Excel's Copilot function is headed for the Recycle Bin
- ID
- 14889
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 17 Aug 2026, 6:55 PM
- Fetched
- 18 Aug 2026, 1:02 AM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/08/17/excels-copilot-function-is-headed-for-the-recycle-bin/5288327
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 4.5
- Created
- 18 Aug 2026, 1:04 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- vibe_codersdevelopers
What happened
Microsoft is retiring Excel's COPILOT() function on September 14, 2026, killing a feature that launched in preview only a year earlier and was never made generally available. The function let users invoke AI from a worksheet cell, but Microsoft now says the Copilot side pane covers the same capabilities. Google Sheets still offers a comparable AI function.
Why it matters
If anyone in your team embedded COPILOT() in production spreadsheets, those formulas break on September 14 and need replacing with side-pane workflows or a migration to Google Sheets' equivalent AI function. This is also a cautionary tale for relying on preview-tier AI features in business-critical documents.
Discussion angle
How much should builders trust vendor preview AI features for anything resembling production, and what's the fallback plan when a Big Tech vendor yanks a feature before GA?