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Adiekmann's avatar
Adiekmann
Copper Contributor
Nov 19, 2025

Copilot Sparkle in Excel missing

Hello everybody,

one of my collegues has a problem in Excel Desktop. He is full licensed with Copilot for M365. Everything works fine, but the little icon (known as sparkle) beside a cell in Excel is not showing up. In the browser version, everythings works as expected. In the desktop version he has to use the context menu to reach the Copilot function. This behavior occurs on 2 different installations. 

Any idea to solve the problem?


Thanks for you help.

Best regards

André

copilot in excel

1 Reply

  • Surya_Narayana's avatar
    Surya_Narayana
    MCT
    Nov 28, 2025

    hi Adiekmann​  This is a fairly common Copilot-for-Excel desktop issue right now. Since it works in Excel on the web but not in Excel Desktop, the problem is almost always one of these: version, channel, privacy setting, or a UI/COM add-in conflict.

    Here’s a short, practical checklist to fix the missing Copilot “sparkle” (in-cell icon) in Excel Desktop:

    1.First – confirm the sparkle is actually supported for that build

    The “sparkle” is not enabled in all Office channels yet. It is mainly appearing in:

    ✅ Current Channel
    ✅ Monthly Enterprise Channel (newer builds)
    ❌ Semi-Annual Channel (most common cause)

    Fix (if on Semi-Annual):
    Ask your admin to move Excel to:

    • Current Channel or
    • Monthly Enterprise Channel

    You can check this in Excel:
    File → Account → About Excel → Update Channel

    2.Update Excel to the latest build (critical)

    Have your colleague do this in Desktop Excel:

    File → Account → Update Options → Update Now

    Then fully close Excel and reopen it.

    The sparkle does not back-port to older builds even if Copilot licensing is active.

    3.Check this exact Excel setting (affects in-cell features)

    Sometimes this disables the sparkle UI:

    File → Options → Advanced

    ✔ Enable Live Preview

    ✔ Show Quick Analysis options on selection

    Turn both ON → Restart Excel.

    4.Disable conflicting COM / Excel add-ins

    On both machines the issue reproduces — that usually means a corporate add-in conflict.

    Try this test:

    File → Options → Add-ins

    Manage: COM Add-ins → Go

    → Uncheck ALL

    → Restart Excel

    If the sparkle appears → re-enable add-ins one by one to find the blocker.

    Very common conflict sources:

    • Tableau add-in
    • SAP / Oracle add-ins
    • Old Power BI / Power Pivot add-ins
    • Antivirus plugin

    5.Test in Safe Mode (important diagnostic)

    From Run (Windows + R), type:

    excel /safe

    If the sparkle appears in Safe Mode → 100% an add-in or profile issue.

     

     

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