How to always show the formula bar in Numbers iPad OS?

Hello everyone! Is there a way to always show the formula bar in iOS Numbers? Maybe I use Excel in a different way to other users, but I find myself wanting to see what’s giving a cell its value when I click on it i.e. be able to see and edit the formula in the cell when I select/move to it, without having to hit a key combination (ctrl=) every time. It’s bizzare that 5 years after the original request to have such a fundamental and basic capabilty added to Numbers, the product owners still think this isn’t required. Numbers has so many superficial capabilities but it’s missing many basic day-to-day functions. Product Owners - could you find the courage to allocate dev cycles to making Numbers a viable alternative to Excel to support your user base, rather than developing shiny features that primarily exist for promotional material or to showcase to internal stakeholders?

Posted on Dec 13, 2025 10:32 PM

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How to always show the formula bar in Numbers iPad OS?

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