Copilot in Excel: Ask Questions, Add Formulas and Make Charts

Ask "where did my money go this month?" and get a chart. Ask for a formula in plain English and watch Copilot add it. Plan first if you want to approve the steps.

Checked October 19, 2026. Researched and drafted with help from Grok Bot.

Quick answer

• Copilot in Excel builds and edits workbooks for you using Excel's own tools: formulas, tables, charts, PivotTables, sorting, filtering and conditional formatting. Your content stays editable.
• Three modes: Edit (the default; changes the workbook directly), Plan (shows a step-by-step plan for you to approve first) and Chat (answers questions without changing anything).
• Open it with the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of Excel. Press Stop (lower right of the chat box) any time.
• Plans: Microsoft 365 Personal, Family (owner only) or Premium, or a work Copilot license.
• AutoSave / OneDrive: Microsoft pages disagree. The Excel tips (opens in a new tab) page says Copilot runs with AutoSave on or off. Microsoft’s Excel FAQ, format-data page, and consumer plans footnote still say Copilot needs the file on OneDrive (or SharePoint) with AutoSave on. For beginners: save to OneDrive and leave AutoSave on. You can try turning AutoSave off later to experiment — if Copilot disappears, turn it back on.

Which mode when

Where each mode works: Windows, Mac and the web have all three. iPad has chat and plan (edit rolling out). iPhone has chat (edit rolling out). Android has chat.

Is it worth it? The verdict

Quick questions

Which plans include it? Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium for home users (on Family, only the subscription owner gets the AI), or a work Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Microsoft offers a trial.

Do I need AutoSave and OneDrive? AutoSave / OneDrive: Microsoft pages disagree. The Excel tips (opens in a new tab) page says Copilot runs with AutoSave on or off. Microsoft’s Excel FAQ, format-data page, and consumer plans footnote still say Copilot needs the file on OneDrive (or SharePoint) with AutoSave on. For beginners: save to OneDrive and leave AutoSave on. You can try turning AutoSave off later to experiment — if Copilot disappears, turn it back on. Do not treat the FAQ or consumer footnote as merely “older” — those pages are still live.

Can I undo what Copilot did? Yes. Use Undo, or view prior versions of the file. Microsoft says to be careful with sensitive or shared files because Copilot changes the workbook directly.

Can I choose the AI model? Yes. Use the model picker in the upper right of the Copilot pane. It's set to Auto by default, and your choice lasts until you close Excel.

Can it pull data from another file? Yes, from other Excel workbooks on your OneDrive, SharePoint or computer. It can also search the web and cite its sources.

Before you start

• Sign in to Excel with the Microsoft account that has Personal, Family (owner) or Premium.
• Update Excel, or use Excel for the web.
• Make your data a clean table: one header row, one row per item, no merged cells. (Select it and press Ctrl+T to make it a table.)
• Save a copy before big edits. Prefer OneDrive with AutoSave on for beginners; you can try AutoSave off later — if Copilot disappears, turn it back on.

Step 1: Open Copilot and pick a mode

1. Open your workbook.
2. Select the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner.
3. Pick Chat, Plan or Edit. It opens in Edit by default.

Step 2: Ask in plain English

Microsoft's tips:

• Be specific. Name the columns or ranges ("the Amount column," "AI videos:D50").
• Start broad, then refine. If it's not quite right, add detail and ask again.
• Ask follow-ups to build on the last answer.

Step 3: Watch, stop, undo

• In Edit mode, Copilot shows its reasoning in the pane and makes changes live.
• Select Stop (lower right of the chat box) to stop or pause.
• Didn't like it? Undo, or restore a previous version.

Try it: 3 worked jobs

1. "Where did my money go?" (Chat, then Edit)

In Chat:

Using the table on the October sheet, what are my top 5 spending categories and how much did each cost? Anything unusual compared to September?

Then switch to Edit:

Add a bar chart of spending by category for October next to the table, largest first.

What good looks like: a short answer with totals, then an editable chart linked to your data.

2. A sales sheet with formulas and a PivotTable (Plan)

In Plan:

On the Sales sheet: add a Profit column (Revenue minus Cost), a Margin % column, and highlight any row with a margin under 20%. Then create a PivotTable on a new sheet showing total Revenue and Profit by Region and Month.

What good looks like: Copilot shows numbered steps. You read them, confirm, and it builds the columns, formatting and PivotTable. Spot-check 2 rows of Profit by hand.

3. Clean up a messy list (Edit)

In the Members sheet: trim extra spaces in Name, split "Full Name" into First and Last, make Phone numbers all the same format (555-123-4567), remove exact duplicate rows, and sort by Last name.

Set workbook rules (optional)

Copilot in Excel supports rules: guidelines for a workbook (like "money is always in USD with 2 decimals"), plus personalization and custom skills for repeat jobs. (Not confirmed: where these settings sit in the Copilot pane. Microsoft has separate help pages for rules, personalization and skills.)

Safety routine for shared files

• Use Plan mode so you see the steps first.
• Copilot changes the file directly, so anyone sharing it sees the changes. Tell coauthors before big edits.
• Spot-check totals.
• Know how to Undo and view prior versions.

Common mistakes and fixes

Prompt pack

Explain what this formula does in plain English: [paste or name cell].

Write a formula in column F that shows "Overdue" if the due date in column D is before today and Status isn't "Paid."

Show me the trend in monthly sales and point out any outliers.

Make a simple dashboard on a new sheet: total, average per month, and a line chart.

Look up today's exchange rate on the web and convert the EUR column to USD. Cite the source.

Same job in other chatbots

Next level

• Researcher in Microsoft 365 Premium (coming soon): a sourced report from the web and your files.
• Copilot Notebooks + Scheduled Prompts (coming soon).