Editable formula bar

What it does

The formula bar above the grid is editable. Click it and the active cell opens for editing right there: type a literal or a formula, press Enter to commit (the cell recomputes and the selection moves one row down), or Escape to revert. It shows the cell's raw content — the =… formula, not the computed value — so it is where you read and rewrite a cell's formula.

Editing in the bar is the same edit as editing in the cell — one editing session shown in two places. So everything the in-cell editor does, the bar does too: enter-vs-edit mode, caret-gated formula point mode (arrow keys steer a cell reference when the formula is expecting one), and reference highlighting — while you edit a formula, each distinct reference is colored in the bar and outlined in the matching color on the grid.

Try it

With A1 = 10 and B1 = 20, click C1, then click the formula bar and type =A1+B1. The references A1 and B1 light up in the bar (and outline on the grid) as you type. Press Enter: C1 shows 30, the formula bar reads =A1+B1, and the selection drops to C2. Click C1 again and press Escape midway through an edit to see it revert unchanged.

Verified behavior

Matches Google Sheets: In Google Sheets the formula bar shows the active cell's raw content (a literal, or the =… formula rather than the computed value) and is editable: clicking it places a text caret and lets you edit that cell as an alternative to editing in the cell. Pressing Enter commits the value to the active cell, recomputes, and moves the selection one row down; Escape abandons the edit and leaves the cell unchanged. The formula bar and the in-cell editor are the SAME edit kept in sync — two views of one editing session, not two independent editors — so editing a formula in the bar behaves exactly like editing it in the cell, including caret-gated point mode (arrow keys steer a reference when the formula expects one) and reference highlighting (each distinct reference token is colored to match the colored outlines on the grid). Editing changes content only, never the cell's number format.

Editing a formula in the bar's model commits it to the active cell and recomputes

Given

• A1 = 10
• B1 = 20

When I type =A1+B1 into C1

Then

• C1 shows 30
• C1 has formula =A1+B1

Committing an edit replaces the cell's prior content

Given

• A1 = =5+5

When I type 42 into A1

Then

• A1 shows 42

While editing a formula, its reference tokens are colored in the formula bar

Given

• A1 = 10
• B1 = 20

When I click C1, then press =, then press A, then press 1

Then

• [data-testid="formula-content"] span[data-ref-color] is visible