Claude for Excel

0:03 Claude for Excel is an add-in that opens Claude in a sidebar inside Microsoft Excel, where it answers questions about the open workbook with clickable cell citations, changes assumptions without breaking formulas, traces errors and builds models; it is generally available to Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans and is not on the Claude Free Plan (as of Nov 6, 2026). Anthropic's pricing page lists the Microsoft 365 add-ins on every paid plan, which takes in Ultra, the plan split out of Max around Oct 30, 2026; the Excel docs page does not name Ultra yet. Excel is one of four Office add-ins Anthropic makes, alongside PowerPoint, Word and Outlook (Claude for Microsoft 365), and one install from Microsoft's store covers Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Quick facts

Source for the table unless linked: Use Claude for Excel, Claude docs, read Nov 6, 2026.

What can Claude for Excel do?

0:30 Claude reads the whole workbook, across every tab, and works on it directly (Use Claude for Excel):

• Explain a model. Ask how a number was reached ("Walk me through how the revenue number in cell C42 is calculated") and the answer cites cells you can click to jump to.
• Change inputs safely. Ask it to move the discount rate to 8%, and it edits the input while keeping the formulas that depend on it, so the rest of the sheet recalculates.
• Build and fill. It can populate an existing template or build a model from a description, such as a three-statement model from a trial balance.
• Debug. It traces a #REF! or #DIV/0! error to its source and proposes a fix.
• Native Excel features. It sorts, filters, edits pivot tables, applies conditional formatting and makes data validation dropdowns.
• Outside data. Through connectors such as S&P Global, LSEG and Daloopa it can pull market and company data into the workbook, and it applies your enabled Skills.

6:09 Edited cells are highlighted so you can see what changed (Claude for Microsoft 365), and Claude warns before overwriting data that is already there. Long conversations are compacted into new ones automatically so the session does not run out of context. Settings in the sidebar hold Instructions that apply to every Excel conversation, such as number formats or a house style; they are separate from the Instructions in PowerPoint and Word.

1:08 Since Mar 11, 2026 the Office add-ins share conversation context, so one conversation can read an open Excel workbook, a PowerPoint deck, a Word document and an Outlook thread, and an edit in one can update the others (Claude for Microsoft 365).

How do I install Claude for Excel?

1. Open the Claude for Microsoft 365 listing on Microsoft AppSource.
2. Select "Get it now".
3. Open Excel and start the add-in: Home > Add-ins on Windows, Tools > Add-ins on a Mac.
4. Sign in with your Claude account.

6:50 Once installed, the sidebar also opens from the keyboard: Anthropic's Jan 30, 2026 getting-started video gives Control+Option+C on a Mac and Control+Alt+C on Windows.

For an organization, a Microsoft 365 admin deploys it from the Microsoft 365 Admin Center: turn on Settings > Org Settings > User owned apps and services > "Let users access the Office Store", then go to Settings > Integrated apps > Add-ins, search for "Claude for Microsoft 365" and assign it to everyone or to chosen users and groups. Where the Office Store is turned off, Anthropic offers a manifest XML file to upload instead. Anthropic notes a known Microsoft bug: admin roles activated through Entra Privileged Identity Management cannot deploy from Integrated apps (Microsoft tracking ID 11126536), so deploy from an account with the role permanently assigned (Use Claude for Excel).

Organizations that run Claude through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Microsoft Foundry or their own LLM gateway can deploy the add-in without individual Claude accounts; the models then come from that platform (Claude on Cloud Platforms).

Which models does it use?

The add-in offers a curated subset of Claude models, the ones Anthropic judges best for Office work, so its model list can be shorter than the one in the Claude Web App. On Team and Enterprise, an admin's model access settings also apply (Use Claude for Excel). Claude Opus 4.6 came to Excel on its launch day, Feb 5, 2026, together with pivot table editing and conditional formatting.

Limits and known problems

• Unsupported: data tables, macros and VBA (Use Claude for Excel).
• Anthropic's own caution: it does not recommend the add-in for final client deliverables without review, audit-critical calculations without checking, or highly sensitive regulated data without controls.
• Prompt injection: a downloaded template or vendor file can hide instructions meant to make Claude extract data or damage records. Anthropic says its testing found such cases and advises using the add-in only with trusted spreadsheets; risky operations ask for your confirmation first.
• Missing history after Windows updates: after Microsoft 365's September and October 2026 updates on Windows, some users lost their add-in chat history and uploaded skills, and Anthropic says it is working on it with Microsoft (as of Nov 6, 2026).
• History stays on one computer: chat history is stored in the browser's IndexedDB storage and does not sync across devices.

Privacy and data

When you sign in with a Claude account, your conversations, including what Claude reads from the workbook and any attached files, go to Anthropic. Inputs and outputs are deleted on Anthropic's side within 30 days, with the exceptions in its retention policy, and are cached for some hours after that so recently closed workbooks keep their context. Clearing chat history in the add-in removes only the copy in your browser. The add-in does not follow an organization's custom retention settings and does not appear in Enterprise audit logs, though Enterprise organizations get it in the Compliance API (Use Claude for Excel). Anthropic's API retention page lists Claude for Excel among the services that zero data retention does not cover. See Claude Privacy and Data Use.

How does it compare?

Microsoft builds Copilot into Excel itself, and Microsoft's own documentation says Claude models are on by default for most commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot customers outside the EU, EFTA and UK (Microsoft Learn), so a Copilot user may already be using Claude in Excel without this add-in. OpenAI's ChatGPT pricing page also lists Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Google Sheets extensions. No independent, dated test compares the three inside Excel.

Learn more: Microsoft 365 Copilot on ai.vi.ki, ChatGPT in Office on chatgpt.vi.ki

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude for Excel free? No. Claude for Excel needs a paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Ultra, Team or Enterprise) as of Nov 6, 2026, and its use counts toward that plan's usage limits.

Does Claude for Excel work on a Mac? Yes. Claude for Excel runs on Excel for Mac version 16.46 or later, on Excel for Windows with a Microsoft 365 subscription and on Excel on the web, but not on Excel on iPad or Android.

Can Claude for Excel write VBA macros? The Claude for Excel add-in does not support macros or VBA operations. Claude can still write VBA code as text in an ordinary chat in the Claude app, which you paste in yourself.

Will Claude break my formulas? Claude for Excel is designed to change inputs while keeping formula relationships, and it warns before overwriting data, but Anthropic still says to review every change before relying on it.

Can Claude create an Excel file without the add-in? Yes. In the Claude app, Claude can create and edit .xlsx files with working formulas and let you download them; see File Creation.

Sources

• Getting started with Claude in Excel, Claude, Jan 30, 2026 (video)
• One conversation across Claude for Excel and PowerPoint, Claude, Mar 12, 2026 (video)
• Use Claude for Excel, Claude docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude for Microsoft 365, claude.com, read Nov 6, 2026
• Plans and pricing, claude.com, read Nov 6, 2026
• Release notes, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude Cowork and chat come together for Enterprise, Anthropic, Oct 23, 2026
• API and data retention, Anthropic docs, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude for Microsoft 365 on Microsoft AppSource, Microsoft, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude models from Anthropic in Microsoft Online Services, Microsoft Learn, updated Nov 4, 2026
• Plans and Pricing, ChatGPT, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026