Microsoft Kills Excel Copilot Function After Only 1 Year in Preview

Excel's Copilot function is headed for the Recycle Bin

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. 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." 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." "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. ®

Microsoft is dropping its Excel Copilot function after only a year - and without ever getting a full public launch

* Microsoft Excel is pulling the COPILOT () function * Function allowed users to describe tasks in natural language, including as part of a formula * It never reached public launch, and has now been overtaken by other tools Microsoft is dropping its COPILOT function in Excel as part of its wide-ranging overhauls to the AI platform. In a Message Center alert, the company warned users that the tool will be pulled on September 14, 2026. First announced in August 2025 and originally set for launch in January 2027, the tool has been in testing for over a year with Frontier and Insider users, but Microsoft has apparently decided not to move forward with its service. Copilot dismissed At launch, Microsoft had described the COPILOT () function as helping users to describe tasks in natural language, including as part of a formula, before receiving the results created by Copilot, in their cells, without needing to open up a separate Copilot window It proved an initial hit for tasks such as text summarization, classification, content generation, and looking up information on the Internet. Some examples of =COPILOT's use cases include summarizing customer feedback, categorizing data, integrating external knowledge and formatting. In its most simple form, a function might look like "=COPILOT(prompt_part1, [context1])" - though context is optional. Microsoft did say the function should not be used for numerical calculations, which might have been a major use cases for many - as well as saying users should avoid using it for gathering and finding information already stored inside a workbook or for content subject due to legal and compliance requirements. So what's next? Microsoft explained that it is removing the COPILOT() function as it believes Excel cam already provide other, more effective ways to access the same AI capabilities. Users can continue working with Copilot through both the Copilot side panel and the floating Dynamic Action Button (DAB), making a dedicated function slightly redundant. The move comes as Microsoft makes a number of changes to AI capabilities within Excel as user demands continue to evolve and change. This includes a new update to Copilot in Excel aimed specifically at finance workers, positioning the spreadsheet software as an AI-powered tool for financial modelling, forecasting and reporting. Via Neowin Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.