Microsoft 365 Insiders can now convert their handwriting into text on Excel

Recently, Mark Rideout, a product manager on the Office AI team, announced the availability of Ink to Text Pen for Microsoft Insiders on Microsoft Excel. The tool was earlier introduced in Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

With the Ink-to-Text Pen tool, you can transform your handwriting into text using your digital pen or stylus, which will help you enter content into cells efficiently. It also allows you to use pen gestures to choose and delete content in a cell.

It is important to remember that the Action Pen in Excel is no longer available; it has been replaced by the Ink to Text Pen tool.

How does it work?

To use the Ink to Text Pen tool, go to the Draw tab and choose the Ink to Text Pen tool. Now, zoom in on the sheet to make the specific cell visible and start writing over a cell; this will replace any existing content.

If your device is touch-enabled, you will see the Draw tab in Excel. If you don’t find the Draw tab, you can navigate to File>Options>Customize Ribbon and select the Draw box.

To select a cell, you can tap a single cell or use the Straight line select gesture to choose multiple cells at once.

If you want to delete text, you can draw up and down squiggles to use the Scratch-out gesture through one or more cells.

In the Microsoft Insider blog, the scenarios that were mentioned to try are:

• With the Ink to Text Pen tool selected, start writing over a cell in a new or existing spreadsheet.
• Select multiple cells with the Straight line gesture and apply formatting to all of them at once.
• Delete a cell’s content with the Scratch-out gesture.

There is also a known issue mentioned in the blog:

The Ink to Text Pen tool may not work correctly in a spreadsheet that has frozen panes.

To use the Ink to Text Pen tool, you should have a stylus or digital pen and the latest version of Windows 11 (23H2) with the October 31, 2023 update (KB5031455).

This feature is available to all Microsoft Insiders using Excel with all the other requirements mentioned above.

Have you used the Ink to Text Pen tool in Excel, Word, or OneNote yet? If so, share your experience with our readers in the comments section below.