Agent Mode in Excel

Important: Agent Mode in Excel is available in Excel for the web with a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot license or a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription. It is not yet available to customers in the EU. Agent Mode in Excel for Windows is currently only available in the Insiders Beta Channel as Agent Mode (Frontier). Note that this feature is being gradually released over the next few weeks. You may not be able to use this feature yet.

Agent Mode lets you build and edit workbooks side by side with Copilot. When you're updating budgets, creating financial models, or analyzing data, Agent Mode uses Excel's most powerful tools like tables, charts, PivotTables, and formulas to help you get the job done.

Agent Mode updates your workbook using Excel's built-in features, so your content stays editable and synced with the latest changes. You're in control of everything that's modified—at any time.

Start screen for Agent Mode in Excel

Agent Mode is best for complex, multi-step tasks like reshaping data, merging sheets, or building reports with multiple elements. Note that for complex requests, Agent Mode may take a few minutes to generate an initial response and refine it, while it's running, you’ll see its reasoning in the pane. For conversational help and tasks that don’t change your workbook, M365 Copilot Chat may be a better choice. For simple, one-step tasks—like inserting a single chart or PivotTable—Excel’s Recommended Charts and Recommended PivotTables may be faster.

Before you use Agent Mode, please note the following:

Access to this feature requires an enterprise Microsoft 365 Copilot license or a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.
Agent Mode in Excel is currently available in English (US), Spanish (Spain, Mexico, Japanese, French (France, Canada), German, Portuguese (Brazil), Italian and Chinese (Simplified).
Agent Mode uses the latest Open AI models that are the default in Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Support for Excel for Windows, Excel for Mac, and additional languages are coming soon.
To try out preview features such as the latest Anthropic models, see “Frontier features in Agent Mode”

Where to find Agent Mode in Copilot chat

Create a new workbook in Excel for the web.

Tip: Use https://excel.new to quickly create new Excel workbooks.
Select Home > Copilot and open Copilot chat.
Select the Tools menu and choose Agent Mode .

Prompts to try

Create an annual financial close report for a bike shop business, including a breakdown of product lines across variance to budget (VTB) and year-over-year growth. Use dummy data for now, as well as standard financial formatting and best practices.
Build a loan calculator that computes monthly payments based on user inputs for loan amount, annual interest rate, and term in years. Generate a schedule showing month, payment, principal, interest, and remaining balance. Present the results in a clear, formatted table.
Create a monthly household budget tracker with categories like Rent, Groceries, Utilities, Entertainment, Transportation, and Savings. Apply conditional formatting and data bars for % Over/Under Budget. Add a summary section showing planned versus actual spending with a donut chart to visualize spending distribution.

What to expect

After you submit a prompt, Agent Mode analyzes your task and creates a step-by-step plan. It works directly in your document to carry out that plan, review the results, and evaluate whether the outcome matches your intent. To learn more about how Agent Mode works, see the Building Agent Mode in Excel blog post.

You can watch Agent Mode's reasoning in the pane and see it make changes live in your workbook.

The agent processing a prompt and telling the user that it is reasoning through a plan.

 The agent reporting what progress has been made and what still remains.

Agent Mode may take a few minutes before completing. While it's running, you’ll see its reasoning in the pane. To stop or pause at any time, press the Stop button in the chat input box.

Other notes and tips

Be careful when working with sensitive or shared files in Agent Mode. Agent Mode makes direct changes to your workbook. If you need to revert your changes, you can easily undo changes or view prior versions at any time.
Agent Mode only works with the currently open workbook. It can't access other files, emails, or enterprise data.
You can opt to disable Web Search for your session by selecting Sources > Web Search.
Enterprise search, or integration with external tools are not supported.
Agent Mode is only supported when Calculation Options are set to "Automatic".
To send feedback, use the thumbs up/down buttons. If you’re part of the Frontier early access program, check your program welcome email or the Frontier portal for special feedback channels or surveys.
For questions about licensing or access, enterprise users should contact their IT admin or Microsoft account representative.
Performance and available features may change during early rollout. You might notice some variability in response times as capacity evolves.

Frontier features available in Agent Mode

Important: This section focuses on Frontier preview capabilities available in Agent Mode (Frontier) in Excel.

The Frontier program gives customers early, hands-on access to experimental Microsoft 365 Copilot innovations right in their own environment. The AI features designated as "Frontier" are previews, built for evaluation and feedback purposes. As these features are still in development, their availability and capabilities may change at any time.

You will be able to give a thumbs up or thumbs down on your experiences while using Agent Mode (Frontier) to shape the direction and quality of Agent Mode. If you’re part of the Frontier early access program, check your program welcome email or the Frontier portal for special feedback channels or surveys.

How to access Agent Mode (Frontier) in Excel

Note: Agent Mode (Frontier) in Excel is available on Excel for the web and Excel for Windows (within the Insiders Beta Channel) with a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot license or a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscription as part of the Frontier program.

If you have a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot license:

Your admin must enable Frontier access for your organization.
In Excel for Windows, you must be in the Beta Channel. Your admin will need to allow you access to Beta Channel using the Microsoft 365 Insider Program (for business).

If you have a Microsoft 365 Personal, Family (primary account holder), or Premium subscription:

In Excel for the web, turn on Frontier features through File > Options > Copilot Settings.
In Excel for Windows, you must join the Microsoft 365 Insider program and select the Beta Channel.

Try Claude

Before submitting a prompt, you can select which model you prefer to use, Agent Mode (Frontier) in Excel supports the latest Anthropic and Open AI models. To toggle between models, use the model picker dropdown.

If you have a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot license, your admin must allow access to Anthropic AI models by allowing "AI providers for other large language models" in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Learn more about using Claude in Agent Mode (Frontier) in Excel.

Model dropdown to use when picking different models to use.