Using Copilot in Excel: AI-Powered Data Analysis and Automation

Want to analyze your Excel data faster without writing complex formulas? Copilot in Excel brings AI-powered insights directly to your spreadsheet, letting you ask questions in plain language and get instant calculations, summaries, and visualizations. This guide shows you how, step-by-step.

1. Understand Copilot in Excel’s Core Functions

By default, Copilot in Excel analyzes your data and generates formulas but only works when you give it clear instructions. So before you start using Copilot, you must:

• Organize your data in a clean table with headers
• Know what questions you want to ask about your data

2. Step-by-Step: Using Copilot for Data Analysis

✅ Step 1: Set Up Your Data for Copilot

1. Open your Excel file with the data you want to analyze
2. Select your data range and press Ctrl+T to convert it to a table
3. Make sure your table has clear headers (like Sales, Region, Date, Product)
4. Save your file to OneDrive or SharePoint for best Copilot performance

✅ Step 2: Open Copilot and Ask Your First Question

1. Go to the Home tab in the Excel ribbon
2. Click Copilot button (or look for the Copilot icon near the top-right)
3. Select the data table you want analyzed
4. In the Copilot pane, type a question like “Summarize total sales by region”

Now Copilot will analyze your data and suggest insights, formulas, or visualizations. The rest remains fully under your control.

3. Tips for Better Copilot Analysis

• Use specific column names in your questions to tell Copilot exactly what to analyze
• Combine with formulas to create powerful automated reports
• Ask follow-up questions to refine results—if the first answer isn’t perfect, clarify and ask again

4. Bonus: Generate Formulas with Copilot (Advanced Prompts)

Want even more control? You can ask Copilot to create specific formulas for complex calculations. Here’s an example:

Prompt: "Create a formula that calculates year-over-year growth 
where Sales for 2025 divided by Sales for 2024, then multiply by 100 
to show percentage growth"

Copilot generates:
=((2025_Sales - 2024_Sales) / 2024_Sales) * 100

Or ask: "Build a formula to sum all sales in the East region 
where the product category is 'Premium'"

Copilot generates:
=SUMIFS(Sales, Region, "East", Category, "Premium")

This approach lets Copilot handle the formula syntax while you focus on the business logic.

Troubleshooting Copilot Analysis

Sometimes users say that Copilot isn’t giving useful results or suggestions.

1. Check if your data is really organized in a proper table with headers in the first row.
2. Make sure Copilot is activated—you need a Microsoft 365 subscription with Copilot included.
3. Review your questions to be more specific—include column names and the type of analysis you want.

Another common issue is that Copilot’s suggestions don’t match what you expected.

• Make sure your question includes enough detail (not just “analyze this” but “show top 5 products by revenue”).
• Ask Copilot to explain its recommendation so you can refine the request.
• Try rephrasing your question using different words or more column names.

Learning how to use Copilot in Excel is a great way to balance speed with accuracy. You don’t have to spend hours building formulas and reports—just ask Copilot to do the heavy lifting and focus on interpreting the results.

Try it out and create smarter, faster spreadsheet analysis today!