Welcome back to Between the Sheets. Exciting updates have been rolling out in the Excel world, and we’ve got everything you need to stay ahead.

Today, we cover:

• How Python & Copilot are changing Excel
• A powerful crosshair feature for easier navigation in Excel grids
• Long requested dark mode in Power BI (but by whom?)

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🐍 Python in Excel Now Available

Python is now rolling out to all Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise users on Windows!

It’s 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 “Insert Python.”

Get Started with Python in Excel

When I think of using Python in Excel, three specific tasks come to mind:

• 🔄 Performing advanced calculations (even building your own machine learning model)
• 🔡 Extracting and manipulating text
• 📊 Discovering trends and relationships with charts

When Python was first released in the Microsoft Insiders Beta, I tested it to see what it could do. I’ve 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).

🔍 Advanced Data Analysis with Copilot & Python in Excel

The 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.

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💚 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.

​Focus 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.

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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 😁

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👏 Power Stories

We’re 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. 😊 Your feedback helps us continue to improve and support smart learners like you.

Got a success story about using your XelPlus skills? I’d love to hear it! Hit reply to share the details, and inspire other students 😇

See you next week,

Leila

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