Microsoft 365 Insider Blog articles

6 Python in Excel techniques worth stealing from an Excel champion

Chris_Gross — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:45:00 GMT

Excel has more in it than most people ever go looking for, and Python in Excel is a good example. If you associate code in Excel with VBA, this is a very different thing: Python goes straight into your worksheets with =PY or Formulas > Insert Python, runs in the Microsoft cloud, and returns its result to the grid. There’s no local environment to set up, and NumPy, pandas, Matplotlib, seaborn, and statsmodels are already imported.

I work on the Python in Excel team, and I wanted to see it in the hands of someone using it under real pressure, so I asked Jasper van Merle.

Many people who compete in the Microsoft Excel World Championship come from finance, and the competition has long rewarded deep formula knowledge. Jasper took a different route: He arrived from a pure software background, competing in VBA until Python in Excel reached the Beta Channel, and then built his competition tooling around it. It works: He’s ranked as high as sixth in the world, in a field of formula specialists.

Here are six techniques he uses a lot. None are competition-specific: They cut down setup time and make awkward problems tractable, clock or no clock.

1. Keyboard shortcuts

The Python editor follows the same keyboard conventions as most modern code editors, so muscle memory from elsewhere transfers easily. All you have to do is open it from Formulas > Editor, and it will appear in a side pane.

In general, I’m quite happy with [the Python editor]. If it hadn’t existed, I would have built my own add-in to do essentially the same thing.

Three worth knowing:

Ctrl + / to toggle comments on the selected lines
Shift + Alt + right arrow to grow the selection by one syntax scope at a time, and Shift + Alt + left arrow to shrink it
Ctrl + Shift + L to select every occurrence of whatever is selected, making renaming a variable a single action

Ctrl + / is the one Jasper reaches for most. Commenting out a block and re-running the cell narrows down what’s misbehaving, and with no breakpoints available it does much of the work a debugger otherwise would.

Just a shortcut in the editor, but it’s immensely useful to me. As a programmer, we all know what this does. But your average accountant does not.

2. Initialization settings

Python in Excel lets you edit the code that runs before every other Python cell in the workbook. Put your imports and helper functions there and every cell can use them. This information travels with the workbook.

Before this was editable, the workaround was a manual one. Jasper uses it to widen his set of default imports and adds a block like the below example, so what he reaches for under time pressure is always in scope:

import itertools import re from collections import Counter, defaultdict, deque from dataclasses import dataclass from datetime import date, datetime, timedelta from functools import cache from math import *

from math import * brings in a long list of mathematical utilities such as sqrt() and pi.

The first thing I do when I open a new sheet is run a macro that inserts initialization code into A1.

To configure your Python initialization code:

Open the settings, then click Formulas > Initialization.
Add your imports and any helper functions you reuse, and then apply the changes.
To confirm it worked, call one of your helpers from any Python cell in the workbook without importing anything first.

NOTE: The pane already contains statements Python in Excel needs to calculate correctly, including import excel and the two excel.set_xl_ conversion lines. Add your code alongside them rather than replacing what’s there.

TIP: Add type hints to your helpers. Autocomplete gets noticeably better, and they double as documentation when you return to a snippet months later.

3. Open-source libraries

It’s easy for Python in Excel work to start and end with pandas, and for good reason: It’s incredible for tabular data. However, plenty of problems aren’t tabular, and beyond the five libraries imported by default, many others are available.

NetworkX is a good example. Anything shaped like a graph (routing, dependencies, connections, shortest paths) becomes just a few lines of code.

Consider you have a table of European cities with From, To and Kilometers columns:

One can calculate the shortest route between two cities. The drawing methods render the same table as a network diagram:

Every time there’s a maze to solve, I just dump it into NetworkX and ask for the shortest path.

4. Stack traces

When Python code fails in Excel, you get the exception message and nothing else. Where you’d expect a stack trace, you get a single line: ZeroDivisionError: division by zero. That tells you what went wrong, not where. The workaround is to catch the exception yourself and re-raise it with the stack trace as its message.

You get the error message, and that’s it. Good luck. So I wrote a wrapper around that that just puts the stack trace into the message, and then you do get to see it.

Here’s how you can view the full stack trace:

Make it available to every cell by modifying your initialization code. This is the wrapper Jasper uses:import re from traceback import format_exc from typing import Any, Callable def run(func: Callable[[], Any]) -> Any: try: return func() except Exception: # Excel only shows the error message, not the stacktrace, so we make # the stacktrace the exception's message to have more to work with trace = format_exc().strip().split(":", 1)[1] trace = re.sub(r"File \"[^\"]+\", line \d+, in (.*)", r"In \1", trace) raise Exception(trace)
To use it, put your work in a function and call that function through run:

def divide(a, b): return a / b def solve_problem(): a = 100 b = 0 return divide(a, b) run(solve_problem)

Without the wrapper, that cell reports only the bare exception:

With it, you get the path the failure actually took:

TIP: Writing your solutions as functions also makes it easy to return early and inspect intermediate values, a reasonable stand-in for breakpoints.

5. Execution order

In a spreadsheet, formulas recalculate based on dependencies, so where you put one rarely matters. Python in Excel doesn’t work that way. Python cells run in row-major order, across each row from column A rightward, then down to the next row, and across worksheets in tab order. Which cell needs which result makes no difference.

If you don’t know it exists and you think the formula way, then your computation will not work.

Take two Python cells. One defines a value and returns it:

rate = 0.15 rate

The other uses it:

rate * 100

Put the cell that uses the value above the one that defines it, and it runs first and fails:

Swap them. Nothing about the code changes, but now it works:

That trips people up most when they arrive with formula instincts. It’s also why initialization settings help: They run before everything else, no matter where your cells sit.

6. Calculation modes

Automatic calculation is the right default, and most of the time you’ll leave it there. Occasionally, you won’t. In a sheet full of expensive Python computations, iterating on one cell means everything around it recalculates, too.

This comes up often in competition, where the computations are heavy and the clock is running. Excel’s calculation modes let you decide when Python cells re-run.

I recently discovered the value of this feature, and greatly appreciate the ability to take control over which cells run and which cells do not.

To take control of when Python cells recalculate:

To stop Python cells recalculating until you ask, click Formulas > Calculation Options, and select Partial. Ordinary worksheet formulas carry on as usual. To make those wait too, select Manual.
To recalculate when you’re ready, press F9, or click Formulas > Calculate Now.
To recalculate one cell on its own, select the error triangle beside it, and then click Calculate Now.
To resume recalculating as you work, return to Calculation Options and select Automatic.

The same menu has Format Stale Values, which switches itself on when you move to Partial. It’s why a waiting cell is easy to spot: Its value shows with strikethrough, so it stays clear what’s current and what’s just the last answer.

Here the destination changed to Berlin, but the result still shows the earlier route to Luxembourg:

After recalculating, it catches up:

None of this is really about competition; the clock just makes it obvious sooner. The change is that problems you’d once have looked at, decided weren’t worth the formulas, and quietly solved somewhere else are now a few lines of code in the cell where the data already lives.

If you haven’t tried it yet, Get started with Python in Excel walks through writing your first Python cell.

About Jasper van Merle

Jasper van Merle builds bespoke software at IMC Trading in Amsterdam. Outside work, he’s an avid hiker, preferably away from the flatlands of the Netherlands, and occasionally competes in programming competitions. He has competed in Excel Esports since 2024 and has grown fond of the community around it. Find him on LinkedIn and GitHub.

