What AI in a spreadsheet actually does

What is that AI button actually for?

It's a side panel where you type a request in plain words. The AI then answers, or changes the sheet for you. In Excel the button is called Copilot. In Google Sheets it's called Gemini, and the button reads "Ask Gemini".¹²

It isn't a new kind of spreadsheet. Microsoft says Copilot updates your workbook using Excel's built-in features, so the result is ordinary formulas, tables and charts that you can still edit.¹

Can it change my data?

Sometimes, yes. That depends on the mode you're in.

Excel's Copilot has three modes, and it opens in edit mode by default. In edit mode it can edit your workbook directly based on your requests. Plan mode makes it write out a plan first, so you can approve it before anything moves. Chat mode only analyses and gives insights, without making changes.¹

Google describes a similar step. Gemini shows an "Action preview card" with details of the proposed change, and you click Apply. Google says Undo is available until you make further changes.²

So if you're nervous, start in chat or plan mode. Then you see what it intends to do before it does it. Keep a copy of the file too, because an undo button is no help once you've saved and closed.

What does it do with my data?

It reads the part of the sheet your request points at, and it uses that to write an answer. The long answer on where that data goes is on its own page: where your sheet goes.

Is the answer reliable?

Not automatically. Both makers say so in their own help pages.

Microsoft's advice is blunt: as with any AI-generated content, review, edit and verify anything Copilot creates for you.³ Google says Gemini features may suggest inaccurate or inappropriate information.²

That's the habit to build. Treat the AI's output like a draft from a new helper. It's quick and often close, but you're the one who signs off.

What kinds of jobs does it do?

The makers list four main ones.

• Writing a formula from a description. See Asking AI to write a formula.
• Explaining a formula that's already there. Microsoft says Copilot can explain what a formula does and how.³
• Tidying data. See Cleaning messy data with AI.
• Summarising a table. See Summarising a table with AI.

Some jobs don't suit AI at all, like a payroll total that must match to the cent every time. That's covered in the formula-versus-AI page.

Which features you get depends on your plan and your admin's settings. AI features in Excel and Google Sheets lists what each maker documents, as checked on 11 November 2026.¹²