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Leila Gharani - XelPlus

Say goodbye to outdated reports

Published 8 months ago • 2 min read

It finally happened.

After 32 years of waiting… Pivot Tables can now refresh automatically. 🥳

No more “Did I refresh this already?”

Or worrying about sending outdated reports.

Turn it on once and your Pivot Tables will always show the latest data.

Of course, there are a few buts (we’ll get to those). But first...

♻️ How it works

New pivot tables: Auto Refresh is already on by default.

Existing pivot tables:

  1. Select your pivot table.
  2. Go to PivotTable Analyze.
  3. Toggle on Auto Refresh.

From now on, whenever the data changes, all pivot tables created from the same source update instantly.

Whether it's a new row (as long as your source is a proper table!) or a corrected value.

⚠️ A few caveats

  • Right now, Auto Refresh is only available for Insiders on the Beta update channel. General release will likely take some time.
  • It doesn’t work for pivot tables created from Power Query or the Data Model.
  • If Excel spots data in the way, it warns you first. Nothing gets overwritten unless you say so.
  • Working with large data? You can temporarily switch to Manual or Partial refresh in Formulas > Calculation Options to avoid slowness.

This update is a big deal. And another big point in pivot table's favor.

🤓 Geeky News

📒 Better OneNote tables

Let’s be honest, tables in OneNote haven’t exactly been… fun.

Good news: Microsoft finally fixed one of the biggest annoyances.

You can now merge table cells.

That means custom headers, grouped content, and a much cleaner look.

Just select the cells, right-click and Merge Cells.

Another welcome update: Paste as Text Only (Ctrl + Shift + V).

No more formatting chaos when copying content.

(Available now for OneNote Insiders.)

Those are small quality-of-life improvements. The big update to OneNote?...

🤖 Copilot Notebooks is your AI experience for OneNote

OneNote now comes with a dedicated Copilot section.

Here’s what it can do:

  • Get context from the project files gathered in one place
  • Follow your custom instructions for each notebook
  • Help you brainstorm, draft, research
  • Even generate audio overviews of your notes

Currently available on work accounts with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.

🤔 Did You Know?

If you turn on Auto Refresh for your pivot tables, make sure you also turn off this setting.

Especially if you’ve built a dashboard and positioned everything just right.

  1. Right-click on the pivot table.
  2. Select PivotTable Options.
  3. In Layout & Format, uncheck Autofit column widths on update.

Now your beautifully aligned dashboard will stay exactly as you set it.

👏 Python in Excel wins hearts

Huge congrats to Merek and Bhavik for completing Python in Excel For the Real World! 🎉

As students, both were very active, questioning, and supportive of other learners. That's what I love about the XelPlus community.

It's also great to hear that, despite initial hesitations, both Merek and Bhavik are already enhancing their analysis with Python.

Merek Roman

Economist

This course shows how to combine Python's powerful data analysis capabilities with Excel's familiar interface. As someone with intermediate experience in both Python and Excel, I found this particularly valuable.

Made a great chart analyzing natural gas storage data from the EIA and having it be flexible with different years. I feel like I have the next generation data exploration for data analysis.

Bhavik Khatri

Senior Commercial Analyst

Not long ago, I was a self-declared 'pythophobe,' hesitant to dive into Python. I feared the learning curve would be steep and the content overwhelming.

Now I’m confidently using Python to enhance my data analysis skills. I have already applied my learning to budget salary analysis, developing clear visualisations and extracting valuable insights. An exciting step forward in my analytics journey.

That's the kind of transformation I love to see. Real skills put to real use.

See you next week,

Leila

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Leila Gharani - XelPlus

Helping you easily overcome data challenges with Excel & Power BI

XelPlus is a leading online education company, providing training courses for Excel, Power BI, Finance, and Google Sheets. XelPlus’ bestselling courses are popular among financial analysts, CFO’s, and business owners. Technology is changing fast. We help our members turn confusion into confidence with every skill learnt.

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