Microsoft has added five new features to Excel for Web, making it easier than ever to work with formulas, along with new features for Excel for Windows as well.
Microsoft has announced new quality of life improvements for the autocomplete feature in its web version of Excel, available with Microsoft 365. The new updates include formula suggestions and formula by example, which are designed to streamline the process of completing tasks that were previously required to be done manually. The tech giant has also introduced four new features for Excel for Windows.
Formula by example, akin to the existing Flash Fill function, will offer formulas to users as they are entering data in a column repetitively. If Excel detects a pattern in the data being entered, it will recommend using a formula to fill the full column to speed up the process.
Using Formula Suggestions, Excel will now suggest the optimal formula based on context and data insights once you type the “=” sign in a cell or the formula bar. SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTA, MIN, and MAX are the formulas that are offered. This feature is currently only accessible in English and is being rolled out to web users in production.
Suggested Links will make it easier to work with cloud workbooks. Suggested Links will automatically detect when an external link to a Cloud workbook is broken and suggest a new location to fix the broken link. This feature is currently rolling out to web users in Production.
Microsoft has added other features, including the ability to add a search bar in the queries pane and the ‘IMAGE Function,’ to Excel for web as well.
Additionally, Excel for Windows gets four new features from Microsoft, including power query editor shortcut, nested data types, dynamic array data source, and IMAGE Function. Excel for Mac, too, gets the IMAGE Function.