I find myself increasingly using the iPad to browse the Web, screen
my e-mail inbox each morning, and read magazines and books. The one
missing piece of the puzzle has been spreadsheets. There are lots of
times that I would like to be mobile and update a spreadsheet. Now,
using the Windows Live SkyDrive, you can actually create and edit your
Excel documents on the iPad. In fact, multiple iPads can edit the same
Excel document simultaneously. Cells entered on one iPad appear a few
seconds later on all iPads editing the same workbook.
Create a SkyDrive Account
To start, sign up for a free SkyDrive account at Live.com. This
requires a Windows Live ID, and you'll sign in with an e-mail
address. Use the New Folder icon to create a folder for your Excel
files. Note that folders can be private, public, or shared with others
(whom you invite). And you'll have to be online during the entire
editing process, either via a cellular data account or Wi-Fi.
Saving Files to SkyDrive
In Excel 2010 or newer, you can add files to your SkyDrive account
directly from Excel. Go to the File tab, select Save and Send, and then
Save to Web. Enter your e-mail and password credentials for the SkyDrive
account. You'll be able to choose the Excel folder in your SkyDrive
account. The SkyDrive folder will appear in the Recent Places list, so
you can easily reopen the file in Excel 2010.
If you are using Excel 2007 or earlier, then you'll have to
save the file to your hard drive and use the Add Files link in SkyDrive
to upload files from your computer.
Don't Use Data Validation
Currently, Excel files with data validation won't work on the
iPad or in a browser. Microsoft is working to add this functionality to
a future release of the Excel Web App, but, for now, avoid using the
data validation features found on Excel's Data tab. There are other
obscure features that won't work with SkyDrive, including ink,
multiple consolidation range pivot tables, and Excel 4 macros, but data
validation is the one you're most likely to see causing problems.
Sign in from the iPad
Launch the Safari browser on your iPad and navigate to
SkyDrive.Live.com. Sign in. You can now browse your folders and see the
files stored on the SkyDrive. Before you attempt to open the workbook,
you need to switch from the mobile site to the "PC site."
Skipping this step is the roadblock that makes iPad Excel nearly
impossible to figure out. Scroll to the bottom of the browser window and
click PC site, as shown in Figure 1. Note that you'll have to do
this at least once each day because the iPad constantly reverts to the
mobile site. There are hacks to convince the iPad to open the nonmobile
version of webpages, but this may cause more problems than having to
choose "PC site" each day.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
When the PC site loads, select the Excel folder and touch the file
you want to open. The file will always open in a view-only mode even
though the worksheet calculates and charts will update. To make edits,
click "Edit in Browser," as shown in Figure 2. If you
aren't seeing the Edit in Browser icon, it's likely that you
forgot to switch to PC site. Go back and choose the PC site as shown in
Figure 1.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
In Edit mode, a shortened version of the Excel 2010 ribbon appears,
showing the File, Home, Insert, and View tabs. That ribbon takes up a
lot of room in landscape mode, so consider hiding the ribbon using the
carat (^) icon at the right side (see Figure 3). To bring up the
keyboard, touch a cell and then touch the formula bar. You can type a
new value or even enter a formula. After you press Enter, the cell is
updated, other cells calculate, charts update, and the file is
automatically saved to the SkyDrive.
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
Be sure to use File, Close when you are through editing the
worksheet on the iPad. This will enable you to open the workbook on your
desktop later. If you leave the file in Edit mode on the iPad, the
desktop version of Excel will offer to open the workbook in read-only
mode until the iPad closes the workbook.
Simultaneous Editing of a Worksheet
One interesting advantage of Excel files edited in the Excel Web
App is that multiple people can open the file in their browsers and
simultaneously edit the same worksheet. You could have a team of people
open the same document in the Excel Web App. When one person updates a
cell, the other users will see the change a second later on their
devices. You can test the Excel Web App using any browser and
http://tinyurl.com/sfapril. I've made this file publicly available,
and it can be edited by anyone.
Bill Jelen is the author of Learn Excel 2007-2010 From MrExcel and
33 other books. Send questions for future articles to IMA@MrExcel.com.
COPYRIGHT 2012 Institute of Management Accountants
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2012 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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