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7 features it’s not too late to try out this year

amaguire — Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:45:01 GMT

We may be three-quarters of the way into 2026, but there’s still plenty of time to achieve your resolutions, supercharge your work, and make the most of this year. With that, we’ve rounded up some of the most popular features to release lately in your favorite apps. It’s not too late to try them out, reap their benefits, and provide feedback for our team to optimize your Microsoft 365 experience! 

1. Import data smoothly in Excel 

Bringing data into Excel is a core part of so many workflows, but doing it is often more complex than it needs to be. No more! The new Import Functions make bringing text-based data into Excel for Windows quick and intuitive, using a single formula. 

Availability:  Windows Version 2502 (Build 18604.20002) or later 

Learn more: Bring data into Excel with the new Import Functions

2. Edit images right in PowerPoint 

Switching between PowerPoint and an image-editing tool can disrupt your flow, which is why we’ve added the ability to directly enhance visuals inside PowerPoint for the web, for Windows, and for Mac. You can remove backgrounds, erase or move unwanted elements, change image quality, upscale resolution, or even edit text that appears on an image.

Availability: PowerPoint for the web, Windows Version 2510 (Build 19422.20000) or later, and Mac Version 16.104 (Build 25121423) or later 

Learn more: Powerful image editing, now in PowerPoint 

3. Write math that’s accessible for all 

We’ve made a bunch of improvements across Microsoft 365 that make writing, inserting, and editing math more inclusive and intuitive. Updates include keyboard shortcuts in PowerPoint, feedback with sound on Windows, better math editing with Narrator, the ability to copy and paste native Office Math in OneNote from webpages, and so much more. 

Learn more and get availability: Make math inclusive for everyone with Microsoft 365 

4. Join Teams calls with confidence

You’ll never have to say, “Can you hear me now?” Teams allows you to test your microphone and speakers directly from the pre-join screen, reducing troubleshooting and interruption when you’re in a meeting. 

Availability: rolling out to users across desktop experiences  

Learn more: Test your audio before joining a Teams meeting

5. Prevent overlaping meetings

If conflicts arise on your calendar, Copilot in new Outlook for Windows and Outlook for the web can help you reschedule – automating a tedious task and helping you stay on top of your schedule. 

Availability: rolling out to Teams, Outlook for the web, and new Outlook for Windows with a Microsoft 365 Copilot Enterprise license 

Learn more: Copilot can reschedule conflicting events in Outlook 

6. Create hyperlinks fast in Word 

Some things should just be effortless – like hyperlinking a block of text. This update to Word for the web, for Windows, and for Mac allows you to instantly paste a link onto a word or phrase in a document.

Availability: Word for the web, Windows Version 2511 (Build 19530.20006) or later, and Mac Version 16.104 (Build 25120915) or later 

Learn more: Add links to text faster in Word

7. Prompt like a pro 

Microsoft 365 Copilot now suggests customized prompts tailored to your organization’s priorities, terminology, and workflows, making your responses stronger and more useful. 

Availability: Microsoft 365 Copilot Standard and Premium licenses  

Learn more: Leverage prompts created by your organization in Copilot 

Which feature will you try first? Do you have a favorite? Let us know in the comments! 

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Text predictions off by default in Word and Outlook

Zhang Li — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 17:53:57 GMT

We’re making an update to the default text predictions experience in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Outlook, giving you more control over whether you receive suggestions as you type.

What’s new

Text predictions will continue to be available, but it will no longer be turned on by default in Word for Windows, for the web, for Android, and for iOS, and in classic Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Mac.

You will still be able to turn on the feature from your Settings anytime. Additionally, some Outlook for Android and for iOS experiences already have text predictions turned off by default – no changes are being made to those experiences as part of this rollout.

Why it matters

Text predictions helps you write documents and emails more efficiently by suggesting words and phrases as you type. While some people find these suggestions useful, others prefer to write without predictive text. This update gives you more flexibility, allowing you to customize your editing experience and create a workflow that best suits your needs.

Our goal is to provide a more consistent and user-controlled writing experience across Microsoft 365 applications. This update helps ensure that predictive text remains available for people who find it helpful, while reducing unwanted interruptions for those who prefer to write without suggestions appearing automatically.

How it works

Open Word or Outlook on your desktop or mobile device, and under Settings you will see that Text Predictions is turned off by default. You can turn it on by selecting the checkbox or toggle.

Availability

This change is rolling out to users running Word for the web or:

Word for Windows: Version 2609 (Build 20430.20000) or later.
Classic Outlook for Windows: Version 2608 (Build 20329.20000) or later.
Outlook for Mac: Version 16.113 (26080119) or later.
Word for Android: Build 16.0.20326.20000 or later.
Word for iOS: Version 2.112 (Build 26080127) or later.

Rollout timing will be communicated through the Microsoft 365 admin center and release notes.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think about this update! To provide feedback, select Help > Feedback in Word or Outlook.

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SmartArt is becoming more accessible in PowerPoint

shireensalma — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 15:45:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! I’m Shireen Salma, a Product Manager on the Office Accessibility team. Today, I’m excited to share how we’re making SmartArt in PowerPoint more accessible for people who use screen readers.

SmartArt is becoming more accessible in PowerPoint

SmartArt is commonly used to visualize processes, hierarchies, relationships, and more. But until now, these visuals haven’t always translated well for people using assistive technology. When a screen reader encounters SmartArt, it typically announces it simply as “SmartArt,” followed by the text in each node. While the content is technically available, the meaning behind how those elements relate to each other is often lost.

For example, in an equation-style SmartArt representing “A + B = C,” a screen reader user may only hear “A, B, C,” without the contextual understanding that A and B combine to form C. This makes it difficult to interpret diagrams where relationships between elements are essential to understanding the message. This challenge also affects process diagrams, hierarchies, and relationship-based SmartArt, where connections that are visually obvious to sighted users are not conveyed programmatically.

To work around this, Accessibility Checker has traditionally flagged SmartArt for missing alt text, asking authors to manually describe the visual relationships. But these descriptions often become outdated when SmartArt is edited, such as when a new step is added to a process or a new person is included in an org chart.

With this update, PowerPoint can now generate meaningful accessibility descriptions for SmartArt automatically.

How it works

Each SmartArt diagram already contains information about its layout type, such as list, process, hierarchy, or cycle, as well as the content within each node. PowerPoint now uses this information to dynamically generate descriptive context within its accessibility tree so that screen readers can access meaningful information about the diagram.

For example, instead of hearing only individual items, a screen reader may now announce:

“Basic block list with three items: A, B, and C”
“Equation diagram showing A plus B equals C”

These descriptions are generated programmatically and updated automatically whenever the SmartArt’s structure or content changes. This ensures that assistive technologies always reflect the most current version of the diagram, without requiring authors to manually create or maintain alt text.

Availability

This update is available to Windows users with a Microsoft 365 subscription running PowerPoint Version 2503 (Build 19729.20000) or later.

Features covered on this blog roll out over time to enable us to monitor quality and performance, so some preview features may not be available to you right away. Also note that features may be paused, adjusted, or removed as part of that process.

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this update is working! Open Accessibility Assistant, then select Give Feedback to provide feedback.

