Microsoft Excel users can now leverage the power of Anthropic’s Claude AI model directly within the spreadsheet application, thanks to a new integration announced this week. The integration, available through Agent Mode in Excel, allows users to build, edit, and analyze workbooks with assistance from Claude, alongside Microsoft’s Copilot.
The capability requires a commercial Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription or a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription. For enterprise customers, administrators must enable Anthropic as a Microsoft sub-processor in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center before the feature can be utilized. Users access Claude through Excel’s Copilot chat, selecting Agent Mode and then choosing a Claude model from a list that too includes an “Auto” option for automatic model selection.
This move expands Agent Mode’s functionality, which previously focused on Microsoft’s own generative AI models. The integration is delivered as an add-in, “Claude by Anthropic in Excel,” available for Excel 2016 or later on Mac and Windows, as well as Excel on the web. The add-in is currently in beta and available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise plans of Claude.
Claude in Excel is designed for professionals working with spreadsheets, particularly in financial analysis and modeling. Users can inquire questions about their workbooks, receive answers with cell-level citations, update assumptions while preserving formula dependencies, debug errors, and build new models or fill existing templates. The integration also supports connectors to external tools like S&P Global, LSEG, Daloopa, Pitchbook, Moody’s, and FactSet, allowing users to pull in external data without leaving Excel.
The integration offers a range of features, including 16 built-in tools for interacting with workbooks, such as reading and writing cells, modifying structure, formatting, tracing dependencies, and explaining formulas. Users can also define formatting conventions and utilize slash commands for various functions. A key feature is automatic context injection, where the AI receives the workbook blueprint, current selection, and recent changes before each interaction, eliminating the need for manual descriptions.
The system includes workbook recovery features with automatic checkpoints and one-click rollback capabilities. Developers have also incorporated an extension sandbox for untrusted code and a range of experimental features, including bridges to Python and Tmux for local terminal control. The core of the integration is built using technologies like Vite, Lit, pi-agent-core, and Office.js.
Through March 19, 2025, users on paid plans will have doubled usage limits when using Claude in Excel. The newest model available is Claude Sonnet 4.6, offering enhanced capabilities. The integration is currently deployed via a manifest file uploaded to Excel, with automatic updates available when the taskpane is reopened.
