Excel's new Copilot feature will turn your spreadsheets into interactive visuals, and they'll auto-update too

Published Sep 4, 2026, 11:42 PM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary An upcoming Copilot-powered Excel canvas feature turns workbook data into polished, interactive visuals. Canvases auto-update with data changes, and you can edit them by chatting with Copilot. Microsoft plans a broad rollout for desktop and web in September 2026 as per the AI at Work Roadmap. Getting your data organised in Excel is one thing; making it look presentable is another. Fortunately, Microsoft has been adding some interesting new Copilot-powered features to the spreadsheet software that will make creating interactive canvases representing your data a lot easier. Best of all, it'll keep tabs on everything you change and automatically update the canvas as you work. Microsoft's new "Excel canvas" feature makes creating and maintaining visual data a breeze It should roll out to everyone sometime this month You can see the details for yourself over on the AI at Work Roadmap. Microsoft has a few different roadmaps to keep businesses and consumers in the loop about what they can expect from future updates. The AI at Work one is, as you'd expect, a roadmap covering the implementation of new Copilot and AI tools. This time, we're taking a look at Roadmap ID 569424: Excel canvas. It was added to the roadmap earlier this month, and reads like this: A Copilot-generated canvas that turns workbook data into a polished, interactive view of key visualizations, metrics, and insights. As workbook data changes, it automatically updates to reflect the latest information. Users can modify the canvas by chatting with Copilot. It sounds like a genuinely useful feature, especially the part where Excel will automatically update the visual as you make changes to the workbook. If done right, I can see it genuinely saving a lot of time and effort when creating interactive guides for your data. Despite being marked as "In Development," Microsoft seems confident that they can get this new Excel canvas feature rolled out sometime in September 2026. When it does arrive, both desktop and web users can take advantage of this handy new feature.