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Link to a location in Word for Windows and Mac

Rubba — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 17:45:00 GMT

I’m excited to announce that you can share direct cloud links to specific locations within a document in Microsoft Word for Windows and for Mac.

What’s new

If you work on long, complex documents, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of telling a teammate, “See the section halfway down page 47” and waiting while they scroll to find the right content.

With the ability to link to a location, you can take collaborators exactly where they need to go. Just create a shareable link to a specific part of the document, and when someone opens the link, they’ll land exactly where you intended.

Why it matters

This feature provides benefits such as:

Helping teams edit and discuss content more efficiently.
Speeding up the process of reviewing and resolving feedback.
Making navigation to specific content smoother.
Communicating clearly to collaborators the areas that need feedback.
Keeping teams aligned without constant back-and-forth.

How it works

Open a Word document on your Windows or Mac device.
Select the content where you want to create a link.
Right-click on the selection to open the context menu, then select Copy Link to Location.

A link will be generated, and you can now copy and share this with others!

When they open the link, they’ll go directly to the selected content in their preferred Word document experience (web or desktop).

Availability

This feature is available to Word users running:

Windows: Version 2605 (Build 20011.20000) or later.
Mac: Version 16.109 (Build 26051019) or later.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think of this update! From the Help tab at the top of your Word app, select Feedback and include #LinkToLocation in your feedback description.

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Co-create slides with Copilot in PowerPoint for iPad

aparna_jethani — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:45:00 GMT

I’m excited to introduce a feature many of you already use on desktop and the web to PowerPoint for iPad: the ability to co-create with Microsoft 365 Copilot directly in your presentation.

What’s new

Whether you’re building a first draft, polishing a few slides, or transforming the design and layout, Copilot can make edits directly on the presentation in just a few clicks. And with iPad providing on-the-go flexibility, you can keep working or switch apps while Copilot works in the background.

With Copilot in PowerPoint for iPad, you can:

Turn rough ideas or work context into a polished deck: Transform meeting notes, an outline, an email, or images from your gallery into a presentation, right on the canvas.
Make quick edits or transform slides instantly: Ask it to rewrite text, tidy formatting, or simplify or fix a slide’s design, and it will update your presentation.
Extract key insights: Make sense of the presentation by using Copilot to extract key insights, prep for a meeting, or summarize files or action items.
Stay in the flow: Keep working on your slides or switch to another app while Copilot runs, and review when your changes are ready.

Why it matters

Copilot co-creation in PowerPoint for iPad allows you to:

Work anywhere, anytime: Create drafts and refine slides while on the go.
Increase flexibility and ease: Use voice and chat without manual interactions.
Supercharge productivity: Edit faster and be empowered to achieve more.

How it works

Open PowerPoint on your iPad and sign in with a Copilot-enabled account, then open a blank presentation or an existing deck.
Select the Copilot icon to open Copilot Chat.
Pick one of the suggested actions, type your request, or tap the mic icon to speak.
Review and accept or reject the changes made directly on your slides.

Tips and tricks

Work asynchronously for longer tasks: You don’t have to wait if Copilot is taking longer. Drag the chat pane aside to keep working on your slides or leave the app entirely. Copilot will keep working in the background, and you can return to review.

Create or edit using context or other files: The agent implicitly grounds your work context. You can explicitly reference existing files (documents, spreadsheets, or presentations) using the + button.
Start with voice when the idea is rough: On mobile, it’s often faster to speak your request than type a detailed prompt.

Use chat mode to ask: Copilot editing is on by default. To ask questions without changing your deck, tap the edit pill and choose Chat only.

Availability

This feature is available to users with access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and using PowerPoint for iPad Version 2.112 (Build 26080725) or later.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think! You can share your feedback on this new feature by selecting Help > Feedback in the PowerPoint app.

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Take back-to-school tasks off your plate with Microsoft Copilot

amaguire — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 17:45:00 GMT

Back-to-school planning doesn’t stop after the first day of classes. By the second week, your to-do list is already packed with an early dismissal, a practice change, and a form someone forgot to mention until bedtime.

The hard part usually isn’t finding the information – it's remembering to check it again at the right time. Microsoft Copilot can help with this! You can use Copilot Chat to work with calendars you already have, or Copilot Tasks to hand off a one-time or recurring job.

Let’s explore some ways it can streamline this upcoming school year.

NOTE: This article focuses on Microsoft Copilot signed in with a personal Microsoft account. Copilot Tasks is currently in preview, so availability, features, and usage limits may change.

Keep school details in one chat

In Copilot Chat, attach your school handbook, calendar, or supplies list, and when questions come up, you can return to that chat instead of searching through your email again. You can ask when the next half-day is, check a school policy, or find a sports sign-up deadline.

Try this prompt

I’m attaching our school handbook and calendar. Use these files to answer my questions about schedules, policies, and deadlines. If the answer isn’t in the files, tell me.

Schedule reminders for important tasks

Copilot Tasks is useful when the job needs to happen later, or more than once. Describe what you want in everyday language, choose when it should run, and review the result when it’s finished. Tasks can run immediately, later, or on a recurring schedule. You can pause, edit, stop, or delete them from the Tasks view anytime.

For example, you could ask for a checklist for the week every Sunday evening, set a reminder before the next early release day, or create a weekly summary of upcoming school dates. If a task needs access to email, a calendar, or cloud storage, you can choose which connected service to authorize. Copilot will ask for approval before taking sensitive actions, such as sending a message, submitting personal information, or completing a purchase.

Try this prompt

Every Sunday at 6 PM, prepare a checklist for the school week ahead using the dates I’ve shared. Include anything due, schedule changes, and items we need to bring. If I’ve connected an email account, email the checklist to me.

Use class materials for a quick study check

A syllabus and set of class notes can also give Copilot enough context to help your children review for exams. Ask for a short quiz, an explanation of a difficult topic, or a list of upcoming assignments.

This works best as a study aid rather than a replacement for homework: Students should still check source material and do their own work.

Try this prompt

Using this syllabus and these notes, make a five-question practice quiz on this week’s biology unit. After I answer, explain anything I missed and show me where it appears in the notes.

Hand off your research

Choosing an after-school program or a laptop that meets the school’s requirements can take hours and lots of browser tabs. A one-time Copilot Task can collect the options and organize them against the criteria you provide, making the entire process faster and simpler. Always review the original sources before you register, buy, or share personal information.

Try this prompt

Find three after-school programs near me for elementary-age students. Compare cost, days and hours, pickup time, registration deadline, and transportation options. Include the source for each detail and flag anything you couldn’t confirm.

Tips for effectively using Copilot

No matter how you leverage Copilot this school season, keep these tips in mind:

Use a personal account: Don’t use an employer-managed account to share family and school details.
Keep what you share limited to the task: A school calendar is one thing; a team roster containing other families’ names, phone numbers, and children’s details is another. Don’t upload or share someone else’s personal information unless you have permission.
Watch your first task as it runs: Check the sites it visits, review the output, and stop the task if it starts doing something you didn’t expect. Once you’re comfortable with the result, you can decide whether it makes sense to run again.
Start small: Pick one reminder you already recreate by hand. The Sunday school-week checklist is a good place to start – run it once, check what Copilot produces, and adjust the instructions before you schedule it. This lets you see what the task does before it becomes part of the routine. If the calendar changes, update the task or turn it off.

