As Microsoft ramps up Copilot’s capabilities in Excel, the AI tool is becoming genuinely useful for spreadsheet work.

Once data is loaded into Excel, Copilot allows users to ask questions in natural language instead of building new formulas.

Microsoft updates for Excel in January 2026 introduce Agent Mode with Copilot, new import tools, clearer error messages, Power Query on Mac and Web, and Office Scripts automation to ease daily tasks.

Irene Okpanachi is a Features writer, covering mobile and PC guides that help you understand your devices. She has five years' experience in the Tech, E-commerce, and Food niches. Particularly, the ...

Build bulletproof workbooks with named ranges, dynamic tables, and Excel's built-in error-checking tools.

Excel's query tool reshapes messy imports into 1NF, so AVERAGEIFS replaces hacks and your summaries run faster.

If you manage data in multiple Excel spreadsheets, you can use the Consolidate Data wizard to merge data from several spreadsheets or workbooks into one master sheet. The Consolidate Data wizard ...

Learn Microsoft Excel on iPad with iPadOS 26 menu bar shortcuts and widgets, so you work faster with touch and keyboard ...

There are any number of spreadsheet apps available for the iPad, but recently the market changed dramatically when Microsoft released the full Office suite for iPad, including a version of Excel.