Copilot in Excel With Python: What Works Now, and What Happened to "Advanced Analysis"
The short answer: yes, Copilot in Excel can run Python. It lives inside edit mode (Microsoft calls it Edit with Copilot) on Windows, Mac and the web. You ask in plain words. Copilot runs the analysis and puts the results in your workbook.
Now the catch. The Microsoft pages checked for this article state no licence extra, no compute rule and no data-handling detail for it. Below: what is documented, what isn't, and which old guides to double-check.
3 Excel features share the word Python (and a 4th has a retired support article)
Search for this and you land on 4 different things. (Microsoft managed to ship 3 Pythons. I'd have stopped at 1.) Only row 1 is this page.
| Name | What it is | Where it stands, November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Python in Edit with Copilot | You ask Copilot, in edit mode, to use Python. It runs the code and puts the results in your workbook. | Windows, Mac and web. In Microsoft's release notes on 25 August 2026. |
| 2. Python in Excel (=PY() formulas) | Python formulas you write yourself in cells. The older feature. | Availability page dated 13 May 2025. That page says premium compute needs an add-on licence. |
| 3. The @python-in-excel skill | A skill in the Copilot pane that inserts editable, refreshable Python formulas. | Insiders only, per Microsoft's August 2026 post. |
| 4. "Advanced analysis" with Python | The name older guides use, tied to a support article called "Copilot in Excel with Python". | Microsoft retired the article. |
How to use Copilot in Excel with Python, in 4 steps
1Open Copilot and switch editing on
Select the Copilot button in the lower-right corner of Excel (no button? Start with Copilot not showing in Excel). Microsoft documents Python under Edit with Copilot, so Allow editing needs to be on. It doesn't say whether chat mode can run Python, so I'd stay in edit.
2Ask for Python by name
Microsoft says you can ask Copilot to use Python, or Copilot may invoke it when appropriate. Want Python for a task? Say so in your prompt. Microsoft's examples are summarising trends, cleaning data, visualisations, statistics and simulations.
3Give it a job you can check
Pick a task where you roughly know the answer, so you can tell when it's wrong. These 3 prompts are mine, not Microsoft's. Swap in your own columns:
Use Python to summarise the trends in the monthly sales table on this sheet and add a chart that shows them.
Use Python to clean the customer names in column A. List every value you changed on a new sheet.
Use Python to simulate 1,000 outcomes for next year's revenue in B2:B13, with monthly growth anywhere between 2% and 6%. Show me the spread as a chart.
4Review what came back
Microsoft's own instruction is short: review the output and inspect the results in Excel. Section 06 has the checks I'd add.
Who gets it: Windows, Mac and web, and 5 questions Microsoft hasn't answered
Platforms. Microsoft lists Windows, Mac and the web. For iPad, iPhone and Android the pages checked say nothing about it. (Microsoft's support pages still call edit mode "rolling out to production" on iPad and iPhone, and Python formulas don't run on any of the 3.)
Status. Neither the April blog nor the release notes says Insiders, Frontier or preview. I'm not calling it generally available either, because Microsoft's pages don't use those words and features arrive gradually. Can't see it yet? Rollout is gradual, so that can be the reason.
Licence. Copilot in Excel needs one of 4 licence types: Microsoft 365 Personal or Family with an AI credits plan, Microsoft 365 Premium, a commercial Microsoft Copilot subscription, or a Copilot Chat-eligible business or enterprise subscription. Microsoft's Python entries add no licence rule of their own. Here are the 5 questions they leave open:
| Question | What the pages checked say |
|---|---|
| Does it use Python in Excel's premium compute, or need its add-on licence? | Nothing. Those rules are written for Python formulas. |
| Where does the code run? | Nothing specific. The release notes say only that "existing security and execution controls continue to help manage how code runs." |
| Does the code have internet access? | Nothing. |
| How is my data handled? | Nothing specific to this feature. |
| What does "when Python is enabled" mean? | The April post uses the phrase and doesn't say who enables it or where. |
Don't borrow the security facts from Python in Excel
Microsoft's security page for Python in Excel sounds reassuring. It says the code runs in a secure container on the Microsoft Cloud, has no network access, and that data isn't persisted. That page is dated 7 November 2025 and it describes the =PY() formulas.
Microsoft hasn't said Python in Edit with Copilot runs the same way. So don't paste those lines into a security review as if it had.
If your security team asks where the code runs, the honest answer today is "Microsoft hasn't said". Ask your Microsoft account team to answer in writing. The wider questions for IT are in my Copilot readiness checklist.
What happened to the old "Advanced analysis" guides
Microsoft's support article "Copilot in Excel with Python" now says "This article has been retired." (Checked 8 November 2026.) Microsoft's own Python in Excel introduction page, dated 6 November 2025, still links to it. Even Microsoft has a dead link.
The Python feature Microsoft documents today is Python in Edit with Copilot. Did it replace Advanced analysis? Microsoft doesn't say, and it documents no current, separate feature by that name. So treat any guide that presents Advanced analysis as current with caution, and check every step against your own screen.
One more mix-up to clear up: Microsoft doesn't name Python as the replacement for the retired =COPILOT() function. It names only the Copilot pane. The full story is in Excel's COPILOT function is gone.
What it gets wrong, and 4 checks before you trust the output
1Ask what it ran
Copilot may use Python without being asked, so results can arrive built with Python even if you never requested it. Ask for the receipt:
List every step you ran in Python and every cell, range and sheet you changed.
2Redo 1 number by hand
Pick 1 total or average and recompute it with a normal formula. If the two disagree, stop and find out why.
3Read the assumptions
Simulations answer the question you typed. A growth range you made up gives you a made-up spread, however clean the code is.
4Work on a copy
Once you save, anyone with access to the file can see Copilot's changes. Microsoft says to verify everything Copilot creates, and to avoid it for decisions in sensitive areas such as finance, legal or medical topics.
Questions about Copilot in Excel with Python
Can Copilot in Excel run Python?
Yes. Python works inside Edit with Copilot (edit mode) on Windows, Mac and the web. Ask Copilot to use Python in your prompt, or Copilot may decide to on its own. Microsoft's release notes list it on 25 August 2026.
How do I use Python in Copilot in Excel?
Open Copilot from the lower-right corner of Excel, turn on Allow editing, and ask for Python by name, for example: use Python to summarise the trends in this table. Then review the results.
Does Copilot in Excel with Python need the Python in Excel add-on?
Microsoft doesn't say. The premium compute and add-on licence rules are written for Python formulas. Its Python entries for Edit with Copilot add no licence rule of their own.
What happened to Advanced analysis with Python in Copilot in Excel?
Microsoft's support article about it has been retired, and Microsoft doesn't say what replaced it. The Python feature Microsoft documents now is Python in Edit with Copilot, so check any guide that describes Advanced analysis as current.
Does Python in Copilot for Excel work on Mac and the web?
Yes, Microsoft lists Windows, Mac and the web. iPad, iPhone and Android aren't documented for it, and Python formulas don't run on them.
Is Python in Copilot for Excel safe for sensitive data?
Microsoft hasn't published where the code runs, whether it has internet access, or how data is handled for this feature. Ask Microsoft in writing before you use it on sensitive files.
Your analysts will meet Python in the pane. Let them practise on a copy.
I run live online Copilot workshops, hands-on, from 1.5 to 4 hours, for groups of 20 to 25 at most. Clients include Intel, Roche, EY, Deloitte and Amdocs.