Happy planning!

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More control and better accessibility with permalinks in SharePoint Online

sharmapriya — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:45:00 GMT

As SharePoint Online has evolved, our team has heard consistent feedback from screen reader and keyboard-only users about permalinks. We’re thrilled to announce a new, upgraded experience that’s more accessible and efficient.

A more efficient and accessible permalinks experience

For years, permalinks have been a core part of the SharePoint Online page experience. From the earliest days of SharePoint, heading permalinks have helped users quickly copy and share direct links to specific sections within a page. Whether referencing documentation, onboarding guidance, or long-form knowledge content, permalinks make collaboration easier and navigation more precise.

Many customers using keyboard navigation or assistive technologies told us that automatic permalinks on headings introduced additional tab stops at every heading level on a page, creating extra navigation overhead. On pages with many headings, navigating through repeated permalink controls could become inefficient and disruptive to the reading experience.

“As we create pages in SharePoint Online, we’re seeing permalinks appear everywhere — and it quickly becomes overwhelming. Is there a way to reduce the noise and turn some of them off?”

The SharePoint Online team listened carefully to this feedback and worked with accessibility considerations in mind to improve the experience, while preserving flexibility for organizations that still want permalink functionality enabled.

To give customers greater control, SharePoint Online is introducing a new tenant-level setting called “Use permalinks.” This new toggle allows organizations to choose whether heading permalinks should appear on SharePoint pages. Administrators or site owners can turn the feature on or off based on their organization’s accessibility preferences and user needs.

Why it matters

Accessibility is not a one-size-fits-all experience. Some organizations value heading permalinks for deep linking and knowledge sharing, while others prioritize streamlined keyboard navigation and reduced interaction complexity.

By introducing this configurable setting, SharePoint Online enables customers to:

Reduce extra tab stops for keyboard users.
Improve navigation efficiency for screen reader users.
Customize page behavior to match organizational accessibility goals.
Preserve existing permalink functionality when needed.

How it works

1. In a SharePoint Online page, locate Page details.

2. Toggle on or off Use permalinks.

When disabled, permalink navigation controls will no longer appear at each heading level, helping reduce unnecessary tab stops and creating a more streamlined experience for keyboard and screen reader users.

Availability

This feature is rolling out to all SharePoint Online users with an enterprise tenant account.

More accessibility enhancements are coming soon to SharePoint Online, so stay tuned!

Feedback

Accessibility improvements are most impactful when they are informed by real-world usage and customer insights. The introduction of the “Use permalinks” toggle is another example of how feedback from the community directly influences the SharePoint experience.

The SharePoint Online team remains committed to evolving the platform in ways that empower all users to work more efficiently and inclusively. To provide feedback on the permalinks experience, visit Accessibility support for enterprise customers or email eDAD@microsoft.com.

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Co-create documents with Copilot in Word for iPad

Aditya_Mishra_29 — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:21:13 GMT

We’re excited to bring a feature many of you already use on desktop, web, and mobile to Microsoft Word for iPad: the ability to collaborate with Microsoft 365 Copilot directly in your document.

What’s new

You can now work with Copilot as a co-creator directly within your Word document on iPad, instead of having to switch between different tools and commands. Whether you’re drafting new content, refining existing text, or restructuring a document, Copilot can make edits directly in place while preserving your document formatting and structure through Word’s built-in styles.

Why it matters

With Copilot in Word for iPad, you can:

Turn rough ideas into polished content right on the page.
Streamline edits and updates by taking out much of the manual labor.
Stay in the flow of your writing without having to navigate between tools.

How it works

Open Word on your iPad and sign in with a Copilot-enabled account.
Create a new document or open an existing one, then select Edit document.
Select the Copilot icon to open the Copilot Chat.
Enter your request in the prompt box.
Review and apply Copilot’s suggested edits.

Tips and tricks

Be specific in your prompts. For example, instead of asking Copilot to “Update this document,” try “Update the table with figures from the September Data Pull email.”
To reference existing content, type “/” and search for a file, email, meeting, or other source. You can also select files from the source picker.
If editing isn’t enabled, select the + button in Copilot Chat and choose Allow editing.
Copilot makes changes directly in your document. You can undo changes at any time or restore a previous version of a file stored in OneDrive or SharePoint using Version History. Information about Version History is available in View previous versions of Office files.
When collaborating in a shared document, Copilot displays a preview of proposed changes before applying them. You control whether those changes are added to the document.
Copilot can only edit the currently open document and can’t create a new file.
Copilot can’t generate or insert images while editing a document. To generate images in Chat, turn off editing mode, and then submit an image-generation prompt.
Copilot can’t add or edit comments. If edits are made to content associated with a comment, the comment may be removed.
Copilot respects Track Changes settings. If Track Changes is turned on, edits made by Copilot will be tracked.

Scenarios to try

Here are a few prompts you can try to see how Copilot can help you create, improve, and organize content directly in Word for iPad:

Create a first draft: “Draft a one-page project update using the notes in this document. Include current status, key progress, risks, decisions needed, and next steps.”
Rewrite for tone: “Rewrite the selected section to sound more confident, friendly, and customer-ready while keeping the meaning the same.”
Make content easier to scan: “Reorganize this document with clear headings, shorter paragraphs, and an executive summary section at the top.”

Availability

This feature is available to users with access to Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Word for iPad Version 2.109 (Build 26051516) or later.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think! You can share your feedback by selecting Help > Feedback in the Word app.

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Leverage prompts created by your organization in Copilot

SakshiMunjal — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 20:23:47 GMT

We’re excited to share that you can now use prompts custom-made by your organization’s admins in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat to streamline responses.

What’s new

You now can access curated prompts that reflect your organization’s priorities, terminology, and workflows in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. These suggested prompts enable you to work faster and generate richer, more tailored responses.

Watch the video below to learn more:

How it works

Open Microsoft 365 Copilot, sign in with your enterprise account, and navigate to a new chat.
Under the prompt box, select Suggested to view suggested custom prompts. To view all custom prompts, select More prompts.
Select the prompt you need and fill in the bracketed information.
To search for custom prompts, type a keyword into the Search box in the Prompt Lab. You can also filter for custom prompts by selecting a topic or department on the left-hand pane. This image reflects the Frontier experience. Experiences may differ for other users.

NOTE: Prompt Lab is only available if your admin has added custom prompts to your tenant.

For information on creating and editing prompts as an admin, read: Organizational prompts for Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Availability

This feature is available to users with Microsoft 365 Copilot Standard and Premium licenses.

Feedback

We’d love to hear what you think! To provide feedback, select the thumbs up or down buttons in Copilot.

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Admins: Migrating user data during mergers and restructurings just got easier

Rebecca_W_Wood — Wed, 08 Jul 2026 18:50:12 GMT

We’re excited to announce cross-tenant orchestrated user data migration, enabling a more seamless migration experience for organizations during mergers and restructurings.

What’s new

Organizations going through mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and internal restructuring often face a hard operational problem: How to move user data between Microsoft 365 tenants with minimal disruption to the people affected by the change.

Previously, admins had to choose between fragmented point tools, increasing risk and making troubleshooting harder. Many of you asked for a Microsoft-native, orchestrated migration experience, and we’re thrilled to deliver one!

