MS Excel Copilot: AI-Assisted Spreadsheets for Everyday Work

AI assistance has arrived in Excel, changing what is possible for everyday spreadsheet users. In this 3-hour hands-on session, participants explore how to use Microsoft Copilot in Excel to tackle common tasks more efficiently: building formulas through conversation, summarizing datasets, spotting patterns, and generating charts without digging through menus.

This course is designed for people who use Excel regularly but want to work more confidently and get more out of their data. Whether you spend time on budgets, tracking, reporting, or analysis, you will have the opportunity to see how Copilot can reduce friction and help you move from raw data to useful output faster. A basic working familiarity with 
Excel is helpful, but no advanced skills are required.

Learners will have the opportunity to:
1. Navigate the Copilot interface within Excel and understand how it integrates with spreadsheet data
2. Generate and troubleshoot formulas using natural language prompts
3. Summarize and explore data sets by asking Copilot questions in conversational language
4. Create charts and visual summaries with AI assistance
5. Apply Copilot to realistic spreadsheet tasks drawn from common workplace scenarios

Topics:
1. Copilot in Excel: What It Is and How It Works -- where Copilot lives in the Excel interface, what data it can access, and how it differs from standard Excel features
2. Asking Questions About Your Data -- using natural language to explore, filter, and summarize data sets
3. Formula Assistance -- generating, explaining, and troubleshooting formulas through conversation
4. Charting and Visualization -- requesting charts and visual summaries and refining them with follow-up prompts
5. Formatting and Organization -- using Copilot to clean, sort, and restructure spreadsheet content
6. Practical Scenarios and Limitations -- applying Copilot to realistic workplace tasks and understanding where it works well and where to verify its output
 

Prerequisites:
You must have a Microsoft Copilot license to participate in any hands-on exercises.
If you do not have an MS Copilot license, Stanford affiliates can visit the Microsoft 365 Copilot Ordering Instructions page at https://software.stanford.edu/software/copilot/order for step-by-step instructions. For non-Stanford affiliates, you can get started here: https://copilot.microsoft.com/. You can also get a free trial at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-copilot/pricing/individuals.

If you have a Microsoft 365 account that includes Copilot or a Microsoft 365 account along with a Copilot Pro subscription, you will see the Copilot icon in the Microsoft 365 app (far-right side of the ribbon).