It had to happen, there’s now a Copilot() function in Excel to drop AI responses directly into spreadsheets. It’s a clever trick but, as usual, there are problems that Microsoft overlooks in their hype.
Excel’s new COPILOT() function brings AI directly into spreadsheet formulas. Available now in Excel for Windows and Mac (Insider Beta channel), this function harnesses large language models by letting you enter natural‑language prompts right into your sheet—and it even updates automatically whenever your data or prompt changes, since it’s integrated with Excel’s calculation engine.
In other words, instead of asking Copilot or ChatGPT via a web site then pasting tables or lists into Excel, now you can do the same thing directly with Copilot(). With some simple cell linking, you can make easily adaptable prompts.
Copilot() is available for anyone with a paid Copilot plan (Copilot+ or Copilot for Business) and, for the moment, only Microsoft 365 Insiders.
How to Use It
You insert the function like any normal formula:
=COPILOT(prompt_part1, [context1], [prompt_part2], [context2], …)
- Prompt part: A natural‑language instruction (e.g., “Summarize this feedback”).
- Context (optional): A cell or range that provides data for Copilot to act upon. Or more details for the main prompt (filtering, sorting etc).
For instance, to get a list of airports:
=COPILOT("List major airports",“USA”)
As you can see, Copilot gave a badly incorrect response, seemingly ignoring the “USA” context and including other global airports. See Facts are a slippery thing with the Copilot() function in Excel.
It’s better to have the prompt and/or context in another cell, where cell B2 has the country or region “USA”, “Europe”.
=COPILOT("List airports codes from major airports in ",B2)
Change the linked cell and Copilot() will automatically update.
The fastest way to see if you have the Copilot() function is to type “Cop” into the formula bar and see if it appears in the function list.
Microsoft says any data you pass to the COPILOT function is kept confidential and is not used to train or improve the AI models.
Key Features & Scenarios
- Brainstorming or idea generation (e.g., creating SEO keywords or rewriting messaging)
- Summarizing data or text, detecting trends, or generating plain‑language narrative from complex inputs
- Classifying or categorizing text—like sentiment analysis, tagging feedback
- Creating lists or tables that spill directly into the sheet (think multi‑column outputs or structured datasets).
Seamless integration with existing formulas: You can nest COPILOT() within traditional Excel functions like IF, SWITCH, LAMBDA, or use other formula-generated outputs as part of the prompt.
The best way to try Copilot() in Excel
The easiest way try out and use Copilot() is to link the prompt and context into other cells.
Then you can just edit the cells rather than edit the formula itself. Using TextJoin() in the form TextJoin(“, “,True,…. will join text from multiple cells into a single prompt or context, separating each with a comma. Here’s an example with the context string made up of Cells B12:B15, the intermediate B16 (=TEXTJOIN(", ",,B12:B15)) is just for demo purposes.
Or take that a step further so the context parameters (filter, sort etc) are shown (Col A) and included in the full context string (shown in Row 33).
Beware
Like all AI, do NOT depend on it for hard facts. As you’ll see in our tests of Copilot(), the ‘facts’ can change between similar prompts for no logical reason.
AI is great for analysis and interpretation but not as a dependable data source. That especially applies in Excel where a good looking spreadsheet can be mistaken for holy writ.
Usage Tips & Limits
- Prompt clarity matters. The more precise your instructions—defining format, order, style, the better the output.
- Copilot() switches between including list headers or not without any rhyme or reason. It’s best to specify “include headers” or “exclude headers” in the prompt.
- Remember scope limitations:
COPILOT()is grounded in its internal model—it cannot access live web data or your organization’s private documents unless that data is already present in the workbook and referenced.- Future updates will allow access to other private documents or data sources.
- Usage limits: Currently supports up to 100 calls per 10 minutes and 300 calls per hour.
- To use more efficiently, you can pass an array (e.g., a range); this counts as only one call rather than multiple individual calls when dragged across cells.
- Copy and paste. For hard facts or data, consider copying the Copilot() results using Paste Values.
- Then you can edit the list to fix errors.
- Prevent unnecessary calls to the Copilot server.
- Avoid #CONNECT errors if the function tries to update when offline.
Availability
The function is rolling out now to Beta Channel users with a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot license, for:
- Windows: Version 2509 (Build 19212.20000) or later
- Mac: Version 16.101 (Build 25081334) or later
Excel for the web will also get the feature soon via the Frontier program.
Facts are a slippery thing with the Copilot() function in Excel
CoPilot in Office.
