How to Edit a Cell in Excel: 4 Easy Methods

Method 1 – Double Click to Edit a Cell

Steps:

Select any cell. We chose the D9 cell and double-clicked it.
A cursor appears and blinks on this cell. This indicates that you can edit this cell.

How to Edit a Cell in Excel Using Double Click

Press ENTER to confirm the change and move on to the next cell.

How to Edit a Cell in Excel Using Double Click

Method 2 – Edit the Active Cell Utilizing Keyboard Shortcuts

Steps:

Choose a cell. We’ve shown the D14 cell as an example.
Instead of double-clicking on the cell, press the F2 key if you’re a Windows user. The cursor pops up just like before. For Mac users, the keyboard shortcut is ^ U.

Change the value of the cell.
Press ENTER to keep the change.

Method 3 – Using the Formula Bar

Steps:

Select a cell. We showed the D8 cell.
Start typing in the box above the spreadsheet, as shown in the picture below.

After completing your typing, click the green checkmark on the left to commit to the change.

Method 4 – Edit a Cell with VBA Code

Step 01: Open the VBA Editor

Go to the Developer tab and then to Visual Basic.

Step 02: Insert the VBA Code

Double-click on the sheet where you want to insert the VBA code.

For your ease of reference, you can copy the code from here and paste it into the window as shown below.

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range) 
'This code helps you to edit cell' 
SendKeys "{F2}" 
End Sub

Step 03: Run the Code

Click Run or use the keyboard shortcut F5 to run.

Return to your worksheet. Selecting any cell will enter into editing mode.

Issues When You Can’t Edit Cell

Issue 1 – When the Worksheet Is in Read Only Mode

When you download a file from the internet, Excel by default opens the spreadsheet in Read-Only mode, which restricts any editing. To edit the file, simply press the Enable Editing icon.

You can edit any cell in the worksheet.

Issue 2 – If the Spreadsheet Is Locked

A second reason for not being able to edit your worksheet could be that it is locked. If a worksheet is locked, then trying to edit it prompts the following message.