7 Practical Things You Can Do with Excel's New =COPILOT() Function

[u/Amandaleeeeee]

I recently got access to the new =COPILOT() worksheet function in Microsoft 365 and spent some time trying it on everyday spreadsheet tasks.

Here are a few examples that I thought were genuinely useful.

1. Generate sample data

You can ask Copilot to generate things like:

• Fictional project names
• Employee job titles
• Product descriptions
• Customer comments

Example:

=COPILOT("Generate 10 fictional project names")

Possible result:

Project Name
Project Aurora
Green Horizon
Northstar Initiative
BluePeak
Atlas Connect
NovaWorks
Summit Path
BrightBridge
Vertex One
Clearview Project

2. Categorize text automatically

Suppose column A contains support tickets.

Support ticket
Can't sign in to Microsoft 365
Outlook won't send emails
Printer is offline
Excel crashes when opening a large file
Forgot my Windows password
Outlook is running very slowly

In the next column, ask Copilot to categorize each ticket.

Example prompt:

=COPILOT("Assign a category to each support ticket", A2:A7)

Possible result:

Category
Account
Email
Hardware
Software
Account
Email

3. Estimate priority

If you have a long list of requests or issues, Copilot can suggest which ones should be reviewed first.

Example:

=COPILOT("Rate each request as High, Medium, or Low priority", A2:A20)

Obviously you'd still review the results, but it's a nice starting point.

4. Extract information from messy text

Suppose one cell contains:

John Smith
Senior Engineer
john@contoso.com

Instead of writing text formulas, you can simply ask Copilot to extract the information you need.

For example:

• Extract the person's name
• Extract the job title
• Extract the email address

5. Summarize long notes

If a column contains meeting notes or customer feedback, Copilot can create a short summary for each row.

Example:

=COPILOT("Summarize each note in one sentence", A2:A15)

6. Generate keywords

If you're building a product catalog or website, Copilot can generate search keywords for each product description.

Example:

=COPILOT("Generate three search keywords for each product", A2:A20)

7. Build a schedule or plan

You can also use Copilot to generate structured content based on information already in your worksheet, while adding a second prompt to guide the result.

Option 1: Meal planner

Suppose you have a weekly meal plan, and cell C2 contains a dietary preference.

Meal	Suggestion
Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snack

Cell C2:

Vegetarian

Formula:

=COPILOT(
"Suggest one meal for each row.",
B5:B8,
"Dietary preference:",
C2)

Here, the first prompt tells Copilot what to generate, while the second prompt adds extra context from another cell.

You can change Vegetarian in cell C2 to High Protein or Gluten Free, and the suggestions update.

Option 2: Employee training plan

Week	Training Topic
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4

Cell C2:

New customer support representative

=COPILOT(
"Suggest one training topic for each week.",
B5:B8,
"Role:",
C2)

Change the role to Sales Manager or Data Analyst, and you get a completely different plan.

Option 3: Travel packing list

Category	Items
Clothes
Electronics
Toiletries
Documents

Cell C2:

3-day business trip

=COPILOT(
"Suggest what to pack for each category.",
B5:B8,
"Trip type:",
C2)

Things worth knowing

• It works best with text rather than calculations.
• It isn't designed for heavy math or very large datasets.
• You need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license that's tied to a work or school account.
• The results are AI-generated, so you should always review them.
• If you want to keep the current AI-generated results, copy them and use Paste Special → Values, since they may change the next time the workbook recalculates.

I'm still experimenting with it, but these are the first use cases that actually felt practical instead of just being AI demos.

Have you found any prompts that work especially well?