Microsoft Updates Office Apps for iPad With Mouse and Trackpad Support

Microsoft today announced that the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps for iPad are receiving updates that will allow them to use the trackpad and mouse support in iPadOS.

microsoftofficetrackpad
The apps will feature a cursor that transforms into the tool that's needed depending on the context of what you're pointing to for easy cursor control, fluid navigation, and precise adjustments. Microsoft says that the trackpad experience will be familiar to those who have used Office on a Mac or PC.

And using a mouse or trackpad with iPad for common tasks like highlighting a passage of text in Word, selecting a range of cells in Excel, and moving and resizing graphics in PowerPoint are as simple and intuitive as ever. This experience will be immediately familiar to anyone who has ever used Office on a Mac or a PC and helps make iPad even more versatile and capable for getting more work done.

Along with mouse and trackpad support, Microsoft is adding new start screens and a new ribbon of feature menus to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for a cleaner and more modern user experience.

According to Microsoft, many users have already started receiving the updates through a phased rollout, which will reach all users within a couple of weeks.

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory. A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June. The original AirTag was announced...

Top Rated Comments

Simmias Avatar
55 months ago
With the latest Office updates, I am very close to being able to use my 12.9" iPad Pro as my full time work computer. In addition to trackpad support, Word and PowerPoint now allow multiple windows/documents to be open at the same time. For some reason, Excel still only allows one spreadsheet to be open at a time. I'm not sure why it's taking so long (it took nearly a year to add multi-window support after it was demoed onstage at the WWDC iPad OS 13 keynote), but I'm glad the updates are finally coming. Once Microsoft enables multiple windows in Excel, I will finally be able to use the iPad for 99% of my professional workflow!
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ct2k7 Avatar
55 months ago
Awesome, a little late, but a welcome change.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheDailyApple Avatar
55 months ago
About time! Using office without a mouse is miserable.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ugahairydawgs Avatar
55 months ago
It's about damn time.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pangalactic Avatar
55 months ago
Wow, wonderful!

Meanwhile still waiting for 50% of the apps to at least rotate into horizontal mode...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gautampw Avatar
55 months ago

I wonder how this fits in with the "unified Office app on iOS, but keep using three separate Word/Excel/PowerPoint" apps on iPadOS scheme... Hmmm...
They’ve already said the unified iPad app is in development
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)