The short answer
Microsoft Copilot in Excel builds and edits workbooks directly: formulas across sheets, conditional formatting, data validation, charts, PivotTables, dashboards, web data with citations and data from other workbooks. Open it from the Copilot icon at the lower right and pick Allow editing, Plan or Chat only. It needs Microsoft 365 Personal or Family with an AI credits plan, Microsoft 365 Premium, a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence or a Copilot Chat-eligible business plan.
| Prompts on this page | 13, in four groups |
|---|---|
| Open it | Copilot icon, lower-right corner of Excel |
| Modes | Allow editing (default), Plan, Chat only |
| Full editing | Excel for Windows, Mac and the web |
| Retired | COPILOT function, from 14 September 2026 |
| Must be set | Calculation Options: Automatic |
What Copilot in Excel can do in November 2026
Copilot in Excel is no longer a chat box that describes formulas for you to type. Microsoft's support pages now describe it as an assistant that builds and edits workbooks: it can add, rename and delete sheets, change cells and ranges, apply conditional formatting, data validation, borders and styles, write formulas across sheets, create and edit charts and PivotTables linked to the source data, build dashboards and templates, sort, filter and highlight, fetch information from the web with citations, and pull data from other workbooks on OneDrive, SharePoint or your computer. Microsoft announced on 22 April 2026 that these agentic abilities in Word, Excel and PowerPoint were generally available.
To open it, select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of Excel. You then choose how much freedom it has:
- Allow editing (the default): Copilot changes the workbook directly, including multi-step tasks.
- Plan: Copilot proposes a step-by-step plan and waits for you to approve it.
- Chat only: Copilot analyses and answers without touching the workbook.
You can watch its reasoning in the pane and stop it with the Stop button beside the chat box. Two newer additions matter for the prompts below: the built-in clean-data skill (type @clean-data in your prompt), which finds extra spaces, inconsistent formats, duplicates and wrong data types and proposes fixes for you to approve, still rolling out so not every account has it yet; and accounting skills for reconciliations and journal entries, which Microsoft says are rolling out to its Frontier early-access programme. One thing has gone: the COPILOT worksheet function stopped working on 14 September 2026. Microsoft's replacement is to describe the task to Copilot in the pane instead.
Which plan you need for Copilot in Excel
Microsoft's Copilot in Excel FAQ lists four ways to get it: a Microsoft 365 Personal or Family subscription with an AI credits plan, Microsoft 365 Premium, a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, or a business or enterprise Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription that is eligible for Copilot Chat. What you can do still varies by licence and by your organisation's settings, and Microsoft's pricing page says that on Microsoft 365 Family the Copilot features belong to the subscription owner only. Choosing a specific model (Microsoft lists Claude models from Anthropic and GPT models from OpenAI) needs a commercial Copilot licence or Microsoft 365 Premium, and the choice resets when you close Excel.
| Platform | Modes available |
|---|---|
| Excel for Windows, Mac and the web | Edit, plan and chat |
| Excel for iPad | Chat and plan (edit rolling out) |
| Excel for iPhone | Chat (edit rolling out) |
| Excel for Android | Chat |
Before you start: editing needs Calculation Options set to Automatic, Strict Open XML files are not supported (save as .xlsx), and on Windows and Mac Copilot does not work with files from a SharePoint site that requires check-out. Every saved change is visible to anyone with access to the file, so use Plan mode on shared workbooks. Check prices on Microsoft's official pricing page.
Copilot prompts for cleaning and preparing data
Start every new workbook with a clean-up, because every later answer depends on it. The Check a workbook for data problems prompt calls the clean-data skill, which proposes fixes for you to approve; if @clean-data is not on your account yet, delete it and run the prompt in Plan mode. The Standardise messy columns and Combine data from another workbook prompts use Copilot's ability to edit ranges and import from other files.
Copilot prompts for formulas and calculations
Ask Copilot for the result you want, not the function name. It writes the formula into the sheet, which means colleagues can see and audit it, unlike a number pasted from a chatbot. The Explain every formula on a sheet prompt is the safest way to inherit someone else's model; run it in Chat only mode so nothing is edited.
Copilot prompts for analysis, PivotTables and charts
These prompts ask for insights and visuals. Copilot can return answers as charts, PivotTables, summaries, trends or outliers, and charts stay linked to the data. If you only want an answer, switch to Chat only so the workbook stays untouched.
Copilot prompts for reports, dashboards and checks
The last group builds something to share, and checks it first. The Reconcile two lists prompt suits finance teams and works alongside the accounting skills (type @reconciliation) if your organisation is in the Frontier programme.
How to adapt these prompts
- Format data as a table first. Clear headers and one row per record make every prompt more reliable.
