What do you do when your data goes wide?

Picture a sales table with one row per rep, but then Sales_Jan, Units_Jan, Sales_Feb, Units_Feb, and so on, all the way to December. It just keeps growing wider with every month you add.

Try to filter by month, or build a pivot table around it, and you're stuck. Month isn't a value in this table. It's baked into the column headers.

You need a way to turn the wide into long so that it's ready for analysis. And there's a Python function that does exactly that.

It turns all those columns into three clean ones: Month, Sales, Units. It's a one-time set-up.

As you add more month columns, they pull through to the long version automatically.

👉 Watch it happen in under two minutes​

🤓 Geeky News

🐍 Copilot in Excel can do Python again

When "Agent Mode" replaced the previous Copilot experience in Excel, it also broke Python. Not Python in Excel - you could still write your code from scratch. But if you asked Copilot for help, you got useless, static output.

Finally, it's fixed, via Copilot skills. You'll need to enable it first.

In Copilot pane, go to Settings (...) > Manage skills > Formulas and toggle on python-in-excel.

To use it, type @python-in-excel in the prompt box.

It can generate Python code directly in your Excel cells, and it's dynamic. The results update with your data.

It might not write the cleanest or most efficient code, unless you're explicit in your prompts. You need to know what to ask for. Still, it's a step (back) in the right direction.

Available now in the Beta Channel for Excel Insiders with a Copilot license.

Other new Copilot in Excel skills include chart design and change history.

In other Copilot-related news, they've changed the logo again and moved it from the ribbon to the side of the ribbon (if you're not using the button floating over your sheet in the bottom corner.)

🏷️ Finally! Name your tables in Excel as you create them

A long-awaited feature arrived in Insiders Beta.

Now, when you're creating an official Excel table from your data (Ctrl + T), you'll be prompted to give it a proper name.

No more Table1, Table2, Table56... There's no excuse anymore.

Now, if you could also take away the default table style at the same time...

👏 The person the COOs can't prove wrong

Srinivasan works in HR in the hotel industry. No tech background. No data analysis training. But still expected to know his numbers when presenting to the executives.

After completing Python in Excel for the Real World, here's what he shared:

Srinivasan S. HR Analyst

This course has given me the muscle to confidently stand up and talk in meetings that are filled with COOs, CEOs, and finance heads who can't prove me wrong when I give my presentation and opinion when it comes to handling data with accuracy. Our industry and business are all about forecasting and reacting to future needs, as rooms are perishable to sell, and the right price has to be determined by knowing the future and also detecting any unusual expenses. Now I am the go-to person for all this, and I believe my organization might create a data analyst position for me, and I can be leading a department all on my own.

Same industry. Different seat at the table.

We're rooting for that promotion, Srinivasan. 🤞

See you next week,

Leila

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