Microsoft Excel shown off supporting handwriting recognition at Surface event

9 essential apps if you own a Surface Pen
9 essential apps if you own a Surface Pen (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft showed off handwriting recognition inside Microsoft Excel at the October Surface event.
  • Handwriting recognition makes it easier to use a pen on devices like the Surface Pro 7.
  • Handwriting recognition is already supported on several Microsoft apps like Microsoft Word.

In addition to showing off several new pieces of hardware, Microsoft showed off a new handwriting recognition feature for Microsoft Excel at the October Surface event. During the Surface keynote, the presenter used an Ink Editor to hand write numbers and figures into an Excel spreadsheet.

Several Microsoft apps already support handwriting recognition, such as Word and OneNote, but Microsoft pointed out that many Excel users feel left out. With this new feature, Excel users will be able to edit spreadsheets with a pen.

The feature does not have a release date at this point.

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Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.