What's New in Excel (February 2026)
Welcome to the February 2026 update. This month we are excited to announce expanded availability for Agent Mode in Excel, as well that you can now query modern Excel workbooks (like .xlsx, .xlsb, .xlsm, .ods) stored locally on your device using Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, on Windows and Mac. In addition, we've heard your feedback that working across multiple Copilot entry points can feel fragmented; and to address this, the editing capabilities that App Skills provided will be integrated into Copilot Chat and Agent Mode in Excel, which became generally available earlier this year. Click here to read more > Excel for Windows and Mac: - Agent Mode in Excel expanded availability - Query your local Excel files with Copilot Chat Excel for Windows and Mac Agent Mode in Excel expanded availability Agent Mode in Excel is now also available for Copilot in Excel users in the EU, including Current Channel and Monthly Enterprise Channel. Read more here > Query your local Excel files with Copilot Chat Copilot in Excel now works with locally stored modern workbooks. This gives users faster, more consistent assistance across all their files, improving productivity without requiring changes to how workbooks are stored. Previously, insights and analysis from Copilot Chat were limited to Excel workbooks stored in the cloud. With this new feature, analyzing your locally saved Excel workbooks with Copilot Chat makes it possible to stay productive even when you’re offline. This feature is currently rolling out on Windows and Mac. Read more here > Check if a specific feature is in your version of Excel Click here to open in a new browser tab Many of these features are the result of your feedback. THANK YOU! Your continued Feedback in Action (#FIA) helps improve Excel for everyone. Please let us know how you like a particular feature and what we can improve upon—"Give a compliment" or "Make a suggestion".. You can also submit new ideas or vote for other ideas via Microsoft Feedback. Subscribe to our Excel Blog and the Insiders Blog to get the latest updates. Stay connected with us and other Excel fans around the world – join our Excel Community and follow us on X, formerly Twitter. Special thanks to our Excel MVPs David Benaim, Bill Jelen, Alan Murray, and John Michaloudis for their contribution to this month's What's New in Excel article. David publishes weekly YouTube videos and regular LinkedIn posts about the latest innovations in Excel and more. Bill is the founder and host of MrExcel.com and the author of several books about Excel. Alan is an Excel trainer, author and speaker, best known for his blog computergaga.com and YouTube channel with the same name. John is the Founder & Chief Inspirational Officer at MyExcelOnline.com where he passionately teaches thousands of professionals how to use Excel to stand out from the crowd.
Regression: File hyperlinks with #Bookmark no longer work in Office 2601/2602
After updating to Office Version 2601/2602 (Current Channel / Current Channel Preview), file‑based hyperlinks that include a bookmark (e.g., C:\File.docx#Bookmark) no longer work. Office now rewrites the # as %23 and hands the link off to the default browser, which fails. This affects Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Project. Rolling back to Version 2409 immediately restores correct behavior. I previously had a build newer than 2409 that supported both working file‑bookmark hyperlinks and Excel’s cell‑level dark mode, so this appears to be a regression introduced in the 2601+ hyperlink resolver rather than a local configuration issue. If anyone else is seeing this behavior, please upvote or comment so the engineering team can prioritize it. As noted, it is not just Excel, but that is the most pressing need for me.App Skills is evolving with Copilot in Excel
We are continuing to streamline the ways people engage with Copilot in Excel, and we've heard your feedback that working across multiple Copilot entry points can feel fragmented. To address this, Copilot in Excel is transitioning toward a more unified experience so users can easily choose between conversational assistance and direct editing capabilities. As part of this effort, the editing capabilities that App Skills provided will be integrated into Copilot Chat and Agent Mode in Excel, which became generally available earlier this year. This update is part of our broader work to simplify the Copilot entry points and make it clearer how to interact with Copilot depending on the task. We know that when you find a workflow that works, change can feel disruptive. That's why we want to give you a clear picture of what's evolving in how you use Copilot in Excel and how these changes provide an even better experience. Why this change matters We've heard your feedback about wanting a more capable experience when working with Copilot inside the spreadsheet. The enhanced editing experience that Agent Mode introduced was built specifically to address this. It's designed to handle more complex requests, work across multiple steps, and give you greater control over how Copilot edits your workbooks. Rather than maintaining separate experiences that can feel fragmented, we're bringing everything together so you have: More power: Copilot with Agent Mode can now handle complex, multi-step reasoning tasks that go beyond what App Skills could do. Better clarity: You'll know exactly where to go depending on what you need—direct editing happens with Agent Mode; quick answers and simple actions work best in Copilot Chat. Continued innovation: By focusing on improvements toward a unified experience, we can deliver new capabilities faster. As part of this, we also plan to better integrate Agent Mode’s editing capabilities into the Copilot Chat experience in the coming months. What’s changing? App Skills entry points in Excel are going away. You will no longer find an App Skills button in the ribbon or be able to use App Skills from the context menu. Existing skills are consolidating into Copilot Chat and Agent Mode. When you want Copilot to make changes directly in your workbook, Agent Mode is designed to support many core editing tasks, such as creating or updating tables, applying formatting, or generating charts and PivotTables. Copilot Chat remains available for tasks that don’t require modifying content, such as interpretation or exploration of your data and using agents like Analyst. If you can open the App Skills chat pane and submit a prompt, you may receive an error message instead of a response. During this transition, some users may still see App Skills entry points for a short time. In some cases, opening the App Skills pane may result in an error message indicating that App Skills is no longer available. If this happens, you can continue your workflow using Agent Mode or Copilot Chat based on the type of assistance you need. When is it happening? This update is rolling out now. Depending on your Excel version, you may see the App Skills entry point up until the end of February. App Skill scenarios not yet available Certain scenarios that previously used App Skills—specifically the Advanced Analysis mode that used Python in Excel and advanced text analysis capabilities—are not yet available within Copilot Chat or Agent Mode. We are continuing to expand support for these capabilities in Copilot Chat and Agent Mode—watch for updates as these become available over time. Note: this was originally communicated to commercial customers via the M365 Message Center (MC1184407) on November 10, 2025.
Copying column widths and row heights from one sheet to another
Hello everyone. I have to reformat a rubbish PDF i get sent everyday so i can make it legible. i have arranged the cell widths and heights and cut and pasted the data but there are 14 columns and as many as 30 rows. I have this information on PDF everyday. Is there a way i can automate this so my sheets are all the same looking?Formula Help
I have a spreadsheet I use for bidding construction work. On items 1-40 the formula in cells G22-G65 work like they are supposed to. From G66 to G88 where the sheet stops, the formula returns #NAME?. I've checked the formula from G65 to G66 and below, and they appear to be correct. I can't figure out what the problem is. This is the formula that works. =IF(D65>0,'40'!Rate+$G$18,0) This is the formula that does not work. =IF(D66>0,'41'!Rate+$G$18,0) The '40' and '41' refer to individual sheets within the workbook that contain the data in the !Rate cell. I've been looking at this for hours and can't figure it out. Any help or advice would be great.
