New ways to customize how Copilot edits your workbooks
If you’ve ever typed the same formatting and style instructions into your Copilot prompt every single time - don’t merge cells,” “use my header style,” “name the tables this way”- we built two new features for you! These new customization options let you set your rules once and have Copilot follow them automatically. Personalization is now generally available, and workbook rules are rolling out to general availability across Excel for Web, Windows, and Mac. Personalization: your rules that follow you Personalization lets you tell Copilot your standing preferences once, and it follows them across every workbook you touch. No more repeating yourself. Copilot learns your preferences before it starts editing, so the output always reflects the guidance you provide. Set preferences for things like: Formatting: “Never merge cells.” “Don’t use red in charts.” “Always format currency in USD with no decimals.” Naming conventions: “Name tables with a tbl prefix.” “Use clear, descriptive sheet names.” Formulas: “Write formulas with structured table references, not cell ranges.” PivotTables & report styles: “Default to my standard summary layout with bold headers and subtotals.” How to access it Open Copilot in Excel. Open Settings (...) → Personalization. Add your preferences in natural language and save. Copilot applies them every time you prompt it. Workbook rules: standards that follow the workbook Where Personalization is about you, workbook rules are about a specific workbook. Rules live in the workbook and travel with it when you share it, so teams and organizations can standardize how a file should look and behave, and everyone who uses Copilot to edit it stays consistent. These rules are stored in the workbook as a sheet with the “.Rules” naming convention, which signals to Copilot that they should be followed for all edits made in the workbook, regardless of the user. What makes workbook rules especially powerful is the ability to tap into Excel’s calculation engine, giving you a low-barrier way to leverage the Excel functionality you already know how to use. Unique ways to leverage workbook rules: Point to an exact example: Format a sample range exactly how you want it, then tell Copilot “match this formatting”—an exact example beats a written description. Make rules dynamic with formulas: Reference cells, ranges, or other sheets so rules can change based on what’s already in the workbook. For example, applying one instruction when a project is over budget and another when it is on track. Use Copilot to build and edit the rules sheet: Start from a blank .Rules sheet or an existing template, then ask Copilot to draft, refine, or update the rules. Aim it at an existing, well-built example sheet and ask it to infer the rules automatically for a fast way to standardize an established template. Share for consistency: Because the rules are stored in the workbook, every collaborator and every future version stays on-standard. Share rules sheets with others to bring into their own workbooks for consistency. How to access it Open Copilot in Excel. Open + → Create workbook rules. This creates a new template. Add rules in plain language, point to an example range, or ask Copilot to generate rules from a sample sheet. Rules must be in column A of the sheet, but can reference other areas of the sheet (e.g. example of a formatted table of range). Note: If you have an existing sheet you'd like to leverage, simply rename the sheet with ".Rules" and start adding your rules in column A. Try it today: Personalization is available to all Copilot in Excel users on Excel for Web, Windows, and Mac. Learn more about Copilot in Excel personalization. Workbook rules is available in the Insiders channel for Windows and Mac and rolling out to general availability in the coming weeks. Learn more about Copilot in Excel workbook rules.
Excel “Trace Dependents” stops working in XLSX files generated by ChatGPT
Excel “Trace Dependents” stops working in XLSX files generated by ChatGPT – Cause and tested solution Problem When opening Microsoft Excel workbooks (.xlsx) generated by ChatGPT, the Trace Dependents feature may stop working, reporting that a cell has no dependents even when other cells explicitly reference it. The Trace Precedents feature may continue to function normally. In our testing, the problem was particularly difficult to diagnose because: It occurred repeatedly with Excel workbooks generated by ChatGPT. Opening an affected workbook caused Trace Dependents to stop working even in other workbooks that had previously worked correctly. The malfunction persisted after closing the affected workbook. Recalculating formulas, rebuilding the calculation chain and reconstructing the workbook did not consistently resolve the issue. Root cause identified The affected XLSX files generated by ChatGPT contained the following setting in xl/workbook.xml: forceFullCalc="1" This setting enables forced full calculation, bypassing Excel's normal dependency-based calculation mechanism. Tested solution Close Excel completely, including any remaining EXCEL.EXE processes. Open the affected XLSX file as a ZIP archive. Locate xl/workbook.xml. Find the <calcPr> element. Change forceFullCalc="1" to forceFullCalc="0", or remove the attribute. Save the corrected XLSX file. Restart Excel in a clean session. Open only the corrected workbook and test Formulas → Trace Dependents. Experimental confirmation We verified that: An original ChatGPT-generated workbook containing forceFullCalc="1" triggered the malfunction. The problem affected the entire Excel session and persisted after closing the original workbook. A corrected version containing forceFullCalc="0" worked when opened in a clean Excel session. The same issue was reproduced through multiple tests, including Excel Safe Mode. Recommendation for ChatGPT and XLSX-generation developers ChatGPT's spreadsheet-generation workflows should explicitly prevent the unnecessary activation of forceFullCalc=True. Before delivering generated XLSX files, the system should inspect xl/workbook.xml and ensure that persistent forced full calculation is disabled unless specifically required. This check is particularly important because the problem may affect not only the generated workbook but also other Excel workbooks opened in the same session. Scope and limitation This issue was repeatedly observed in workbooks generated through ChatGPT in our testing. The results do not establish that all ChatGPT-generated Excel files are affected, nor that this setting is responsible for every Trace Dependents malfunction. Nevertheless, the relationship between forceFullCalc="1" and the observed behavior was confirmed experimentally in the tested environment. Conclusion A ChatGPT-generated XLSX workbook with forceFullCalc="1" can trigger a persistent malfunction of Excel's Trace Dependents feature. Disabling this setting and restarting Excel restored the functionality in our tests.Looking for advice on leveraging AI for Excel in a price-sensitive, third-world country
