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Microsoft 365 Insider Blog
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Query your local Excel files with Copilot Chat

Prash_MSFT's avatar
Prash_MSFT
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 24, 2026

Hi, Insiders! I am Prash Shirolkar, a Product Manager on the Excel team. I’m excited to share that you can now query modern Excel workbooks (like .xlsx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .ods) stored locally on your device using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat on Windows and Mac. Now you have the flexibility to query Copilot Chat wherever your Excel files are located.

 

Query your local Excel files with Copilot Chat

Previously, insights and analysis from Copilot Chat were limited to Excel workbooks stored in the cloud. With this new feature, analyzing your locally saved Excel workbooks with Copilot Chat makes it possible to stay productive even when you’re offline.

 

How it works

  1. In Excel for Windows or Excel for Mac, open a local file saved on your computer.
  2. In the ribbon, click the Copilot icon, select Chat, and then type your query.

 

Tips and tricks

If you make changes to your data, Copilot Chat will detect that a change has been made and will remind you to save your work. Saving your data ensures that Copilot Chat is working with the latest version of your file.

 

Availability

This feature is available to Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac users with a Copilot Chat-eligible Microsoft 365 subscription running:

  • Windows: Version 2511 (Build 19530.20108) or later
  • Mac: Version 16.104 (Build 25121423) or later

 

Feedback

We’d love to hear from you! Let us know what you think by selecting Help > Feedback and including #LocalFilesCopilot in your comments so we can easily find them!

 

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Updated Feb 24, 2026
Version 4.0

4 Comments

    • AntP91's avatar
      AntP91
      Copper Contributor

      Thank you Prash. Do you anticipate these features (including Copilot Chat) ever being rolled out to Personal/Family subscribers?

  • PeterForster's avatar
    PeterForster
    Steel Contributor

    Prash_MSFT​ Thank you for this update — it has been long awaited. I would like to clarify one point: When you refer to “locally stored” files, does this mean the file must be stored on a physical local drive such as C:, or does a network drive also qualify as locally stored?

  • AntP91's avatar
    AntP91
    Copper Contributor

    When you say “Excel for Windows and Excel for Mac users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license”, does this exclude personal/family plans?