Now, admins can create migration batches through Graph APIs and move Exchange, OneDrive, Teams chats, and Teams meetings all from one workflow. You’re able to validate all prerequisites, such as licenses, identity mapping, and permissions, before committing to a migration date. And if validation fails, you can see the exact issues and fix them before trying again.

Users will now experience an end-to-end migration built with them in mind. After their mailbox moves, their Teams meetings will be updated so they can use them seamlessly, without needing to manually cancel and reschedule. Teams chats will be migrated and support federation to continue collaboration between the source and target tenants. This product is integrated with the same fast mailbox and OneDrive migrations that customers have used for years.

Why it matters

With this update, admins can now:

Speed up data migration, especially when there’s a time crunch to move staff over to your tenant.
Reduce support ticket requests during migration.
Fix quickly and prevent organization-wide failures that bog down productivity.

How to get started

Identify the workloads to move (e.g., mailboxes, OneDrive files and folders, Teams chats, and Teams meetings).
Prepare tenants and users with the required configurations.
Validate configurations using our API before migrating user data.

Known limitations

This update is available in public cloud only.

Availability

This update is available to admins with a Global Administrator role for initial configuration, and a Microsoft 365 Migration Administrator or Global Admin role for later steps, with a Cross-Tenant User Data Migration add-on license per user.

Feedback

We’d love to know what you think! To provide feedback on this experience, please fill out this form.

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A more efficient way to access email and meeting information with Narrator

shireensalma — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:45:00 GMT

Hi, Insiders! We are Doug Geoffray and Shireen Salma, Product Managers on the Office Accessibility team. Today, we’re excited to share an improvement we’ve made to the classic and new Outlook for Windows experience for people using Narrator. You will now have faster and easier access to essential email and meeting details—such as sender, recipients, subject line, and attachments—using simple keyboard shortcuts.

Get email and meeting details faster with Narrator

Email details like who the message is from, when it was sent, or whether it includes attachments are essential for understanding context and taking action. However, if you use a screen reader, accessing this information often requires manual navigation through multiple UI elements. These elements can be time‑consuming and interrupt reading flow.

With this update, we’ve introduced Narrator scripting in Outlook to streamline how you access these details, enabling you to retrieve important email and meeting information instantly using quick keyboard commands.

How it works

In your Outlook email

With Narrator on, open an email in Outlook. To hear specific email properties announced on demand, use the following shortcut keys:

Alt + 1 – From
Alt + 2 – Date
Alt + 3 – To
Alt + 4 – Cc
Alt + 5 – Subject
Alt + 6 – Bcc
Alt + 7 – Attachments

In your Outlook calendar

With Narrator on, open a meeting from your Outlook calendar. To hear meeting details on demand, use these shortcut keys:

Alt + 1 – From
Alt + 2 – Date
Alt + 3 – Required attendees
Alt + 4 – Optional attendees
Alt + 5 – Subject
Alt + 6 – Bcc
Alt + 7 – Attachments
Alt + 8 – Meeting time
Alt + 9 – Meeting Location

Tips and tricks

These shortcuts reduce unnecessary navigation and help maintain reading continuity, allowing you to quickly access the information you need without moving focus away from the message body.
This improvement is especially helpful if you review large volumes of email or work at higher speech rates. Minimizing navigation steps can significantly improve efficiency and reduce cognitive load.

Availability

This improved Narrator experience for reading email and meeting details is available in classic Outlook for Windows for Microsoft 365 subscribers running Version 2601 (Build 19725.20126) or later of Office, Version 1.2026.529.100 of new Outlook for Windows, and either Version 2601 (Build 28000.1764), Version 2502 (Build 26200.8116), or Version 2402 (Build 26100.8116) of Windows.

Feedback

We’d love to hear how this experience works for you. Try using Narrator with these new shortcuts in Outlook and let us know what you think by selecting Help > Feedback.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Choosing the right AI model in Microsoft 365: flexibility, control, and confidence

KwekuMSFT — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 17:45:00 GMT

AI innovation is moving fast, and no single model is perfect for every task. Some models excel at deep research and structured reasoning, while others are optimized for speed, summarization, or creative drafting. That’s why Microsoft 365 is evolving to support AI model choice, giving organizations more flexibility while maintaining enterprise-grade governance.

Whether you’re an IT admin setting policy, a maker building agents, or an end user working in Copilot, here’s how AI model choice works across Microsoft 365 today.

A multi-model approach, built for enterprise needs

Microsoft 365 Copilot uses a multi-model architecture. Microsoft-hosted models remain the default for Copilot experiences, but organizations can also choose independent AI models or AI subprocessors for specific scenarios.

This approach is intentional. Different models bring different strengths, and enterprises need the ability to match the right model to the right task without compromising security, compliance, or control.

AI subprocessors: What it means for admins

Some AI models are onboarded as Microsoft subprocessors for Microsoft Online Services. For example, Anthropic models can now be used under Microsoft’s contractual framework when enabled by an admin.

Microsoft Product Terms and the Microsoft Data Protection Addendum (DPA) apply.
Admins retain centralized control over whether the model is available.
Usage aligns with Microsoft’s enterprise governance commitments and Enterprise Data Protection.
Subprocessors are contractually required to meet Microsoft security, privacy, and compliance standards.

Learn more: Overview of AI Subprocessors in Microsoft 365 Copilot

Independent AI models: opt-in flexibility

Microsoft 365 also supports connecting to independent AI models that are hosted outside Microsoft-managed environments. Today, this includes models from providers such as Anthropic and xAI.

Data may be processed outside Microsoft’s managed infrastructure.
Provider-specific terms and data handling policies apply.
Admin approval is required before models become available to users or makers.
Organizations should review regional and data residency considerations before enabling these models.

Learn more: Understanding AI functionality and models in Microsoft Online Services

Admin control in the Microsoft 365 admin center or Power Platform admin center

For organizations building custom agents or copilots, model choice is governed centrally.

Allow or block external language models.
Control which models are available for generative responses.
Balance innovation with organizational risk tolerance.

Model choice for makers: Copilot Studio

In Microsoft Copilot Studio, makers can select the AI model that powers an agent’s reasoning or responses when allowed by admin policy.

Choose a primary AI model for an agent.
Switch models to compare behavior and performance.
Use external models where enabled or fall back to Microsoft-hosted defaults.
Preview and experimental models are clearly labeled and not recommended for production use.

End-user experiences: Choosing the right model for the task

The Researcher agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot helps you gather, analyze, and summarize information from both the web and your work content.

With model choice enabled, Researcher can use multiple AI models, including GPT models from OpenAI and Claude models from Anthropic, to generate research reports using different reasoning approaches.

In Auto mode, Researcher generates a report using GPT and applies a second reasoning pass with Claude to strengthen structure and completeness, prioritize reputable sources, and ensure key statements are grounded in citations.

For more advanced workflows, Model Council mode runs the same question through multiple deep-reasoning research agents in parallel and highlights where outputs align or diverge so users can compare perspectives and combine insights with greater confidence.

Learn more:

Choosing responsibly: A shared responsibility model

Microsoft provides secure defaults, transparency, and enterprise controls.
Admins decide which models are allowed and where.
Makers and users select models intentionally based on the task at hand.
Existing Microsoft 365 security, compliance, and permission controls continue to apply when using Copilot experiences.

