What's New in Excel (October 2025)
This month, look for Agent Mode in Excel (Frontier) in the Tools menu of Copilot for Excel. Additionally, PivotTable #SPILL and accessibility assistant updates are now available to Insider users on Windows and Mac. Formula by Example has also rolled out to the Current Channel for Excel on Windows.Spreadsheet Day - Celebrate the grid that changed everything
October 17 marks a quiet revolution. On this day in 1979, VisiCalc shipped—the first electronic spreadsheet—and suddenly, anyone with a computer could model ideas, track budgets, and make decisions faster than ever before. That simple grid of rows and columns became the backbone of modern business, education, and creativity. How Did Spreadsheet Day Begin? Spreadsheet Day was created in 2010 by Excel MVP Debra Dalgleish, known worldwide for her work at Contextures. Her goal was simple: celebrate the spreadsheet’s impact and the vibrant community around it. She chose October 17 to honor VisiCalc’s release—the moment spreadsheets went digital and changed everything. A Quick Look Back Before spreadsheets, recalculating a budget meant erasing and rewriting by hand. VisiCalc changed that overnight, and Excel carried the torch—bringing charts, formulas, and collaboration to millions. Over four decades, spreadsheets have evolved from static tables to dynamic engines for analysis and storytelling. They’ve powered breakthroughs in science, finance, and even art. Beyond the features, spreadsheets represent something bigger: empowerment. They give anyone the ability to turn raw data into insight. That’s why Spreadsheet Day isn’t just about software—it’s about the people who use it to solve problems every day. Debra’s vision sparked a tradition that now spans the globe. Educators, analysts, and enthusiasts join in each year to share tips, stories, and appreciation for a tool that empowers millions—a reminder that community matters as much as technology. Meet the Spreadsheet Champions Celebrate Spreadsheet Day with a sneak peek at Spreadsheet Champions, a documentary that goes beyond formulas to tell a human story. This film follows six students from around the world as they compete in Microsoft’s Excel challenge. Each brings unique hopes and struggles—whether it’s De La Paix in Cameroon aiming to make his family proud, Carmina in Guatemala finding refuge in math, or Mason in the U.S. balancing his love for spreadsheets with quirky hobbies. Alongside Alkmini from Greece, Nam from Vietnam, and Braydon from Australia, these young competitors reveal how mastering a spreadsheet can unlock confidence, opportunity, and even friendship. It’s a celebration of resilience, creativity, and the influence of spreadsheets in shaping lives today. Watch the trailer below: Why We Celebrate Spreadsheet Day isn’t about nostalgia—it’s about recognizing the creativity and problem‑solving that spreadsheets unlock. Every chart that clarifies a decision, every formula that saves a late night, every model that helps a team plan better—that’s the legacy we’re celebrating. Today, spreadsheets are everywhere: in classrooms, boardrooms, and even living rooms. They’ve helped launch companies, plan weddings, analyze sports stats, and map out personal goals. Spreadsheet Day is our chance to pause and appreciate the tool that makes all of that possible. Share Your Story We want to hear from you! What’s your favorite spreadsheet memory? What tip or trick changed the game for you? Post your story on social with #SpreadsheetDay, or drop it in the comments below. We’ll be reading and sharing some of our favorites. Your experience might inspire someone else to try something new. Happy Spreadsheet Day! Join the conversation with #SpreadsheetDay, and let’s keep building the future—one cell at a time.
Explain Formulas with Copilot—Now on the Grid
Understanding complex formulas in Excel just got a lot easier. The new Explain Formula feature turns Copilot into your inline assistant, delivering clear, step-by-step breakdowns directly on the grid, right next to your data, no need to switch context or open the chat pane. What makes this especially powerful is that the explanations are contextual, grounded in your actual data and workbook, not generic descriptions. By bringing the explanation to where you’re working, Copilot helps you stay in flow. It’s a seamless, in-the-moment experience that makes it easy to scan, understand, and act on formulas right where you need it most. How It Works Here’s how to get an explanation in just a few clicks: Select a cell with a valid formula A Copilot icon appears next to the cell Click “Explain this formula” from the dropdown Copilot shows a step-by-step explanation directly on the grid Need to dive deeper? Click “Chat with Copilot” to continue the conversation in the side pane Note: If the Copilot chat pane is already open, the explanation will be displayed there instead of on the grid. What It Does: Contextual Formula Explanations When you select a formula cell, Copilot can now explain what that formula does using a dedicated card shown in the grid. Helping you quickly understand what the formula does based on your actual data and context, not just a generic description. This makes it easy to: ✅ Understand the formula’s goal in your workbook ✅ Learn how it works, function by function ✅ Build confidence without ever leaving your sheet For example, given this formula: =I4 * XLOOKUP(H4, $L$4:$L$7, $M$4:$M$7) With just a click, Copilot will explain that: Because the explanation is tailored to your actual data and scenario, it’s faster to grasp, easier to verify, and more relevant to your work. Copilot provides the clarity you need right where you need it. Copilot Can Explain Any Excel formula No matter how simple or complex, Copilot can explain any Excel formula. Whether you're working with math, logic, references, arrays, or text manipulation, Copilot helps you understand what’s going on and why. Availability This feature is gradually rolling out to Excel for Windows and Excel for the web. Feedback We’d love to hear how this new experience is working for you. Let us know: ✔️ Was the explanation clear and easy to understand? ✔️ Was it easy to access the explanation when you needed it? ✔️ Did the overall experience feel intuitive and helpful? Just click the 👍 or 👎 at the bottom of the Copilot response to share your thoughts. Your feedback helps us refine the experience and prioritize what’s next.Excel Turns 40: Join the Celebration!
