Blog Article: Exciting New Copilot Features in Excel

Objective

This article highlights recent updates to Copilot in Excel, showcasing how it streamlines data analysis and enhances productivity for Microsoft 365 users with a Copilot license.

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Key Updates and Features

1. Getting Started with Copilot in Excel

• Copilot is accessible via the Home tab in Excel for Microsoft 365 users with a Copilot license.
• AutoSave must be enabled to use Copilot features.

2. Text Summarization

• Copilot can quickly summarize large sets of freely written text (e.g., customer feedback, reviews), saving significant time.
• Example: Summarizing car wash reviews with insights into positive feedback, common complaints (like the owner's absence), and actionable suggestions for improvement.
• Ability to dig deeper by asking specific follow-up questions, e.g., "Summarize the improvement suggestions," receiving categorized, actionable feedback.

3. Insights Generation

• Copilot generates data insights with simple prompts, e.g., "Show me insights on the data."
• Automatically recognizes patterns—such as average salary by performance, outliers, high salaries for certain roles, or trends over time.
• Users can add individual or all insights directly to their worksheet.

4. Formula Column Suggestions

• Copilot suggests useful calculated columns, e.g., "Years of Service" for employees, complete with appropriate Excel formulas (using functions like YEARFRAC).
• Can adjust formulas based on user requests (e.g., changing result formatting to one decimal place).

5. Lookup Operations Across Sheets

• Automates lookup tasks, such as retrieving department names from a different sheet based on employee roles.
• Uses advanced Excel functions (e.g., XLOOKUP) and requires minimal input from the user.

6. Streamlined Conditional Formatting

• Can highlight duplicate values in a column and customize the highlight color via prompts.
• Able to create custom conditional formatting rules, such as highlighting entire rows where a criterion is met (e.g., performance is "excellent").

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Example Workflows with Copilot

1. Summarize a Large Set of Reviews

   • Ask Copilot: "Summarize the reviews"
   • Results: Categorized feedback, improvement suggestions.

2. Generate Insights for HR Data

   • Ask Copilot: "Show me insights on the data"
   • Results: Automated analysis, outlier detection, performance breakdowns.

3. Add Calculated Columns

   • Ask Copilot: "Add a column for years of service"
   • Results: New column with formula inserted.

4. Lookup Across Sheets

   • Guide Copilot to retrieve data from another sheet based on criteria.

5. Automate Conditional Formatting

   • Highlight duplicates or entire rows based on specific cell values with color customization.

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Takeaway

• Copilot in Excel now enables rapid summarization, insight discovery, formula creation, cross-sheet lookups, and conditional formatting—all with natural language prompts.
• These features significantly reduce manual work and help users gain actionable insights from data.

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Final Thoughts

• Mastering Excel still enhances Copilot’s effectiveness.
• For further skill-building, step-by-step Excel courses are available (link below the video).
• Viewers are encouraged to share which Copilot features excite them most.

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Thank you for reading!