Made for Mac

Touch bar support

Excel and many other Office apps now completely support the touch bar built-in the modern era of MacBooks. The Touch bar allows you to perform functions by using the touch bar only, which is an efficient workaround for core features. You can copy, cut, and paste text, pick text and cell colors, or even edit the text size by using the Mac Touch bar. Additionally, you can insert elements such as graphs and charts, then tweak them from the Touch Bar.

New, modern design

Excel 2019 for Mac has received a complete design overhaul that makes the software live up to the expectations of modern-day application layouts. Especially on a Mac operating system, a clean and put together design is anticipated from any software. The new Excel layout looks and functions pleasantly; the smooth design offers you a wonderful and enjoyable user experience.

It supports the Retina display found in Mac monitors to the fullest extent, allowing Mac users to take advantage of the newly implemented full-screen display mode. Similarly to the original Windows version of Excel, the Ribbon can be entirely customized for your very own needs, making it less difficult to quickly access your most frequently used Excel tools and functions.

Take advantage of new functions

As we all know, there couldn’t be a new Excel release without new functions implemented. As always, Microsoft delivered on this expectation by adding several new, helpful functions that speed up your work and make your life easier while using Excel for Mac 2019. While some of these functions are improved versions of what already existed within Excel previously, they still help you to speed up productivity and make using Excel even easier than before.

Here are some of the most notable new functions in Excel 2019 for Mac:

CONCAT function

Similar to the already existing CONCATENATE function, but it’s even better. This function is easier to type and utilize due to the shortened length, but that isn’t the only improvement, as this function supports range references as well as cell references. It combines text from multiple ranges or strings, however, it’s important to note that it doesn’t provide delimiter or IgnoreEmpty arguments.

IFS function

Working with overly complicated IF functions is surely a hassle, which this new function aims to fix. Using IFS, you can test if one or more conditions are met in your data. The conditions you enter are tested in the order you specified, and if these conditions are met, the result will be returned. This makes it possible to use IFS instead of having to resort to utilizing more than one nested IF statement.

SWITCH function

This is a function used to evaluate one expression against a list of values while keeping the order of the list. It returns the very first matching result it finds, sparing you both time and energy. In case none of the values matches, an optional default value (“else”) is given as the result.

Add more visual interest

Use new charts to display information

Two new charts were introduced to Excel 2019 for Mac, namely the Map charts and Funnel charts. The Map chart is pretty self-explanatory, you can create a chart that shows categories and volumes throughout geographical areas like nations, states, counties, and postal codes. The Funnel charts display values throughout more than one process stage. Because the values get lower or higher over time, the bars of your information begin to resemble a funnel, therefore the name.

Digital inking support

Microsoft made lots of improvements when it comes to digital inking in Office apps. You can take advantage of a new, fully customizable set of digital inking tools such as pens, pencils, and highlighters to enhance your files. You can draw on top of your spreadsheets, graphs, and even images to highlight parts of your project and breathe life into even the most mundane spreadsheet. There’s also a new Excel-specific feature known as Ink Equation, which allows you to put in written math equations by hand and have it added to your workbook.

You can also apply effects for your inking to make it stand out more, or the opposite, is being more subtle. Once you’re done with the drawing, convert your ink drawings into shapes and use an on-hand Ink Replay feature to rewind and replay how your inking became its completed form. Share the flow and process of drawing with others and allow them to fully understand how it came to be.

Insertable SVG icons

Excel 2019 for Mac allows you to insert icons and Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) files into your workbooks. You have access to Microsoft’s library of professionally created icons in over 25 different categories. You can even insert more than one icon at a time, speeding up the process. Once your icons are within your worksheet, you can edit them by resizing, rotating, changing colors, and visual effects.

General features and improvements

Customizable Ribbon

Microsoft decided to extend the customization of the Ribbon in the new, 2019 release of Excel for Mac. You can now store your most used tools and functions in the Quick Access toolbar, and additionally, personalize the Ribbon itself too. You’re able to change default tabs, and create custom tabs and custom groups to have all your frequently used commands in one place.

Integrated translator

The translator enables you to understand workbooks written in a foreign language without having to leave Excel. Just highlight the text you want to translate and select the tool – it’s that simple! You also have the option to translate whole files. When used, a copy of the translated document will open in another window, giving you the option to save both the original content and the translation. Use this translator to break the language barrier and work together with anyone, from any part of the world.

Accessibility Checker

Excel 2019 for Mac includes a feature to detect accessibility issues in your document and suggest changes in order to ensure that your work is easily readable and editable for everyone. With the Accessibility Checker, you can review these suggestions and implement them into your document in one click.