Autofill on iPad Wont Let Me Type

Amanda Montenegro 0 Reputation points
2026-06-04T21:46:50.3133333+00:00

When ever I type out a new cell if it contains the same starting word as a cell above it pops up an autofill option. Great, if I want to type out the same thing. The problem is, I NEVER do. And once that pops up, nothing I do works after that unless I select a pop up option. I hit escape to get out of it and resume my typing? Sure, but don’t hit spacebar to type the next word cause that highlights the whole flippin sheet and makes me type in cell A1. I got so far as to type everything without a space and try to go back after and just enter spaces. Nope, Excel decides it’s more fun without spaces and only lets me put a space sometimes… when it wants a space.

I am going crazy and excel is 90% to blame.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | iOS
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  1. Rayyan Fawad 1,075 Reputation points
    2026-06-04T21:51:07.88+00:00

    That sounds incredibly aggravating, and that spacebar glitch jumping straight to cell A1 is a known keyboard focus bug in the iPadOS Excel app when an external keyboard is connected. Since you never want the suggestions anyway, the cleanest fix is to just turn the feature off entirely.

    You can fix this inside Excel on your iPad by following these steps:

    Tap the File menu (or the gear/profile icon depending on your layout) to open Settings.

    Go to Preferences.

    Turn off Enable AutoComplete for cell values.

    Disabling this should completely stop the popups from stealing your keyboard focus, allowing you to type and use your spacebar normally again.

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