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Microsoft’s October 2026 announcement describes five Copilot experiences for Excel: Interactive Canvas for reporting, Skill Builder and Skill Recorder for reusable workflows, Get Data for conversational importing, and Clean Data for spotting issues before analysis. They address different stages of working with a workbook; Microsoft’s rollout notes describe staged availability, not access for every Excel user.
What the five Excel Copilot features do
Microsoft presents the additions as a workflow: bring information into Excel, prepare it, reuse recurring processes, and communicate findings. The features are distinct tools rather than five versions of the same assistant.
| Feature | Best-fit task | What Microsoft says it does |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive Canvas | Report findings | Turns workbook data into an interactive, report-like canvas that can be tailored through conversation. |
| Skill Builder | Make a described workflow reusable | Uses instructions, earlier prompts, or completed examples to create a reusable skill. |
| Skill Recorder | Make a demonstrated workflow reusable | Observes a user performing a recurring task and turns the demonstrated process into a reusable skill. |
| Get Data | Bring in source data | Accepts a conversational request describing the needed data, its source, and how it should be shaped. |
| Clean Data | Check data before analysis | Identifies potential data problems, explains what it found, and recommends corrections. |
Turn workbook information into a report
Interactive Canvas
Microsoft says Interactive Canvas can turn workbook data into a polished, interactive view for uses such as executive reviews, project updates, and status reports. The canvas is described as remaining connected to the workbook, so changes to the underlying data can be reflected in it. Users can refine the report conversationally, for example by changing its layout, surfacing another insight, or tailoring it for an audience. Microsoft describes the feature in its Excel Blog announcement.
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Make recurring Excel work reusable
Skill Builder: describe the workflow
Skill Builder is the instruction-led option. A user can provide a preferred workflow as instructions, previous prompts, or completed examples; Microsoft says Copilot can use that material to create a reusable skill.
Skill Recorder: demonstrate the workflow
Skill Recorder is the demonstration-led option. Rather than explaining the process, the user performs a recurring task in Excel, and Microsoft says Copilot observes the actions and turns them into a reusable skill. The announcement does not promise that every action will be captured perfectly or that a recorded skill will execute flawlessly in every context.
The practical distinction is how you teach the process: explain or provide examples with Skill Builder, or demonstrate it with Skill Recorder.
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Get Data: ask for an import
Get Data is designed for conversational importing. Instead of manually building a Power Query query, a user describes what data is needed, where it should come from, and how it should be shaped. Microsoft’s announcement does not establish that every source or transformation is supported, so users should verify the resulting import and query for their specific task.
Clean Data: identify potential problems
Clean Data is intended to flag issues before analysis, explain what it found, and recommend corrections. Microsoft’s examples include duplicate records, inconsistent formatting, incorrect data types, and inconsistent labels such as “USA,” “US,” and “United States” in the same column. These are examples, not an exhaustive list or an independent accuracy guarantee. Review proposed corrections against the meaning of your data before applying them.
Availability and rollout status
Microsoft’s October 2026 announcement reported different rollout stages for each feature. These are announcement-time statuses; staged deployment means availability can vary, and the status may have changed since then.
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| Feature | Availability stated in Microsoft’s October 2026 announcement |
|---|---|
| Interactive Canvas | Available in Insiders. |
| Skill Builder | Rollout to general availability had begun in October. |
| Skill Recorder | Expected to be available in Insiders by the end of October. |
| Get Data | Expected to roll out to general availability in mid-October through the web app. |
| Clean Data | Rollout to general availability had begun during October. |
The announcement does not provide country-by-country rollout dates, exact license requirements, or complete eligibility rules. Microsoft also cautions: “This feature is subject to service capacity and usage limits, which may vary over time.” The qualification appears in Microsoft’s Excel Blog announcement.
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- Use Interactive Canvas when the goal is to turn workbook information into a report that can be tailored for an audience.
- Use Skill Builder when you can explain a recurring process or provide prompts and examples.
- Use Skill Recorder when it is easier to show the task than describe it.
- Use Get Data when you want to describe an import and its desired shape conversationally.
- Use Clean Data when you want help finding potential inconsistencies before analysis, while checking recommended changes yourself.
Microsoft’s announcement reports no measured accuracy, adoption, productivity, or time-saving figures for these experiences, so there is no evidence-based basis for ranking them by benefit.
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