Excel's Copilot function is headed for the Recycle Bin

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AI and Ml

Microsoft realizes the side pane should be enough for anyone

Richard Speed

Richard Speed

MICROSOFT ECOSYSTEM REPORTER

Published mon 17 Aug 2026 // 11:55 UTC

Microsoft will retire Excel's COPILOT() function on September 14, barely a year after its preview debut. Introduced in August 2025, initially for Beta Channel users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and later for Excel for the web users through the Frontier program, the COPILOT() function let users send instructions to the company's AI assistant directly from a worksheet cell. Microsoft has now decided the Copilot side pane should be enough for anyone. Beginning September 14, 2026, the COPILOT() function will no longer be available.

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Microsoft had planned to make the function generally available in 2027. It has now updated the Microsoft 365 roadmap to say: "We have decided not to move forward with this feature. We apologize for the inconvenience."

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According to a Microsoft 365 Message Center post, "this change helps streamline the Copilot experience within Excel while continuing to provide AI assistance through a supported interface."

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"Customers can continue using Copilot in Excel through the Copilot side pane, which provides many of the same AI-powered capabilities, including summarizing text, classifying data, generating content, and retrieving information from the web." Since the function remained in preview, spreadsheet wranglers should not have relied on it in production workflows. Anyone who did now has some formulas to replace. In its original announcement, Microsoft wrote: "Its output should be reviewed and validated for accuracy, especially for critical business decisions or reports." Hardly music to the ears of spreadsheet users, for whom accuracy tends to matter, but par for the course with AI services. Microsoft has spent recent months trying to make Copilot behave more consistently across its productivity applications. It has also responded to some user feedback – the Dynamic Action Button can, for example, be banished to the toolbar rather than left floating atop the content. With similar capabilities remaining in the side pane, Microsoft evidently decided that a dedicated worksheet function was surplus to requirements. Google Sheets still offers a similar AI function. The search giant announced the feature in June 2025. ®

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Excel's Copilot function is headed for the Recycle Bin

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