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28. Copilot and AI in Excel

28.3 Ask Copilot About Your Data (Chat Only Mode)

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Example first. Ruhi wants three quick facts before a 10 o'clock call: the top city, the cancelled share, and the average delivery time. She does not want Copilot to touch the shared file, so she switches the pane to Chat only and asks three questions. Copilot answers in the pane and nothing in the workbook changes. Then, before the call, she checks each number with one formula.

Chat only mode — in 30 seconds

What: In Chat only mode Copilot reads the workbook and answers in the pane (text, small tables, suggested formulas) without editing anything.

Why: It is the safe way to explore a shared or important file: you get insights and formula ideas, and you decide what, if anything, goes into the sheet.

Tiny example: Question: "Which city in tblOrders has the highest total Amount?" Check: =MAX(SUMIFS(tblOrders[Amount],tblOrders[City],UNIQUE(tblOrders[City]))) returns 1299 (Solapur).

First look at the data (before → after):

Chat only mode: before and after tables, fictional Blinkit Maharashtra data

Expected result — Answers you can rely on (after checking)

# Answer Check formula
1 Solapur ₹1,299 MAX of SUMIFS
2 2 of 10 = 20% COUNTIFS / ROWS
3 12.8 minutes AVERAGE
Before table and formula as text

Before — Three questions for the call

# Question
1 Top city by Amount?
2 Share of orders cancelled?
3 Average Mins?

Formula / click path

Menu above prompt box › Chat only
Ask each question, naming tblOrders and the column
Check each answer with a formula

Do it step by step:

  1. Open the Copilot pane with the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner.
  2. Open the menu above the prompt box and choose Chat only.
  3. Ask Which city in tblOrders has the highest total Amount? Show the amount. and read the reply.
  4. Ask What share of orders in tblOrders have Status Cancelled? and then What is the average of Mins?
  5. For each answer, ask a follow-up: Which formula did you use? Copy the formula into an empty cell to see it work.
  6. Check all three numbers with your own formulas (table below) before you use them anywhere.

What a reply can look like

You: Which city in tblOrders has the highest total Amount? Show the amount.

Copilot: Solapur has the highest total Amount, ₹1,299, from one order (BLK-1007, Home category). Pune is second with ₹544 across four orders.

Illustrative: this Copilot reply was written for this lesson to show what a reply can look like. Your wording, layout and even numbers may differ, which is exactly why the checking steps matter.

Check every number with one formula

Question Check formula Result
Top city =MAX(SUMIFS(tblOrders[Amount],tblOrders[City],UNIQUE(tblOrders[City]))) 1299 (Solapur)
Pune total (second place) =SUMIFS(tblOrders[Amount],tblOrders[City],"Pune") 544
Cancelled share =COUNTIFS(tblOrders[Status],"Cancelled")/ROWS(tblOrders) 2/10 = 20%
Cancelled amount =SUMIFS(tblOrders[Amount],tblOrders[Status],"Cancelled") 460
Average delivery minutes =AVERAGE(tblOrders[Mins]) 12.8

All results are from the 10 fictional orders of Module 3 (total ₹2,870).

Notice the hidden question in "share of orders cancelled". Share of orders is 2 out of 10 = 20%. Share of money is ₹460 out of ₹2,870 = 16.0%. Both are correct answers to slightly different questions. If Copilot gives you one, ask for the other, or say exactly which one you want in the prompt.

Good questions for Chat only mode

Goal Prompt that works well
Get a quick picture Summarise tblOrders in five bullet points: totals, top city, cancelled share, average Mins.
Find outliers Which orders in tblOrders look unusual by Amount or Mins? Explain why.
Learn a formula Write a formula that returns the Delivered Amount for the city typed in K2. Explain each part.
Understand a formula Explain the formula in cell H2 step by step in simple English.
Plan a report Suggest three charts for a one-page city report from tblOrders and say why.

Chat only is also a teacher. "Explain the formula in H2" is one of the most useful prompts in this whole chapter. Paste a long nested IF from an old file, ask for a plain-English explanation, and then check the explanation against Evaluate Formula (Formulas › Formula Auditing › Evaluate Formula).

Microsoft sources (checked 7 October 2026): Get started with Copilot in Excel; Copilot in Excel tips.

Practice task (try it before you open the answer):

  1. In Chat only mode ask for the total Amount of Delivered orders by City.
  2. Write the check formula for Pune.
  3. Say which cities do not appear and why.
Answer
  1. Expected (fictional data): Kolhapur ₹232, Nashik ₹360, Pune ₹324, Solapur ₹1,299; total ₹2,215.
  2. =SUMIFS(tblOrders[Amount],tblOrders[City],"Pune",tblOrders[Status],"Delivered") returns 324 (Pune's cancelled BLK-1009 for ₹220 is left out).
  3. Nagpur (its only order was Cancelled) and Sambhaji Nagar (its only order was Returned) have no Delivered orders, so they show 0 or do not appear.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Ask "Which formula did you use?" after every number Copilot gives you. A formula can be checked in ten seconds; a sentence cannot.