Microsoft Copilot in Excel: What It Can Do in 2026
Copilot in Excel has evolved tremendously since its launch. In March 2026, the Edit with Copilot feature arrived — you select any range of cells and AI suggests transformations, formulas, and improvements. The new Agent Mode allows Copilot to directly modify your spreadsheet, not just propose changes.
What Copilot in Excel can actually do:
- Write formulas — Tell it "calculate year-over-year revenue growth" and get a ready-made VLOOKUP/INDEX/MATCH
- Analyze data — "What are the top 5 products by margin?" → Pivot table + chart
- Create charts — "Make a column chart of monthly sales" → Ready-to-use chart
- Clean data — Deduplication, formatting, categorization
- Import from PDF — Extracts tables from financial statements into Excel
Microsoft itself warns that Copilot in Excel cannot be used for tasks requiring precision and reproducibility. Results may contain subtle errors and oversights. Always manually verify AI-generated formulas before using them for important decisions.
Additional limitations: Data must be in table format (Ctrl+T), file must be on OneDrive with AutoSave, limit of 100 calls per 10 minutes.
Pricing: Microsoft 365 Copilot Business costs $18/user/month (promotional price through June 2026, then $21). Enterprise version is $30/user/month. The free version of Copilot in Excel for business users ends April 15, 2026.
Google Gemini in Google Sheets: A Powerful Free Alternative
Google takes a different approach — Gemini is included in Workspace pricing (from $7/user/month) and offers features that Microsoft charges separately for.
Main features of Gemini in Sheets (March 2026):
- Create tables from prompts — "Create a table to track monthly expenses" → Complete formatted table
- Fill with Gemini — Automatic cell population with real data from Google Search (market cap, company locations, current exchange rates)
- Formula generation — Same as Copilot, but in Google Sheets environment
- Optimization solver — Solves logistics problems (budget allocation, shift planning, supply chain)
Advantage over Copilot: Gemini can pull contextual information from Gmail, Chat, Drive, and the web. If you say "create a project overview from my recent emails" — it will do it.
Disadvantage: Cannot process hundreds of rows at once (Google Sheets timeout limits) and some features are still in beta.
5 Alternative AI Tools for Spreadsheets
Both Copilot and Gemini have their limits. Here are 5 specialized tools that solve specific problems:
| Tool | Best For | Free Tier | Paid Version | Works With |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SheetAI | Bulk text work (product descriptions, sentiment) | 3 uses/day | $5.99/month | Google Sheets |
| Numerous.ai | Formula generation via /ask command | 100 credits/month | $49/month | Sheets + Excel |
| Julius AI | Conversational data analysis + visualization | Yes (limited) | $16/month | Upload CSV/Excel |
| GPTExcel | Quick answers about formulas | 4 queries/day | $6.99/month | Web app |
| Rows.com | Full spreadsheet replacement with built-in AI | Yes (personal) | From $30/month | Own platform |
Best price-to-performance ratio for most users: SheetAI at $5.99/month as a Google Sheets add-on, or Julius AI at $16/month for data analysis without coding.
Practical Guide: How to Get Started in 5 Minutes (Free)
You don't need to pay for Copilot or any add-on. Here's the fastest way to start using AI in spreadsheets today:
Option A: Google Sheets + Gemini (Free)
- Open sheets.google.com and create a new spreadsheet
- Click the "Ask Gemini" button in the top right
- Write a natural language request: "Create a table to track monthly expenses with categories: food, housing, transportation, entertainment"
- Gemini creates the structure automatically
- For formulas: Type a request in a cell and use "Help me organize"
- For charts: Select data → Explore → Gemini suggests appropriate visualizations
Option B: Excel + ChatGPT (Side-by-Side)
- Open Excel and ChatGPT (chatgpt.com) side by side
- Describe your data: "I have a table with monthly sales in columns A–D. I need a formula for a 3-month moving average."
- ChatGPT generates the formula — copy it into Excel
- For analysis: Export data as CSV → Upload to ChatGPT → "Analyze the trends in this data"
This template works with any AI tool:
"I have [data description] in columns [A–X]. I need a formula that [what it should do]. I want the result in column [Y]. I'm using [Excel/Google Sheets]. Explain the formula step by step."
The more precisely you describe your data structure, the better the formula you'll get.
What to Watch Out For
AI in spreadsheets isn't error-free. Here are the most common issues you'll encounter:
- Bad formulas — AI sometimes generates formulas that look right but have subtle errors (wrong range, missing absolute references). Always verify on sample data.
- Limits with large datasets — Most tools slow down or timeout with hundreds of rows. For big data, consider Python (pandas) or SQL.
- Data protection — Data uploaded to cloud AI services may be processed on third-party servers. For sensitive company data, use local tools or verify the provider's GDPR compliance.
- Data format — AI works best when you have clean data in a proper table (headers in first row, no merged cells, no blank rows in the middle).
- Language — Both Copilot and Gemini are trained primarily on English. Czech prompts work, but English ones often give more precise results.
You don't need to pay for expensive Copilot to have AI in your spreadsheets. Google Sheets + Gemini is free and sufficient for most use cases. If you need more, SheetAI at $5.99/month or Julius AI at $16/month cover 90% of needs. The key is starting simple — one formula, one analysis — and gradually expanding.
Sources
- Microsoft 365 Copilot — Pricing Plans
- Google Workspace + Gemini Updates (March 2026)
- Numerous.ai — AI for Spreadsheets
- Julius AI — Conversational Data Analysis
Ready to Supercharge Your Spreadsheets?
Spreadsheets are where most business work lives—and they're where AI can have the biggest immediate impact. If your team spends hours building formulas, cleaning data, or creating charts, AI can cut that time by 70%.
At White Veil Industries, we help teams and companies integrate AI into their spreadsheet workflows. From formula generation to data analysis to automated reporting—we've helped teams shift from manual grunt work to strategic decision-making.
Book a Discovery Call → and let's talk about how to unlock the power of AI in your spreadsheets.