- Name sheets, columns and ranges. "Column D (Net revenue) on the Sales sheet" beats "the revenue".
- Pick the mode on purpose. Plan on shared or important files, Allow editing on your own copies, Chat only for questions.
- Save what you repeat as a skill. Copilot in Excel supports custom skills for repeatable tasks, so a monthly clean-up runs the same way every time.
- Check before you send. Microsoft's own FAQ advises against using Copilot for decisions in sensitive areas such as finance, legal or medical topics. Spot-check totals with a formula you trust.
When Copilot in Excel is the right tool
Choose it when the data already lives in Excel and the result must stay a working spreadsheet with visible formulas. For one-off analysis of a CSV, or statistics and forecasting with code you can read, ChatGPT or Claude are often faster; see prompts for data analysis. For the wider picture, read our Microsoft Copilot guide, how to use AI for Excel, best AI for spreadsheets, ChatGPT vs Copilot and the Copilot lessons. On work accounts, Copilot is covered by enterprise data protection, so prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph are not used to train foundation models.
Prompts to copy
Check a workbook for data problems
@clean-data Check the [sheet name] sheet for duplicates, inconsistent formatting, extra spaces, blank cells in the required columns [letters] and numbers or dates stored as text. List every issue with the sheet and cell range and the fix you propose. Do not change anything until I approve each fix.
You get: A reviewable list of data problems and fixes
Standardise messy columns
On the [sheet name] sheet, standardise column [letter] ([name]) so every entry uses [format, such as full country names or YYYY-MM-DD dates], trim extra spaces in columns [letters], and highlight in yellow any cell you could not convert so I can fix it by hand.
You get: Consistent columns, with leftovers highlighted
Combine data from another workbook
Bring the [column names] from [workbook name] on OneDrive into this workbook, matched on [key column]. Put them in new columns next to the existing data and write "no match" where a key in this sheet has no partner. On a new sheet called Unmatched, list the keys that appear only in [workbook name]. Tell me how many rows matched and how many did not.
You get: Merged data with gaps flagged
Add data validation to stop bad entries
Add data validation to column [letter] on the [sheet name] sheet so people can only choose from [list of values], and to column [letter] so it only accepts dates in [year]. Add a short input message explaining each rule.
You get: A sheet that prevents errors at entry
Build a formula from a plain description
In column [letter], calculate [result, such as the number of working days between Order date and Ship date, excluding the holidays listed on the Holidays sheet]. Fill it down for every row, give the column a clear header, and explain the formula in one sentence in your reply so I can check it.
You get: A working formula filled down and explained
Explain every formula on a sheet
Without changing the workbook, explain the formulas on the [sheet name] sheet. For each distinct formula, tell me the cells it uses, what it calculates in plain English, and anything that could break it, such as hard-coded values or ranges that will not grow with new rows.
You get: A plain-English audit of an inherited model
Find what changed and why
Compare [month] with [previous month] in this data. Tell me the three biggest changes in [metric] by [region, product or team], the likely reasons from the data, and show the numbers you used so I can check them.
You get: The changes that matter, with working shown
Create a PivotTable summary
Create a PivotTable on a new sheet called [name] that shows total [value column] by [row field] and [column field], sorted from largest to smallest, with a grand total. Then add a short summary of the top three and bottom three [row field] above it.
You get: A ready PivotTable with a written takeaway
Make a chart that makes one point
Create a chart showing [message, such as monthly revenue by plan for the last 12 months] from the [sheet name] sheet. Choose the chart type that shows the trend most clearly, use a title that states the finding, label the axes and keep it linked to the data.
You get: A clear chart tied to live data
Highlight outliers and risks
Apply conditional formatting to column [letter] ([metric]) to highlight values more than [threshold, such as 20 percent] above or below the [average or target in column X]. Then list the five most extreme rows and what they have in common.
You get: Outliers flagged in the sheet and explained
Build a one-page dashboard
Create a dashboard on a new sheet for [audience] using the [sheet name] data. Include [three or four KPIs] as headline numbers, one trend chart and one breakdown chart, plus a PivotTable they can filter by [field]. Keep it to one screen and use our colours: [colours].
You get: A shareable dashboard sheet linked to the data
Reconcile two lists
Reconcile the [sheet A] sheet against the [sheet B] sheet on [reference column] and [amount column]. On a new sheet, list items that match, items in A only, items in B only and items where the amounts differ, with the difference. Do not change the source sheets.
You get: A reconciliation with every mismatch listed
Add sourced figures from the web
Search the web for [data, such as the latest published inflation rate for each country in column A] and add it in column [letter] with the source and date in the next column. Leave the cell blank and write "not found" where you cannot find a reliable figure.
You get: Outside data added with citations to check