Microsoft Brings AI-Powered Get Data Feature to Excel for the Web

Microsoft is introducing a new Copilot feature in Excel for the web that will allow users to import, transform, and load data using natural language prompts.

The addition follows five new Copilot features Microsoft recently introduced to Excel and aims to make data preparation easier for users who are unfamiliar with Power Query.

According to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, users will be able to describe what data they need and how they want to transform it, while Copilot handles the technical steps.

Excel Copilot will handle data imports and transformations

The new Get Data skill will allow users to prepare data without manually building Power Query transformations.

Instead of navigating through multiple menus, users will be able to tell Copilot what information they want to retrieve and how they want to organize it.

Copilot will then retrieve the data, apply the requested transformations, and load the results into an Excel worksheet.

The feature will also generate a Power Query script that performs the operation, giving users access to the underlying transformation steps.

This could simplify tasks such as cleaning imported datasets, removing unnecessary columns, or reorganizing information before analysis.

Users will be able to edit Copilot-generated Power Query scripts

Microsoft will also allow users to review the Power Query scripts that Copilot generates.

Users can open the scripts in Power Query’s Advanced Editor and make manual adjustments if the generated transformations need corrections.

This means users won’t have to rely entirely on Copilot’s output and can still control how Excel processes their data.

However, Microsoft has not clarified whether Copilot will support editing existing Power Query scripts or only creating new ones.

When will the new Excel Copilot feature arrive?

Microsoft plans to introduce the new Get Data capability in Excel for the web later this week, according to its roadmap.

The company has not yet provided a complete list of supported data sources or explained how Copilot will handle existing Power Query queries.

The update comes as Microsoft continues expanding Copilot across its productivity apps. The company is also bringing automatic template-based replies to New Outlook in December.

Meanwhile, Google is also improving its spreadsheet software, recently introducing new chart capabilities and Excel support in Google Sheets.