This year marks a major milestone—Microsoft Excel turns 40! In honor of four decades of innovation, we’re kicking off “40 Days of Excel”, a global community celebration spotlighting the features that made Excel iconic. It all started on September 30, 1985, when Excel debuted on the Macintosh, introducing a revolutionary graphical interface for spreadsheets. Since then, Excel has evolved into a productivity powerhouse, empowering people and organizations across the globe. Starting today, August 6, we’ll count down to Excel’s birthday with 40 days of features—each one introduced by an Excel MVP or Creator. These passionate experts will share what makes each feature special, offer pro tips, and tell personal stories of how Excel has shaped their work and creativity. This isn’t just a look back—it’s a 40-day journey through Excel’s evolution, packed with nostalgia, insights, and surprises. We invite you to follow along, learn something new, and share your own Excel memories with us. #Excel40 --- Day 1 Let's get started with some favorite keyboard shortcuts—Deb Ashby Day 2 Some favorite number formatting tricks—Leila Gharani Day 3 Save time every single day with Freeze Panes—Grant Day 4 One of the most iconic and enduring features: AutoSum—Bill Jelen aka Mr. Excel Day 5 Some PivotTable tips and tricks—Leila Gharani Day 6 Automate your workflow in seconds with macro recorder—Grant Day 7 VBA and charting—Jon Peltier Day 8 Use Goal Seek to quickly solve for the exact input value needed to reach a desired result—Bill Jelen aka Mr. Excel Day 9 Conditional formatting—John Michaloudis Day 10 Use data validation to help minimize errors in your spreadsheets—Deb Ashby Day 11 Filter by selection—John Michaloudis Day 12 Excel Tables (aka Ctrl-T tables)—by Jon Acampora Day 13 Dynamic charting with Tables—Jon Peltier Day 14 Show trends at a glance with sparklines—Grant Day 15 Reminiscing and reflecting on a favorite feature: Power Query—Oz du Soleil Day 16 Another favorite feature: PowerPivot—Ken Puls Day 17 Filter data using slicers—Aline Day 18 Analyze trends over time using timeline—Sheet Sensei Day 19 Automatically fill your data using Flash Fill when it senses a pattern—Jon Peltier Day 20 AutoSave had me—Leila Gharani Day 21 Instead of tennising emails, just add a threaded comment—Mynda Treacy Day 22 Create your own customized views using Sheet View—Deb Ashby Day 23 See what changes others have made to your workbook using Show Changes—Jon Acampora Day 24 An all time favorite dynamic array function: the FILTER function—Excel Dictionary Day 25 One of Miss Excel's favorite features: XLOOKUP—Miss Excel Day 26 Find UNIQUE values in your data—Aline Day 27 Write your own Excel functions with LET & LAMBDA—Dim Day 28 Dynamic charting with dynamic arrays—Jon Peltier Day 29 One of the coolest Excel features to ever be released: data types—Excel Dictionary Day 30 Automate Excel with Office Scripts—Mark Proctor Day 31 Another Miss Excel's favorite function: GROUPBY—Miss Excel Day 32 All-time favorite text functions: TEXTSPLIT & TEXTJOIN—Excel Dictionary Day 33 One of Miss Excel's favorite hacks: insert pictures into cells—Miss Excel Day 34 Advanced analysis with Python in Excel—Excel Dictionary Day 35 Navigate srpeadsheets with Copilot in Excel — Sheet Sensei Day 36 Think deeper with Copilot in Excel with Python—CheatSheets Day 37 Use Copilot in Excel to clean data—Excel tips for all Day 38 Sentiment analysis using Copilot in Excel—Kevin Stratvert Day 39 Start with Copilot—Piggy Bank Accountant Day 40—Happy Birthday Excel!🎉 COPILOT function—Leila Gharani
