Sara, Brian and all who follow this thread,

I am running:

Microsoft Excel 2016

Windows 10 Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.867)

NVDA Version: 2020.4

After trying various combinations of the following two settings under the Advanced tab in the excel Options,

When I pressed the “=” key to edit  a cell,

I found

First, that NVDA says "Formula Bar editing Equals" When:

"Allow editing directly in cells" is disabled

“Show formula bar” is enabled

Next, I found that NVDA stops saying "Formula Bar editing Equals"

and says "Pane" instead When:

"Allow editing directly in cells" is disabled

“Show formula bar” is disabled.

The good news is that

I found that NVDA stops saying "Formula Bar editing Equals" and, instead, says "Editing Equals" When:

"Allow editing directly in cells" is enabled

“Show formula bar” is either enabled or disabled

Conclusion:

So, to disable the annoying "Formula Bar editing Equals”, the setting for Allowing editing in cells" needs to be enabled and it does not matter whether "Show formula bar" is enabled or disabled.

I hope this helps.