What's New in Excel (January 2024)

[Microsoft Excel]

Happy 2024!! Welcome to our first update of the year, the January update.

This month, we are excited to share that users can now sync form data to Excel for the web. Insert pictures into cells is available to users of Excel on Windows and Mac, and PivotTables has expanded functionality in Excel for iPad.

Many of these features are the result of your feedback. THANK YOU! Your continued Feedback in Action (#FIA) helps improve Excel for everyone.

Excel for Web:

1. Sync Forms Data to Excel
2. Date Picker #FIA

Excel for Windows:

1. Insert Pictures in Cells #FIA
2. Check Performance (Insiders Beta)

Excel for Mac:

1. Insert Pictures in Cells #FIA

Excel for iPad:

1. PivotTables on iPad

Excel for Web

1. Sync Forms Data to Excel

With just one click, you can now easily access all your form responses in Excel for the web and take advantage of Excel’s rich functions to analyze and visualize your data. With automatic syncing of new responses in real-time, you can keep working on your existing spreadsheet without missing a beat. This feature is currently rolling out to Web users. Read more here >
Data Sync to Microsoft Forms

#FIA

2. Date Picker
The Date Picker feature in Excel allows you to quickly insert a date from a calendar within a cell. The Date Picker pop-up is automatically enabled if the cell is formatted as a date or a date value is entered in a cell. Just double-click on the cell to add or modify the date. This feature is currently rolling out to Web users.

Excel for Windows

#FIA

1. Insert Pictures in Cells
We've enabled the ability for a picture to become the actual cell value. It remains attached to the data even when the sheet’s layout is modified. You can use it in tables, sort, filter, include it in formulas, and much more! Read more here > or watch this YouTube instructional video from one of our Excel MVP's Leila Gharani.
Insert Pictures in Cells

2. Check Performance (Insiders Beta)

When you open your workbook, Excel can detect whether your workbook contains unwanted formatted cells that can slow down your workbook. If so, Excel suggests launching “Check Performance". You can also manually launch the feature from Review > Check Performance. Read more and try it yourself >. This capability is already available for all web users, and now available to Windows Insiders Beta users.

Excel for Mac

#FIA

1. Insert Pictures in Cells
We've enabled the ability for a picture to become the actual cell value. It remains attached to the data even when the sheet’s layout is modified. You can use it in tables, sort, filter, include it in formulas, and much more! Read more here > or watch this YouTube instructional video from one of our Excel MVP's Leila Gharani.
Insert Pictures in Cells

Excel for iPad

1. PivotTables for iPad

PivotTables allow you to calculate, summarize, and analyze data. This powerful tool has now been tailored for the iPad's smaller screen and touch interface. Read more here >

PivotTables on iPad

Check if a specific feature is in your version of Excel

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Your feedback helps shape the future of Excel. Please let us know how you like a particular feature and what we can improve upon—"Give a compliment" or "Make a suggestion"..  You can also submit new ideas or vote for other ideas via Microsoft Feedback.

Subscribe to our Excel Blog and the Insiders Blog to get the latest updates. Stay connected with us and other Excel fans around the world – join our Excel Community and follow us on X, formerly Twitter.

Special thanks to our Excel MVPs David Benaim and Bill Jelen for their contribution to this month's What's New in Excel article. David publishes weekly YouTube videos and regular LinkedIn posts about the latest innovations in Excel and more. Bill is the founder and host of MrExcel.com and the author of several books bout Excel.

Last edited on April 3rd: We clarified the release timing for Sync Forms to Excel, Date Picker, and Check Performance.