Privacy, security, and compliance considerations

Microsoft 365 Copilot is compliant with existing Microsoft 365 privacy, security, and compliance commitments. Prompts, responses, and Microsoft Graph grounding data are not used to train foundation large language models used by Microsoft 365 Copilot. Organizations should also review regional data residency guidance, including EU Data Boundary considerations, when enabling AI subprocessors.

Learn more:

Feedback

AI model choice in Microsoft 365 is evolving, and your input helps shape what comes next. Whether you’re an IT admin thinking about governance, a maker experimenting with agents, or an end user trying different Copilot experiences, we want to hear what’s working and what isn’t.

Share your thoughts, questions, or scenarios in the comments below. Your feedback helps inform future updates, documentation, and product decisions as Microsoft continues to expand AI model choice across Microsoft 365.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Stay in sync in PowerPoint Live

rachelledong — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:45:42 GMT

The Explain and Refresh features in PowerPoint Live help presenters and audiences stay aligned during live presentations. The Explain feature lets participants select slide content to quickly understand unfamiliar terms, while the Refresh feature lets presenters update to the latest version of their deck quickly, without stopping the presentation or resharing it.

Present with confidence. Participate with clarity.

As a presenter - Let’s say you’re 15 minutes into presenting the quarterly deck when a teammate pings you: the revenue number on slide 12 is outdated, and they’ve just uploaded a corrected version. With the Refresh feature, a single click reloads the latest version of your deck without ever leaving the session. You stay on the same slide, the meeting continues smoothly, and everyone sees the updated content immediately. No resharing. No disruption. No lost momentum.

As an attendee – Imagine you’re in a cross-functional review and a slide includes an acronym you’ve never seen before. Previously, you had two choices: interrupt the presenter and break the flow, or stay quiet and miss part of the discussion while trying to figure it out yourself. With the Explain feature, you can select the term directly on the slide and instantly get more context with Copilot, without disrupting the meeting or drawing attention. You stay informed, confident, and engaged in the conversation.

How it works

To use the Refresh feature:

Start presenting your PowerPoint deck with PowerPoint Live in your Teams meeting.
Click the Refresh button (2 circular arrows) to reload the latest version of your deck.
To confirm that the latest version is now available, look for the “You’re presenting the latest version” message in the bottom-left corner.

To use the Explain feature:

Start viewing a PowerPoint Live presentation as an attendee in a Teams meeting.
Click the Select and drag text to ask Copilot button (dashed square with 2 sparkle icons), select the content you want explained, and then select Explain selected text from the button that appears above your selection.
In the Copilot pane, review the explanation generated based on the text you selected.

Known limitations

The Explain feature works best with text-based content. Charts and complex visuals (such as graphs or diagrams) may not be accurately interpreted.

Requirements

To use the Explain feature, you need:

A Microsoft 365 subscription
A Microsoft 365 Copilot license

To use the Refresh feature, you need:

A Microsoft 365 subscription

Availability

These features are available to all PowerPoint for Windows and PowerPoint for Mac users.

Feedback

To submit feedback about the Explain feature:

After Copilot generates a response, select the thumbs up or thumbs down icons directly below the response.
If Copilot shows an error, select the Give feedback button beneath the error message.
In the Copilot chat pane, select the three dots (...) in the top-right corner, then select Send feedback.

To submit feedback about the Refresh feature:

Select the three dots (...) in the top-right corner of the Teams meeting window.
Select Report a problem from the menu.

Test your audio before joining a Teams meeting

KatarinaTranker — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:45:00 GMT

We’re excited to announce the rollout of Test mic and speaker in Microsoft Teams — a new, pre-join experience designed to help you confirm your audio setup before entering a meeting.

What’s new

With this release, you can now test your microphone and speakers directly from the pre-join screen. The feature provides a simple, guided flow to ensure devices are working as expected before joining the call.

The experience includes:

Speaker test: plays an audio tone to confirm sound is coming through the selected device

Microphone test: records a short sample and plays it back so you can verify you can be heard

Summary view: confirms whether both devices are functioning correctly

This flow is launched via a button on the pre-join screen, making it easy to access at the moment you need it most and enabling you to validate everything in one place.

Why this matters

Audio issues remain one of the most common pain points in online meetings. Testing devices ahead of time helps avoid interruptions and improves overall meeting quality.

This feature is designed to:

Reduce in-meeting troubleshooting by catching issues early

Improve confidence before joining, especially for new users or complex device setups

Minimize one-way audio scenarios, a key driver of poor meeting experiences

How it works

Select a meeting to join, and you’ll enter the pre-join screen.
Select Test mic and speaker under Computer audio.
Follow the guided steps to check audio output and input.

Availability

The Test mic and speaker feature is rolling out to users across desktop experiences, with additional platform support following.

Looking ahead

This release is part of our broader investment in audio/video reliability and meeting readiness. By helping users resolve issues before they join, we’re making meetings more predictable, efficient, and frustration-free.

Feedback

Your feedback helps us continue improving meetings for everyone! Share your thoughts and your experience by selecting Help > Give feedback.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Celebrate Pride Month with a special theme for Mac and iOS

amaguire — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 15:41:38 GMT

Hello, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Hugo Garcia, a Product Manager on the Apple Experiences team. I’m thrilled to announce the return of our special Pride Month theme in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote for Mac and for iOS.

Show your Pride with rainbow accents

At its heart, Pride has always been about community. It’s the chosen family who celebrate us, and the simple, powerful act of being seen. And this year’s Pride isn’t just about showing up. It’s about choosing to live openly, visibly, and fully, and gathering with the people who make that possible. Pride endures, because you do.

The “Show Your Pride” theme is one small way to bring that spirit into the apps you open every day. When the rainbow accents show up in your inbox or across a document you’re working on, it’s a reminder that you belong, that you’re part of something bigger, and of the vibrant community that supports each other. It’s a warm way to carry that visibility with you, wherever the day takes you.

How it works

On Mac

To set the theme in Outlook, open the app on your Mac device, then select Settings > General and pick your preferred Pride theme under Theme.
To set the theme in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, open the app on your Mac device, then select Preferences > Show Your Pride.

You’ll notice rainbow accents throughout the app!

On iOS

To set the theme in Outlook, open the app on your iPhone or iPad, then select Home > Settings > Appearance and pick your preferred Pride theme.
To set the theme in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, open the app on your iPhone or iPad, select your profile photo, and then select Settings > Show Your Pride.

Enjoy the animated home screen and colorful accents in your favorite apps!

Get more involved with Pride

Be sure to check out the Microsoft Pride page to learn more about the many other ways you can keep Pride alive with us, from open-source design assets on Figma and GitHub to new wallpapers, Teams backgrounds, and inspiring employee stories.

For more than three decades, Microsoft and its employees have supported LGBTQIA+ communities, contributing more than $37 million to nonprofit organizations worldwide. We’re proud to keep contributing to a more inclusive future for all.

Availability

This feature is available to all Mac and iOS users in select markets.

Feedback

We want to hear from you! If you have feedback or suggestions, please let us know. On your Mac device, you can use the Send us a Smile 🙂 or Send us a Frown ☹ buttons in the top-right corner of the app. On your iOS device, you can select your profile photo, then Help & Feedback > Tell Us What You Like or Tell Us What Can Be Better.

