Copilot Sidebar

You can find the Copilot icon in two places:

• On the Home ribbon
• As a floating button within the worksheet
• To open the Copilot sidebar:
  1. Click the Copilot icon on the Home ribbon.
  2. Start typing your question or explore suggested actions based on your spreadsheet content.

Suggested Actions Panel

When you open Copilot, a set of intelligent suggestions will appear based on your data and recent activity. Examples include:

• Suggest a formula column
• Summarize using PivotTables or charts
• Highlight cells based on a condition
• Create tables based on email content
• Perform analysis using Python
• Calculate values using specific criteria

These prompts can be clicked directly to initiate powerful actions without manual input.

Prompt Window Tools

Type your request directly into the Message Copilot prompt bar, or click the “+” icon to reveal additional tools:

• View Prompts – Browse a curated gallery of common Excel-related prompts to help you get started quickly.
• Add an Image – Upload an image containing data or charts to receive AI insights.
• Ask an Agent – Access Copilot Agents designed for specific tasks or datasets. These can assist with more specialized or repetitive workflows.

Speak with Copilot (Audio Input)

Click the microphone icon to speak your request instead of typing. Copilot will return a written response based on your voice input.
Note: Voice interaction is being rolled out gradually and may not be available to all users or on all platforms at this time.

Manage Content Preferences

Control how Copilot generates responses:

Web content (toggle) – Enable or disable Copilot’s ability to reference web-based data in addition to Microsoft 365 content.
Note: When this toggle is turned off, Copilot will only use data from your University of Iowa Microsoft 365 account.

Copilot also provides dynamic assistance directly within the worksheet based on your selections.

When cells are selected

After selecting one or more cells and clicking the Copilot icon nearby, Copilot will provide suggestions specific to the context of the selected data. Common options include:

• Create a Customized Table – Format and structure your selected data into a professional table.
• Explain this Formula – When available, Copilot can help you understand existing formulas.
• Get Deeper Analysis Results – Receive AI-generated summaries or insights based on the selected range.
• Suggest a Formula Column – Copilot will infer and recommend a column formula relevant to your data.
• Suggest Conditional Formatting – Highlight key patterns or outliers based on data logic.
• Summarize using PivotTables or Charts – Quickly visualize data trends.
• Teach Me Something About Excel – Receive contextual learning tips based on your activity.
• Chat with Copilot – Opens the sidebar prompt with your selected data in context, allowing more customized interaction.

Copilot Suggestion Box (after generating content)

Once Copilot has generated a suggestion, you’ll see options to:

• Keep it – Insert the generated response or formula into your sheet.
• Regenerate – Request an alternative version using the same instructions.
• Discard – Remove the suggestion.
• Describe changes – Enter feedback or adjustments to refine the response.
• Suggestion Selector – Use the left and right arrows at the top of the suggestion box to browse through multiple AI-generated options.