found this forum trying to fix this very annoying Feature????? In Exel Microsoft please fix now!!! In all IPAD based Office products
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Clemens Kathman
commented
I could not agree more for Excel or Word! Absolutely a bonehead developer idea. Did they even attempt to get user feedback in a focus group? NO ONE would have wanted this!!
Things like this show Microsoft's arrogance. They know that Office is the primary package on most desktops so they just don't give a **** about their quality or usability. This auto-draw mode should have been discarded in spec, long before programming.
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Anonymous
commented
The most annoying thing. Fix it
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John
commented
Why hasn't this been fixed yet? Post on this feed go back almost a year. It's so obvious AND Microsoft even posted it would be possible in March.