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Microsoft 365 Copilot app learning series: From research to polished outputs

obyomu — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:56:14 GMT

Work today often spans chats, files, meetings, and tools. Our latest Microsoft 365 Copilot app learning series explores how connected experiences like Researcher, Copilot Pages, Copilot Notebooks, and Create can support workflows that move work from research and planning to collaboration and content creation.

Across the series, you’ll see practical scenarios for organizing information, building shared context, creating content, and turning ideas into shareable outputs.

Here’s what we will cover:

Researcher agent: Generate structured, source cited reports

Researcher in the Microsoft 365 Copilot app is designed to help with multi-step research tasks using web information and the work content you already have access to, such as files, emails, meetings, and chats.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Start with a research question and refine the scope
Build structured reports with cited sources
Adjust research direction to stay focused on your scenario
Review summaries, visuals, and references before sharing results
Export or adapt content into formats such as Word, PowerPoint, or PDF, when available

This session is especially useful for market research, competitive analysis, planning, and stakeholder preparation where source visibility and review are important.

Presenters: Carl Mekala and Leo Daniel Gnanamanickam

Watch video.

Copilot Pages: Turn chat responses into editable, shareable content

Copilot Pages helps you take a Copilot response and turn it into content you can edit, refine, and collaborate on with others.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Generate a structured draft from Copilot Chat
Continue working in a Copilot Page
Revise, expand, or reformat content using Copilot
Tailor content for different audiences and use cases
Share Pages for real-time collaboration across Teams, Outlook, or the Microsoft 365 app, depending on availability

This session is useful for brainstorming and content drafting, where teams need to turn ideas into shared, polished outputs.

Presenters: Cora Chen and Oby Omu

Watch video.

Copilot Notebooks: Organize project materials and get insights

Copilot Notebooks is designed to provide a focused workspace where you can bring together project materials such as files, notes, Pages, and other references to keep work grounded in the context you choose.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Bring project references into one organized workspace
Use Notebook overviews to identify themes and insights
Guide responses with custom instructions
Ask questions grounded in your selected references
Generate supporting materials such as summaries or audio overviews, when available
Collaborate while managing sharing and permissions settings

This session is especially helpful for ongoing projects that involve multiple content sources, project planning, and cross-team collaboration.

Presenters: Medha Madangarli and Derek Liddell

Watch video.

Create: Turn ideas into branded visuals

Create can be used to generate visual assets and creative content from prompts, project context, and available brand resources.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Generate visual concepts from prompts
Apply brand kits and brand elements, when available
Create social-ready assets such as carousel posts
Turn presentations into short videos or other shareable formats, when available
Refine outputs so they better align to your audience, message, and brand guidance

This session is useful for teams exploring practical ways to create shareable visual content while keeping brand alignment part of the process.

Presenters: Ludo Ulrich and Ray Curiel

Watch video.

Keep learning

Have questions after watching the series? Join us on Tuesday, June 30, for a live Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) with product experts focused on real-world scenarios, product tips, and questions from the community.

Whether you’re getting started or exploring advanced workflows, the AMA is a chance to hear practical guidance and learn how others are using Microsoft 365 Copilot app experiences in their everyday work.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Stay productive in new Outlook for Windows with these 5 features

Vicki_Milton — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:44:26 GMT

With the new Outlook for Windows, there are more ways than ever to stay organized, reduce everyday friction, and keep work moving across Mail, Calendar, meetings, and settings.

To help you make the transition from classic Outlook and explore new capabilities, we’ve compiled some of our favorite features for boosting productivity. (You can see even more little-known features in our Outlook blog: 15 productivity features in the new Outlook for Windows.)

1. Pin and snooze emails

The Pin feature allows you to select an email to always appear at the top of your inbox – useful for items you need to reference often or don’t want to lose track of. Just hover over a message and select the Pin button on the right.

Conversely, you can snooze an email from your inbox and have it reappear at a time you’d prefer to read it by right-clicking on the message, then selecting Snooze and choosing a date and time.

2. Automatically organize messages from a specific sender

With Sweep, you can create automatic actions for messages from a specific sender. For example, you can delete promotional mail after a set period, reducing manual cleanup and keeping your inbox focused on the tasks that matter. To use Sweep, select the broom icon on the ribbon, then select your desired rule.

3. Schedule emails to send later

Schedule Send lets you prepare messages whenever you want and send them at a time that works better for the recipient. No more leaving messages in Drafts indefinitely! To schedule an email, select the dropdown arrow next to the Send button, then select Schedule send and choose a date and time.

4. Stay informed on meetings you don’t attend

When you select Follow on a meeting, you get access to the meeting recap without having to attend. This can be useful if you have a conflict but need to know what was discussed or want to contribute to a brainstorm. Follow a meeting by selecting Follow when RSVPing to the invite.

5. Personalize your email accounts

Make your various inboxes more recognizable by assigning each one a custom name. You can rename accounts by selecting Settings > Accounts > Manage.

Your inbox just got a whole lot more manageable! Which feature will you try first?

Learn more tips and tricks: 15 productivity features in the new Outlook for Windows.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

From LaTeX to accessible PDFs: Transforming math workflows in Microsoft 365

PeteWu — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:45:00 GMT

Congratulations, Class of 2026! It's an exciting time looking forward to the next step in your journey. The rest of us salute you as we continue with our own journeys. For so many of us, math has been an integral part of the journey, enabling us to understand, solve, and build – which is why I'm very excited to share improved support for industry standard math formats in Microsoft 365 that make it easier to communicate inclusively with math.

Improved LaTeX support

LaTeX users, we heard you! You use LaTeX for your publications, Word for your documents, and PowerPoint for your presentations, and you need them to work well together. But it hasn’t been so easy since the LaTeX support in Word and PowerPoint didn’t handle all the complex math that you write.

With the latest version of Microsoft 365 in Beta Channel, LaTeX support is much more robust, making it easier than ever to bring your LaTeX into Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Rebuilt from the ground up, it supports more of the commands that you use. You can even include user-defined macros using \newcommand, \renewcommand, and \def in your equations.

How it works

Select the LaTeX expression including the \begin{environment}…\end{environment}, \[…\], $…$, $$....$$, or $...$ delimiters from your TeX document or Markdown and copy it to the clipboard by typing Ctrl + C (on Windows) or Command + C (on Mac).Selecting and copying LaTeX from a TeX document.
Open a new or existing file in Word, PowerPoint, or OneNote, then type Ctrl + V (on Windows) or Command + V (on Mac) to paste the LaTeX expression as native Office Math. In Excel, you can paste the text into a shape or SmartArt.Pasting delimited LaTeX into PowerPoint inserts native Office Math.

The LaTeX is automatically converted to native Office Math.

Tips and tricks

If the pasted text doesn’t include the delimiters, you can still easily convert it to native Office Math after pasting, by selecting the text and then selecting Insert > Equation while in LaTeX mode in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. And you can still convert native Office Math back to LaTeX if you need to edit it.
We heard that many of you write chemical formulas and equations in LaTeX, so we have added support for the \ce command from the mhchem package.

Copying delimited LaTeX using \ce and pasting into Word inserts a chemical formula.

We have published documentation for LaTeX support in Microsoft 365 to help you determine if you can use it for your content and integrate it into your workflow.

To the amazing LaTeX community: Thank you for building an incredible collection of content on the web and advancing science and human knowledge. I'm excited to see what you will do with Microsoft 365.

