Office apps for iPad updated with trackpad and mouse support

Microsoft’s latest update to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint brings trackpad and mouse support on iPad. The update brings cursor, which launched alongside iPadOS 13.4, to Office apps and is a familiar experience, Microsoft says, to those who have previously used Office on a Mac or Windows.

When moving a finger across the built-in trackpad of Magic Keyboard, the cursor transforms into the tool you need depending on the content you’re pointing to. 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.

Office for iPad now features a cursor to navigate around text, photos, and other objects in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can, for instance, use the built-in trackpad on Apple’s Magic Keyboard to highlight text in Word, select a range of cells in Excel, and resize images and charts in PowerPoint. The cursor adapts depending on the surrounding objects, like in all other apps that support iPadOS’ cursor.

There’s more to it than just cursor support. Microsoft is going more fluent with Office apps on iPad, adding new start screens and a new ribbon of feature menus to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The update is rolling out now and should reach all users within a couple weeks, according to Microsoft’s blog post.