I work for a training company in a price-sensitive, third-world country and have been conducting training in MS Excel for close to 2 decades. My company has asked me to design Excel training that teaches how to use AI to improve productivity. Ethical considerations aside, it’s something I have been thinking about for a while. The main roadblock I see is the average purchasing power of participants in our market. Right now the cheapest Copilot plan is USD 99.99/yr for MS 365 Personal. The cheapest plan for Business or Enterprise is USD 18/user/month for MS 365 Copilot business (billed at USD 216/user/year). I’ve been casually speaking with the participants in training sessions and most are happy with the free chatbot versions of Copilot/ChatGPT/Gemini that almost no one would upgrade to a paid subscription to integrate AI with Excel - they describe their problem to the AI, send screenshots or upload files and then try and implement the solution that’s returned. It’s similar in the business/enterprise context. Larger organisations may have paid for AI subscriptions for their employees but those are few in number. Most businesses in this market are classified as Small-Medium-Enterprises (SMEs) and feedback from participants is that their management would not likely approve of the cost. It’s worth mentioning that my training company does not provide computers instead requiring participants to bring their own laptops with valid Excel licences though we standardize things as much as possible e.g. Windows only, no tablets etc… This means if we design a training that requires a paid Copilot subscription, then it is up to the participants to buy it for themselves which I don’t think many of them will. After speaking with management, they are open to designing a training that uses the free AI chatbots. I’m fine with that but don’t know how much value that would add to what people are already doing. I’m quite sure this strategy is management trying to revive Excel training which used to be top-sellers (demand fell off ever since COVID) and they see other Excel training incorporating AI so want to follow suit. So right now the most viable option is to create training that teaching using free AI chatbots. But I’d like to hear the opinions of others - what other options do you see for a price-sensitive, third-world market? And yes, I did ask AI how Excel users can leverage AI without paying for expensive subscriptions and it basically said “use the free chatbots”.
Excel Copilot WebView2 crashes when rendering download links - Bug
Environment: Excel for Microsoft 365 (Desktop) Windows 10/11 - Enterprise account Issue: Excel Copilot's WebView2 panel goes completely black/blank when attempting to render download links for files generated in the Python sandbox. Steps to Reproduce: Open Excel with Copilot Ask Copilot to perform any task that generates a download link (e.g., "create a test file and give me a download link") WebView2 panel turns black immediately What I've Tried: Clearing WebView2 cache at: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Wef\webview2\ Copilot works normally after cache clear UNTIL a download link is requested Issue is reproducible every time Workaround: Asking Copilot to write results directly to sheets instead of generating download files works fine. This started after an Excel crash during a Copilot session.
copilot app is unable to edit an excel file and save a new version
I asked copilot to review an excel file I created and add worksheets with dashboard etc; it does the analysis, suggests the solution but when I ask to save a new edited version comes up with all kinds of limitations.. example of message : I need access to the physical workbook file in the execution workspace, not just the extracted workbook content that I can read. What I currently have is access to the contents of "book2" , including all sheets and rows What I do not have is a file path that allows me to save a modified workbook and return a new Excel file. This is exactly the distinction you were asking about earlier: ✅ I can inspect and analyse "book2". ✅ I can design the full V2 architecture you specified. ❌ In this session I cannot yet create and return the modified .xlsx because the actual uploaded file is not available in the workbook-editing workspace. I save files on OneDrive and have MS365 Family subscription , similar limitations with all MS files is it a licence issue?
Please Remove Daily Cap Usage for Free Copilot Text Chat
Dear Microsoft Copilot Team, I am writing to express my disappointment with the new daily usage caps on Microsoft Copilot, particularly for ordinary text-based conversations. In the past, I could use Copilot freely for everyday questions, learning, research, brainstorming, and general conversations without constantly worrying about reaching a daily limit. The newer restrictions have made the experience significantly more frustrating and less useful. I understand that running AI services requires computing resources and that Microsoft must manage operating costs. However, I believe ordinary text chat should remain uncapped, especially when it was previously possible to use Copilot much more freely. Text conversations are a fundamental part of the service, and users should not have to stop in the middle of a useful discussion because they have exhausted a daily allowance. The move toward a unified Copilot experience should make the product simpler, more consistent, and more useful—not make existing users feel that they have lost access to a service they have come to rely on. I am therefore asking Microsoft to: Remove daily usage caps entirely for ordinary text-based Copilot conversations, including for free users. Keep basic text chat freely accessible without arbitrary daily cutoffs or lengthy waiting periods. If stricter limits are necessary for resource-intensive features such as image generation or advanced research, apply those limits separately rather than restricting ordinary text conversations. Clearly communicate any usage policies and reconsider changes that negatively affect the experience of long-time users. Unlimited text chat would help preserve user trust, encourage continued engagement, and distinguish Copilot as an accessible AI assistant for everyone. Restricting basic conversations risks pushing loyal users toward competing services that offer a more suitable experience. I hope Microsoft will take this feedback seriously and reconsider the current daily cap policy. Please restore uncapped text chat so users can rely on Copilot whenever they need assistance, without worrying about running out of messages. People on Reddit and online have been criticizing these changes ever since Copilot was unified under one product between enterprise and personal, If you guys dont do anything now it might reduce user trust and might be bad business decisions so please fix Copilot Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to seeing Microsoft make Copilot more accessible and user-friendly again.
