Here are all the new features Microsoft added to Excel in April 2026

Microsoft rolls out smarter Copilot editing in Excel with multi-step plans, Python integration, and improved collaboration tools.

We are racing towards the end of April 2026, and as expected, Microsoft has begun publishing its round-ups for popular software. This time, to kick things off, we have Excel. For those unaware with this format, the Redmond tech firm typically recaps all the new capabilities it introduced to its spreadsheet software during the past four weeks.

Just like March 2026, this month may seem like a relatively quieter roundup too. The previous month introduced three new features, while April 2026 just has two. However, one of these two features is actually a collection of capabilities.

Basically, Microsoft has introduced new Edit with Copilot features across Excel for Windows, Mac, and the web. There's a new switcher UX that allows you to switch between Chat only and Allow editing. The former answers your questions without editing your file, while the latter actively makes changes to your content based on your prompts. Microsoft says that it has enabled Allow editing for "many" eligible users by default.

In the same vein, Copilot can now generate a multi-step plan to make changes to your content. For example, if you ask Copilot to "Make a dashboard based on this data", it will explain to you its insights about how your data can be structured and visualized, along with any formula adjustments. Once you approve this execution plan, Copilot will get to work and build the dashboard on your behalf. This feature allows you to confidently utilize Copilot for complex agentic tasks.

Additionally, changes made by Copilot after a prompt will be highlighted for one turn with a visual indicator so you can revert or make adjustments, if needed. Finally, Python can be leveraged in Edit with Copilot. The AI assistant will either do this automatically, or you could even invoke this capability manually if you feel like utilizing the programming language would be better.

That's all for the first collection of enhancements. The second is just a small upgrade that modernizes the comments experience on iOS. The revamped interface is designed to be streamlined so you can easily collaborate with others, even while using Excel on your phone.

As stated previously, this was a much more feature-packed month compared to the previous one. Excel customers will be hoping that May 2026 brings similarly useful updates too.

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Posted Wednesday 29 April 2026 at 7:44 am AEST (my time).

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