Excel Gets New AI Powers: What's Actually Useful

Table of Contents

• What Microsoft Added
• The Genuinely Useful Features
• Feature Comparison
• What Still Needs Work
• The Rows Alternative

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Excel Gets New AI Powers: What's Actually Useful is changing fast in 2026. The practitioners winning are the ones combining strong fundamentals with the right AI tools — not just chasing the newest model.

What Microsoft Added

Microsoft's Copilot integration in Excel has matured significantly in 2026. These are the features that actually save time.

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The Genuinely Useful Features

1. Natural Language Formulas

Type what you want in plain English:

"Show me total sales by region for Q1, sorted highest to lowest"

Excel writes the formula. No more hunting for SUMIFS syntax.

2. Data Analysis in Plain English

Upload your spreadsheet → ask questions:

"Which product has the highest return rate?" "Show me month-over-month growth as a chart."

3. Auto-Clean Data

Detects and fixes:

• Inconsistent date formats
• Duplicate rows
• Mixed number/text in columns
• Missing values (with suggestions)

4. Formula Explanation

Click any complex formula → "Explain this formula in plain English" → get a clear breakdown.

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Feature Comparison

Feature	Useful?	Time Saved
Natural language formulas	✅ Very	30+ min/week
Auto-clean data	✅ Very	1-2 hrs/project
Chart generation	⚠️ Sometimes	15 min/chart
Formula explanation	✅ Very	As needed
Copilot suggestions	⚠️ Hit or miss	Varies

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What Still Needs Work

• Complex pivot tables still require manual setup
• Copilot suggestions can be confidently wrong
• Doesn't work well with non-standard data structures

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The Rows Alternative

Rows.com (recently acquired by Superhuman) takes a different approach: a spreadsheet built natively around live data connections and AI queries. Worth exploring if you're doing heavy data work.

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💡 The natural language formula feature alone justifies Copilot for Excel users. If you spend any time writing complex formulas, turn it on today.

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Tools Referenced in This Post

• ChatGPT — Referenced in this article
• Superhuman — Referenced in this article
• Shopify — Referenced in this article
• Anthropic — Referenced in this article