Microsoft Is Retiring Excel’s COPILOT() Function After Just One Year

Microsoft is retiring the COPILOT() function in Excel, ending roughly a year of testing. According to Message Center MC1454373, the function will become unavailable after September 14, 2026.

COPILOT() allowed users to describe tasks in natural language and receive AI-generated results directly inside spreadsheet cells. Microsoft offered the experimental function to Frontier and Insider customers.

COPILOT() handled text and web-based tasks

The function worked particularly well for tasks involving text summarization, classification, content generation, and web-based information lookup.

Users could enter natural-language instructions directly as part of a spreadsheet formula instead of opening a separate Copilot interface.

However, Microsoft did not recommend COPILOT() for numerical calculations. The company also advised against using it to retrieve information already stored inside a workbook or for content subject to legal and compliance requirements.

The feature required an active internet connection and a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription.

Microsoft says the formula is redundant

Microsoft is removing COPILOT() because Excel already provides other ways to access the same AI capabilities.

Users can continue working with Copilot through the Copilot side pane and the Dynamic Action Button (DAB). Microsoft is not removing the underlying AI features from Excel, only the dedicated spreadsheet function.

The retirement comes as Microsoft continues expanding Copilot elsewhere in Excel. The company is adding multi-agent web search to Copilot in Excel, giving the assistant more advanced capabilities for finding information online.

Microsoft is also unifying Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot into a single app as it simplifies how users access its AI tools across Microsoft 365.

Via Neowin