Everything new in Microsoft Excel for the month of January 2023

Microsoft has released a list highlighting all the new features that made it to Microsoft Excel in January. We’ve already seen a couple of these features like the new tooltips designed to help users check their formulas directly in the formula bar as well as the Action Recorder that lets users record repetitive spreadsheet tasks.

This post will highlight key features that made it to Excel this past month. Here’s everything you need to know:

Excel for the web

First up is the added capability that allows users to check the source data for a PivotTable value cell thus allowing them to better understand how values in the table were calculated.

To access this feature, simply “Double-click or right-click and choose Show Details from a value cell in your PivotTable to create a new sheet with the detailed rows for that cell”. Microsoft has also incorporated a new button that lets you achieve the same from the PivotTable tab of the ribbon.

Excel for Windows

Microsoft has added a new capability that allows users to automate their tasks using the Power Automate tab. This feature lets users create and modify scripts that will in turn automate repetitive tasks using Office Scripts. What’s more, you can link apps like Microsoft Teams or SharePoint to build workflows with Power Automate.

Next up, is the Action Recorder which lets you automate repetitive worksheet tasks. Previously, users were heavily dependent on the Office Scripts Code Editor to create and modify automation using JavaScript and TypeScript.

And finally, you can check your formula with the new value preview tooltips by selecting any part of the formula that you want to review. Excel will automatically show you a tooltip that features the current value of the specific section you selected.

Excel for Mac

The Mac client is also getting the same features as the Windows client, that is, the Action Recorder feature, the capability to automate tasks using the Power Automate tab as well as the new value preview tooltips for formulas.

To get information on which features are available to you or find which version of Microsoft Excel you’re on, you can visit the Excel Features Flyer site. That’s it for the month of January folks! Be sure to also check out December’s recap post in case you missed it.