Excel Copilot: A Practical Guide to Faster Spreadsheet Work

Excel users fall into two categories: those who spend hours building complex formulas, and those who avoid them entirely. Excel Copilot eliminates that divide. Describe what you want in plain English, and Copilot writes the formula, builds the analysis, or creates the visualization.

What Excel Copilot Does

The 2026 version handles five core areas:

• Formula generation: Describe the calculation, get the formula
• Data analysis: Ask questions about your data in natural language
• Insights: Automatic identification of trends, outliers, and patterns
• Visualization: Chart recommendations based on data characteristics
• Data transformation: Clean, reshape, and prepare data for analysis

2026 Feature Improvements

Python Integration

The biggest 2026 addition: Copilot can now write and execute Python code directly in Excel. For analyses that exceed formula capabilities—statistical modeling, machine learning, complex transformations—Copilot generates Python scripts that run in Excel's secure environment.

Example: "Build a linear regression model predicting Q2 sales based on historical data and marketing spend." Copilot writes the Python, executes it, and returns results in your spreadsheet.

Multi-Table Analysis

Copilot now understands relationships across multiple tables and worksheets. Ask questions that span your entire workbook: "Compare sales performance across all regional sheets and identify the top 3 products in each region."

Anomaly Detection

Automatic flagging of data anomalies: "Highlight any transactions that deviate significantly from the pattern." Copilot uses statistical methods to identify outliers, unusual patterns, and potential data quality issues.

Scenario Modeling

Build what-if analyses through conversation: "Show me how total revenue changes if we increase prices by 5%, 10%, and 15% while assuming a 10% decrease in volume for each price increase." Copilot creates the scenario table with calculations.

Formula Generation

Basic Formulas

Describe what you need:

• "Calculate the percentage change between columns B and C"
• "Sum all values in column D where column A equals 'Completed'"
• "Find the average of the top 10 values in this range"

Copilot writes the formula and explains what it does. You can ask for modifications: "Make it ignore blank cells" or "Add error handling."

Complex Calculations

Where Copilot shines: nested functions that would take 20 minutes to build manually.

"Calculate the weighted average price per unit, where weight is based on quantity sold, grouped by product category, but only for transactions over $100 in the last 90 days."

Copilot handles the SUMPRODUCT, FILTER, date logic, and nesting. You get a working formula in seconds.

Formula Explanation

Inherited a spreadsheet with cryptic formulas? Select a cell and ask: "Explain what this formula does." Copilot breaks it down step by step.

Data Analysis

Natural Language Queries

Ask questions about your data:

• "What was the total revenue last quarter?"
• "Which salesperson had the highest growth rate?"
• "How does weekend performance compare to weekdays?"
• "What percentage of orders were returned?"

Copilot analyzes your data and returns the answer, often with supporting visualizations.

Trend Analysis

"Analyze the trend in monthly sales over the past 2 years. Identify any seasonality and forecast the next 3 months."

Copilot performs the statistical analysis, creates trend lines, calculates seasonal adjustments, and generates forecasts with confidence intervals.

Comparative Analysis

"Compare performance across all product lines. Which ones are growing, stable, or declining?"

Get a structured breakdown with growth rates, rankings, and recommendations for where to focus attention.

Automatic Insights

Click the Copilot button and ask for insights on your data. Without specific prompts, Copilot will:

• Identify top and bottom performers
• Find correlations between variables
• Detect unusual patterns or outliers
• Highlight significant changes over time
• Suggest drill-down areas for deeper analysis

This is particularly valuable for data you haven't analyzed before. Copilot shows you what's interesting.

Data Visualization

Chart Recommendations

"What's the best way to visualize this data?" Copilot recommends chart types based on your data structure and the story you're trying to tell.

For time series: line charts with trend indicators. For comparisons: bar charts with appropriate sorting. For distributions: histograms or box plots.

Creating Charts

Describe what you want to see:

• "Create a chart showing revenue by region over time"
• "Build a comparison of actual vs. budget by department"
• "Show the correlation between marketing spend and sales"

Copilot selects the chart type, configures axes, adds labels, and applies formatting. Refine with follow-ups: "Add data labels" or "Use company colors."

Dashboard Components

"Create a dashboard showing key metrics: total revenue, month-over-month growth, top 5 products, and regional breakdown."

Copilot generates multiple visualizations arranged for dashboard presentation.

Data Transformation

Cleaning Data

Common transformations in plain English:

• "Split the full name column into first and last name"
• "Convert all dates to YYYY-MM-DD format"
• "Remove duplicate rows based on email address"
• "Fill blank cells with the value above"
• "Standardize state names (convert abbreviations to full names)"

Restructuring Data

"Pivot this data so months are columns and products are rows."

"Unpivot these quarterly columns into a single 'Quarter' column with corresponding values."

Copilot handles the transformation and explains what changed.

Data Validation

"Check this data for issues: invalid emails, dates in the future, negative quantities, or missing required fields."

Get a report of problems with row numbers and suggested fixes.

Practical Workflows

Monthly Reporting

1. Import new data into existing template
2. "Update all formulas for the current month's data"
3. "Highlight any metrics that changed more than 10% from last month"
4. "Generate an executive summary of this month's performance"
5. "Create the standard charts with updated data"

Ad-Hoc Analysis

1. Paste data you need to analyze
2. "What can you tell me about this data?"
3. Drill into interesting findings: "Tell me more about the Q3 spike"
4. "Create a one-page summary I can share with my manager"

Financial Modeling

1. "Build a 3-year projection model based on current revenue and 15% annual growth"
2. "Add expense categories: fixed costs, variable costs at 30% of revenue, and operating expenses growing at 5% annually"
3. "Calculate monthly cash flow and cumulative position"
4. "Create a scenario comparison for growth rates of 10%, 15%, and 20%"

Limitations

• Data size: Extremely large datasets may hit performance limits—consider Power BI for enterprise-scale analysis
• Formula complexity: Some edge cases in formula generation may need manual adjustment
• Statistical accuracy: Verify statistical analyses, especially for critical business decisions
• Formatting precision: Visual formatting often needs manual refinement

ROI Impact

For regular Excel users, Copilot typically delivers:

• Formula writing: 80-90% time reduction
• Data analysis: 60-70% faster insights
• Report creation: 50-60% time savings
• Data cleaning: 70-80% automation of manual steps

More importantly, it democratizes analysis. Team members who avoided Excel's advanced features can now access sophisticated capabilities through natural language.

Getting Started

Open Excel with your Copilot license active. The Copilot button appears in the Home ribbon. Start by selecting your data and asking: "What insights can you find in this data?"

Want your team to master Excel Copilot? Our training programs cover practical applications from basic to advanced. Book a session to unlock your team's analytical potential.