Great compatibility with MathML Core

MathML Core brings math to life on the web! With excellent support in all major web browsers, it's widely used in sites such as arXiv for math that's accessible and looks great.

In the latest version of Microsoft 365 in Beta Channel: Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel provide MathML Core on the clipboard, in the accessibility tree used by assistive technologies, in PDF, and in Open Document Format.

The Microsoft 365 apps continue to import MathML 3 well and then export it as MathML Core without <mfenced>, <maligngroup>, or <malignmark> elements and without mathvariant attribute values other than normal which have been dropped from MathML Core. This ensures compatibility with the web, assistive technologies, and other apps. One exception to be aware of is that the <menclose> element may be used.

MathML copied from Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, or Excel has been pasted into the HTML source for a webpage and it renders well in web browsers such as Firefox.

We have published documentation for MathML support in Microsoft 365 to help you assess compatibility with the other apps that you use.

PDF 2.0 standard format for math

Many publications are in PDF format, but unfortunately the PDFs are often inaccessible. You can help change that by using native Office Math in Word and PowerPoint and exporting PDFs using the built-in Export or Save As command! Word and PowerPoint are excellent at preserving accessibility of documents and presentations when exporting as PDF, and the latest version of the apps for Windows in Beta Channel builds upon this with great math accessibility. Now MathML is included in the PDF as associated files as specified in the PDF 2.0 standard. This allows people who rely on a screen reader to easily navigate and read the math in PDF viewers that support the format such as Firefox with JAWS, NVDA with MathCAT, or VoiceOver. While not all PDF viewers read the new standard format and not all assistive technologies provide a math navigation experience yet, support will expand in the future – and the support in Word and PowerPoint will increase the momentum.

How it works

Open a new or existing file in Word or PowerPoint for Windows.
Select File > Save or Save a Copy > More options... and select PDF (*.pdf) from the list of format.

Tips and tricks

You can also select File > Export > Create PDF/XPS Document > Create PDF/XPS.
Depending on what you have installed, additional commands from add-ins may appear in the File and Export menus. Use the commands listed above to use the built-in PDF export.
Support for exporting PDF with math in the new format is coming soon to Word and PowerPoint for Mac, iOS, and Android and to Word for the web. It is currently available in Word and PowerPoint for Windows in Beta Channel and PowerPoint for the web.

PDF exported from PowerPoint viewed in Firefox and read with JAWS Math Viewer.

A community effort

George Kersher, Sara Shunkwiler, Richard Orme, and I recently presented Accessible Math Unlocks STEM Education and Careers at the Microsoft Ability Summit 2026. You can download the materials from daisy.org/ability26.

To learn more about the man who built much of accessible math in Microsoft 365 over the course of many years, read our blog post: Meet Murray Sargent, the quiet force behind accessible math (who was recently awarded the Microsoft Accessibility Lifetime Achievement Award).

Professor Jeffrey Kuan at Ohio State University shared one of his research papers as a Word document attached below to help you see what you can do with accessible math in Microsoft 365.

Availability

Improved LaTeX support and MathML Core support are available in Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel for Windows in Version 2606 (Build 20105.20000) or later and in Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Excel for Mac in Version 16.110 (Build 26050500) or later in Beta Channel.
Accessibility of exported PDFs with math in the ISO-standarized PDF 2.0 file format is available in Word and PowerPoint for Windows in Version 2605 (Build 20018.20000) or later in Beta Channel and in PowerPoint for the web.

Features covered on this blog will roll out over time to enable us to monitor quality and performance, so some preview features may not be available to you right away. Also note that features may be paused, adjusted, or removed as part of that process.

Feedback

Please click Help > Feedback in the app you are using to submit your thoughts about these features. We would love to hear from you! You can help spread the word about how important it is to make math accessible by sharing this post with your networks and tag it with #Microsoft365Math.

We’re thrilled by the feedback we’ve received from customers about recent math enhancements to Microsoft 365:

From Brydon Bacaycay, Assistive Technology Coordinator, Harvard University: “Recent community-driven efforts to expand math authoring and reading options within Microsoft 365 are a shining example of what is needed to ensure that educators and learners have increased opportunities to engage with STEM content at all levels across the digital frontier. Each accessibility improvement in math supports broader, lifelong interoperability for everyone.”
From Dax Castro, Chax Training and Consulting: “It carried the underlying MathML you pasted into Word into the PDF and allows that to be discoverable by NVDA and JAWS so that it is voiced correctly and as a fallback, has the Alt Text on top of it. It’s a great solution!”
From Jennifer Marsala, Instructional Designer, Department of Mathematics, University of Houston: “Wow! I had a 20-page section of a textbook in Microsoft Word that was full of MathType equations – and with a few clicks of the mouse, Word changed them to all to native Office Math format in about 20 seconds! Thanks so much for adding this mass conversion feature!!!”

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft 365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features in your inbox once a month!

Shaping Copilot across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Katie Kivett — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:52:34 GMT

We’ve been working to make Microsoft 365 feel more connected and integrated with Copilot, available as a helpful thought partner, when you need it. We recently updated Word for the web, Excel for the web, and PowerPoint for the web as well as Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the Windows and Mac platforms with a consolidated, more visible entry point (Dynamic Action Button) at the bottom right of the apps that suggests actions from Copilot based on your document. You may have noticed similar entry points in other apps across Microsoft 365, all with access to the same Copilot.

As we continue to thoughtfully and intentionally shape how Copilot integrates with the tried-and-true workflows within Word, Excel and PowerPoint that you rely on, we’re listening, learning and improving as we go. To that end, we're already making a few updates based on feedback.

Updated entry points for Copilot

While we are seeing increased engagement with Copilot in Office apps with this update, we are also hearing the need for more control over how Copilot appears. Our vision is to evolve Copilot over time to be fully adaptive, flexible and personalized. For more on that see: A simplified system - Microsoft Design. In the short term, we've heard your feedback and are making some adjustments.

Move to ribbon option for the Copilot Dynamic Action Button

For customers who prefer using the ribbon, we’re adding a Move to ribbon option. We will be rolling this out soon, and you will see a new option when right-clicking the Dynamic Action Button.

Docking that stays in place while you work

The Dock option will continue to be available as well when you right-click or drag to button the right. You can still move it back onto the canvas whenever it fits your workflow or preference, allowing for flexibility, while still keeping Copilot easy and clear to access. So when you want the entry point close to the canvas but out of the way, you can dock it to the edge of the window. We are making an update so that the button will stay docked throughout your time in the document, instead of returning to its original position every time you engage with Copilot.

For more information about Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint and options for end-user and IT admin configuration, see our Support article here.

Looking ahead

6/5/2026 UPDATE: Updates mentioned in this post are now rolling out.

These updates will start rolling out soon in Word for the web, Excel for the web, and PowerPoint for the web as well as Word, Excel and PowerPoint on the Windows and Mac platforms. They are just a step on our journey toward a vision where Copilot is seamlessly integrated in Office to amplify, guide, and help you do your work, on your terms.

Stay tuned for more updates and we'll keep listening and evolving!

Microsoft 365 Insider Blog articles

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1. Import data smoothly in Excel 

2. Edit images right in PowerPoint 

3. Write math that’s accessible for all 

4. Join Teams calls with confidence

5. Prevent overlaping meetings

6. Create hyperlinks fast in Word 

7. Prompt like a pro 