Chart type is determined by what the data is, not by taste, which makes it one of the more reliable things to ask AI. Asking whether the result looks good is not, and that is where captions get quoted back at you.
Checking Locked in Format Cells does nothing by itself. Cells are locked by default already; only protecting the sheet from the Review tab actually enforces it.
Auditing a workbook is read-only, which makes it the safest use of AI in Excel. Map structure first, then hunt the four hazards that fail silently: hardcoded values, dead links, hidden sheets and stale ranges.
A column called Amount usually includes refunds as negatives. AI assumes it means revenue received, produces arithmetically perfect output describing something else, and nothing flags the difference.
A cleanup applied to five thousand rows in one pass is also a mistake applied to five thousand rows in one pass. Which cleanups you can undo, which destroy the original, and the workflow that keeps everything recoverable.
Generating the formula is the easy part. A range that starts one row too low produces a plausible wrong number that nobody notices for a quarter. Here is how to ask well, and the four-minute check that catches it.
Microsoft’s documentation states the Excel COPILOT function stops being available on 14 September 2026, and the web rollout was cancelled. If you built anything on it, this is a deadline rather than a heads-up.
Most people who pay for Copilot in Excel cannot use it on the first attempt, and it is rarely a licensing fault. Microsoft documents several conditions that must be true first, and none appear on the purchase page.
Apply conditional formatting in Excel, from simple highlight rules to Custom Formula rules, and fix formatting that highlights the wrong cells.
Build a working monthly budget in Excel with Income, Planned vs Actual Expenses, and a live Summary tab — no downloaded template or macros required.