Excel is more than just a spreadsheet application. It’s a robust computational tool that can solve complex problems and derive valuable insights from data gathered from various sources. However, many people are intimidated by the vast amount of knowledge needed to master Excel’s full potential. But fear not! With the development of artificial intelligence (AI), Excel users can now leverage intuitive AI tools to enter complex formulas and extract comprehensive analyses without memorizing hundreds of formulas. Let’s explore the different built-in and third-party AI tools that can take your Excel skills to the next level.

Built-In AI Tools in Excel

Excel, with its rows and columns of data, powerful calculation engine, and various data manipulation tools, is used by millions of people worldwide. To enhance its functionalities, Microsoft has released several built-in AI tools that can help novice users excel in Excel. Here are some of them:

Analyze Data

Analyze Data, previously known as Ideas, is an AI-powered insights tool that provides suggestions tailored to your current Excel task. It detects if you need suggestions for data visualizations, trend analysis, pattern identification, and more. The more data you input and follow its suggestions, the smarter it becomes.

Analyze Data also accepts natural language queries, allowing you to ask questions about the data and receive high-level visual summaries, patterns, and trends as answers. If you’re unsure what questions to ask, the tool provides suggested questions based on its analysis of your existing data. It helps you save time by providing focused analysis using only relevant data fields. To fully utilize this AI feature, ensure you have clean tabular data in Excel without merged cells, and use unique headers. Analyze Data is available to all users of Microsoft 365.

Linked Data Types

Excel now makes it easier to gather data by linking certain inputs to reputable external online resources. For example, by typing a company name, you can quickly extract stock information such as current price and price changes. Similarly, by typing a geographic location, you can extract information such as population and tax rates. This AI capability minimizes manual data entry time while ensuring the most accurate and up-to-date data. When a data entry is linked to a data type, it’s automatically refreshed whenever changes occur—you only need to hit refresh. Moreover, you can run formulas with the generated data, making calculations faster and easier.

Insert Data from Picture

Say goodbye to manual data entry! Excel can now convert photos of data tables into actual data in cells. When you take a photo, Excel recognizes the rows and columns and automatically adds them to individual cells. This feature enables you to create fully editable text from a phone image capture, reducing manual data entry time and increasing accuracy.

Dynamic Arrays

Dynamic arrays are an AI-driven Excel feature that simplifies the use of advanced formulas. When you type one formula in a cell, it automatically detects neighboring cells that require the same formula and adds it automatically. With dynamic arrays, Excel adjusts the size of a range of cells to fit the entered data.

Dynamic arrays allow you to use functions that return multiple results in a single cell without the need for complex formulas or manual copying and pasting. Functions such as SORT, UNIQUE, FILTER, and SEQUENCE return dynamic arrays that spill into multiple cells. These dynamic ranges work seamlessly with other functions, such as SORT, FILTER, and SORTBY, which enable you to sort, filter, and sort by specific criteria, respectively.

External Excel AI Tool Plugins

In addition to the built-in Excel AI tools, there are third-party external plugins that further enhance Excel’s AI capabilities:

Excel Formula Bot

Excelformulabot is one of the most popular AI tools for Excel. It’s a plugin for both Excel and Google Sheets that allows you to enter a text instruction and convert it to a formula. It also works in reverse, explaining complex formulas in plain English. Powered by GPT-3 AI technology, this tool boasts 97% accuracy and supports multiple languages. Excelformulabot is perfect for both novice and advanced users and works with older versions of Excel as well.

Ajelix

Ajelix is another powerful AI tool for Excel that allows you to write and explain formulas quickly and intuitively. It also enables collaboration with others, translation of Excel files into other languages, and generates Excel formulas based on recognized keywords. Ajelix has a free version for personal use and a paid version for teams and businesses.

PowerExcel.ai

For those looking for a no-fuss AI plugin, PowerExcel.ai is the solution. It auto-generates power queries for common data preparation needs, simplifying and automating repetitive Excel tasks. PowerExcel.ai offers a free basic version and more robust paid versions that allow you to simplify and automate common and repetitive Excel tasks. It’s part of the Power Web 5 Suite of tools that hosts additional AI tools for different programs. The no-code/low-code app and database platform let expert users build their own apps without getting bogged down with code.

Lumelixr.ai

If you’re tired of googling Excel formulas, Lumelixr is the tool for you. Simply ask a question using natural language, and Lumelixr generates the exact Excel formula you need to achieve the answer. This convenient tool saves time spent on figuring out long formulas and debugging errors. Lumelixr works as an add-in for both Excel and Google Sheets, offering a simple monthly or yearly pricing plan and a 7-day unlimited free trial. It’s made by indie developers and specializes in providing the formulas you need, quickly and accurately.

With these AI tools, Excel becomes a versatile and powerful software that empowers users of all levels to harness the true potential of data analysis and management.

The Many Uses of Excel

Excel is widely used for various purposes, including data analysis, financial modeling, budgeting and forecasting, data visualization, project management, database management, automation of repetitive tasks, and more. Its built-in features, macros, and VBA can streamline workflows and automate tasks. By utilizing AI tools in Excel, users can overcome formula writing challenges and leverage expert knowledge to succeed in their Excel requirements.

Benefits of AI Tools in Excel

Using AI tools in Excel offers numerous benefits to both novice and expert users. These tools automate repetitive tasks, improve accuracy, uncover hidden insights, and enhance data analysis. They provide greater flexibility by allowing users to work with data from various sources and create interactive data visualizations. Best of all, advanced technical skills are not required to apply data analysis techniques effectively.

By harnessing the power of AI tools in Excel, users can make better decisions based on accurate and actionable insights.

Final Thoughts

AI is revolutionizing the way we use Excel, making even the most complex spreadsheets easier to use and manipulate. AI tools in Excel increase productivity, improve data analysis accuracy, uncover hidden insights, and simplify complex tasks. As AI technology advances, we can expect Excel to integrate even more powerful AI features in the future. So, make the most of Excel by utilizing the built-in and third-party AI tools described above, and become a power Excel user in no time.

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