Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Natalie Wiegand, and I’m a Product Manager on the Excel team. I’m excited to share that Microsoft Excel for Windows now offers descriptive error cards to help you understand and fix errors more easily!
Understand and fix errors with descriptive error cards in Excel for Windows
Historically, it has been difficult to get context on errors like #SPILL! and #VALUE! as to what the problem is or how it could be solved. About six years ago, we released more descriptive error cards in Excel for the web – which many of you told us you appreciated! – and now we’re thrilled to release this same feature on Windows.
Now, when you hover over an error indicator in an Excel cell, you’ll see more context explaining what the error is, how it was generated, and ways you might fix it. This enables you to write formulas with more confidence and troubleshoot formula errors more quickly and easily.
Here’s what you used to see in Excel for Windows:
Here’s what you’ll see now:
How it works
- Open a workbook in Excel for Windows.
- Write a formula in a cell that will generate an error (for example, ’1234 or =SQRT(-1)).
- Hover over the green triangle that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the cell and review the information provided about the error and possible actions, like Show Calculation Steps.
Availability
This feature is rolling out to Beta Channel users running Version 2512 (Build 19502.20000) or later of Excel for Windows. A similar update is coming to Excel for Mac soon, so stay tuned!
Feedback
We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this feature is working to help us prioritize our work moving forward. Please share your feedback with us directly from Excel by going to Help > Feedback.
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