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Welcome back to Between the Sheets. Exciting updates have been rolling out in the Excel world, and weโve got everything you need to stay ahead. Today, we cover:
๐ Python in Excel Now AvailablePython is now rolling out to all Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise users on Windows! Itโs a powerful feature for data analysis. You can create charts with it that you couldn't create with standard Excel features. Learn more about the availability here. How to Check if You Have It:Go to the Formulas tab and look for โInsert Python.โ Get Started with Python in ExcelWhen I think of using Python in Excel, three specific tasks come to mind:
When Python was first released in the Microsoft Insiders Beta, I tested it to see what it could do. Iโve shared my results in this blog post. You can also download the Practice File and start exploring Python in Excel. Note: Python is included in the Microsoft 365 subscription, with an optional paid add-on for faster performance (I doubt though it's really optional if you want to use it effectively). ๐ Advanced Data Analysis with Copilot & Python in ExcelThe great thing about Copilot is that it can create your Python code right within Excel. It uses Python libraries to generate, explain, and insert the code into your sheet. No coding skills needed. So in theory, even if you don't know much Python, you should be able to get your code. But obviously, it's never a good idea to trust the AI results without understanding the implications. So it does pay off to learn some Python if you're planning to use it. At the moment, only US-based Insiders with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license can access this feature. So I haven't been able to test it yet. ๐ Microsoft filling requests...The Excel MVP community is abuzz with a new discovery in the View tab in the Beta Insiders version. A long-requested feature that until now required VBA workarounds or third-party add-ins. โFocus Cell highlights the row and column of the selected cell. This directs your sight to the right headers of the value you're looking at. You never lose the context of what you're seeing. It's a very welcome addition. Hopefully it will make its way to general availability soon. Another long overdue request - dark mode in Power BI. Personally, I'm not a fan of dark mode, but it has been widely requested ever since it was removed back in 2019. Now it's back by popular demand. The question is "whose demand?" This Reddit post made us laugh. It sums up the whole situation pretty well. Anyways, now you can switch between light and dark mode so that everybody's happy ๐ ๐ Power StoriesWeโre excited to announce that the first certificates and badges for the Excel Pivot Table Essentials course have been issued! Congratulations to Bhaskar for successfully completing the course. He's taken multiple courses and I'm SO impressed by his dedication. Thank you for the kind and thorough review. ๐ Your feedback helps us continue to improve and support smart learners like you. Got a success story about using your XelPlus skills? Iโd love to hear it! Hit reply to share the details, and inspire other students ๐ See you next week, Leila Want more?โถ๏ธ Subscribe on YouTubeโ ๐๏ธ Follow us on LinkedInโ ๐ฅ Join 400,000+ students in our coursesโ ๐ฃ Want to sponsor Between the Sheets? Get in touch here. ๐จ If you were forwarded this message, you can get the free weekly email here. This newsletter contains affiliate links, which give us a small commission on any purchase made at no cost to you. This helps us run Between the Sheets and bring you updates like this. Thank you for your support! |
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Let's say you're waiting for colleagues to submit the latest data. You need to check if the files came in. And if the data is complete. So you start opening files one by one. It's tedious. And completely avoidable. When Microsoft released the new IMPORTCSV function, I wasn't ready to throw Power Query out the window. It still handles far more sources and does things this new function simply can't. But it got me thinking. What if you could peek at a CSV without fully loading it? Just enough to...
Excel's chart formatting menu is dangerous. Not because it's bad. Because it gives you too many options. And some of them have no place in a professional report. Take this social media trend: pasting images directly into your chart bars. Looks creative. Gets lots of views on YouTube. But would you put that in front of your manager? In just a few extra clicks, the same data can look like this: Same logos. Matching brand colors. Just used with intention. ๐ Watch: How to build this chart in just...
Excel remembers things you teach it. That's not AI. It's a Custom List. And it's been hiding in Excel Options the whole time. That's how you get to automatically fill down months or days of the week. And you can build your own: team names, department codes, project phases - anything you type over and over. Excel learns the order too. So "Mon, Tue, Wed..." or your custom categories fill in automatically. The list lives on your device, not in the file. Set it up once. Use it in every workbook,...