Microsoft Excel has announced (opens in a new tab) some changes are set to make the formulas easier to use and even more powerful.
The spreadsheet software web user-focused updates, all-inclusive Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), even those without access to the full desktop client, with a few updates, will remove the list of Windows and macOS client features.
The first change for web users is the introduction of formula suggestions, which take into account contextual data to suggest a number of supported formulas, including SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTA, MIN, and MAX .
Excel Formula Suggestions
For now, it will only be available for accounts set up in English. Microsoft hopes this will not only save users time, but also allow them to “learn more about Excel formulas like [they] use them.”
The second big change is what the company calls a formula by example and is like a sort of autofill. After users complete a series of similar entries, the web version of Excel can now recommend content for the remaining cells based on their previous actions.
Other improvements to the way Excel can now handle data include a tool that can detect broken cloud workbook links so the data in your spreadsheets stays up to date and active, also has a new search bar in the query pane for faster navigation.
Finally, Excel web now supports images inside cells, where they previously floated on top of worksheets: a change that was first spotted on the company’s website. route (opens in a new tab) early November 2022. Pulling an image from the source location also yields metadata like alt text. The feature is also currently available on Windows and macOS versions of the desktop Excel client.
According to the blog post, the features are on the way, which means some users may not be able to use the updates yet, and some features are exclusive to Windows Insiders.
