ARTICLE

Copilot in Excel: bringing in data from other workbooks, Power BI and the web, and finding who changed a cell

At month end the data you need sits in several places: branch sales in separate workbooks, sales figures in a Power BI report, exchange rates on the web. Copilot in Excel can pull these into a workbook from one prompt, and it can tell you who changed which cell and when. Each source has its own conditions, and some data does not stay up to date. Information as of October 2026.

Copilot in Excel can bring data into a workbook from several sources: the web (with the sites it used cited), Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files in OneDrive or SharePoint, email and meetings, Power BI reports, and connectors to outside services. Work sources and connectors need a commercial Copilot subscription. Data from Power BI is a snapshot taken when you attach the report and does not refresh.

Choosing which sources Copilot can use

In the Copilot pane, open the Add menu in the prompt box and select Change data sources to connect, turn on or turn off each source. Copilot does not use a source that is off.

Source	What it brings in	Conditions
Web	Information from the web, with the sites used listed as citations in the answer	Your IT admin can turn it on or off
Work	Work documents and conversations, such as OneDrive or SharePoint files, email and meetings	Needs a commercial Copilot subscription. You select and confirm each source, and approval lasts only for that chat
Federated connectors	Live data from outside services such as HubSpot, Notion, FactSet and S&P Global, without storing it in the workbook	Needs a commercial Copilot subscription. Uses your own permissions, and asks for consent before sending anything to an outside service
Microsoft 365 Copilot connectors	Work items, tickets, database rows and CRM records	See Microsoft's connector gallery for the list

Work sources reset with every new chat. Microsoft advises approving only sources you are comfortable seeing in the file, especially one you plan to share. If your OneDrive holds payroll or contract folders, do not approve them in a chat on a report that goes to management or outside the company.

Importing data from another workbook

This works in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac. Open the Copilot pane and say what you need from which file, for example:

"Get September sales by branch from my file named branch_sales_2026.xlsx"
"Find Q3 asset purchases and their costs from my file named fixed_asset_register.xlsx"

If Copilot finds several files with similar names, it asks you to pick the right one before importing. Type the file name exactly, and name the sheet or table if there is one, so the data comes from where you meant.

Microsoft's page does not say whether imported data is static or linked to the source file. After importing, click into the cells. If they hold plain numbers with no formula, next month means asking again. For combining the same set of files every month, Power Query fits better: you set the steps up once and select Refresh each month.

Pulling data from the web, email and work documents

This works in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac. Describe what you need in the Copilot pane, and Copilot gathers the data and inserts it into the workbook. Some finance examples:

"Search the web for USD, EUR and JPY exchange rates against the baht and put them in a table"
"Find unusually high costs in the Q3 travel expenses file"
"List yesterday's emails about the month-end close in a table with sender, subject and importance"

The second and third come from work documents and email, so they use the Work source and need a commercial Copilot subscription.

Web data is fine for a quick picture or a rough comparison. For anything that goes into the books, such as the rate used to translate a transaction, use the source and date your accounting policy sets, and open the citations Copilot attaches to see which site the figure came from and what date it is for.

Analysing a Power BI report in Excel

Copilot in Excel can answer questions about a Power BI report, summarise it, and insert editable tables, charts and other elements into the workbook. Its answers are based on the report's data, so you can trace them back to the source report.

In the Copilot pane, open the Add menu in the prompt box and select Add content.
If the search box opens by itself, exit it.
Select More, then Power BI.
Pick a report from your recently viewed list, or search for another report you have permission to see.
Type your prompt and send it.

The Power BI option appears only when your admin has turned on Fabric data in Microsoft Copilot. If it is missing, ask IT.

The main limitation: you get a one-time snapshot of the data when you attach the report, and it does not refresh. When the Power BI report updates, attach it again and send a new prompt. Put the date and time of the pull in a cell next to the table, so whoever opens the file later knows how old the numbers are.

Example prompts:

"Summarise key metrics, trends and unusual changes in this report"
"Create an editable table of monthly sales by region with a chart, and flag the months that changed most"
"Rank the branches with the highest sales in the latest month"

If your team already runs Excel and Power BI side by side, see how to build Excel reports and extend them with Power BI for how to split the work.

Asking Copilot who changed what, and when

In a workbook several people edit, such as a budget file where each department enters its own figures, you can ask Copilot for an overview or about a single cell:

"Summarise the changes made to this workbook in the past seven days"
"Who changed values on the Budget sheet after 15 October, and what did they change?"
"What changes has Copilot made to this workbook?"

Add a sheet name, range or time period to narrow the answer. Ask the last question every time before you send a file Copilot has edited, so you can see anything it changed beyond what you asked for.

Microsoft's limits: Copilot reports only changes recorded in the workbook's change history, Excel keeps supported changes for up to 365 days, and edits made in an unsupported Excel version or with a feature that is not tracked may not appear.

To look yourself, go to the Review tab > Show Changes. To roll back several edits or recover an older copy of the file, use Version History.

Checking imported data before it goes into a report

Tie at least one total back to the source, such as the month's total sales in the Power BI report or the branch file.
Put the date of the pull next to the table, especially for Power BI data, which does not update with the report, and for web data.
Open the citations on web data to see which site a figure came from and what date it is for.
Check whether the cells hold values or formulas, so you know whether next month needs a fresh pull.
Ask Copilot what it changed in the workbook before you send it.

If you are not yet sure how reliably Copilot reads your data, test it with questions you already know the answer to before using it on a live file. To make Copilot keep the same number formats and tables every time, see rules and skills for Copilot in Excel.

Questions about bringing data in with Copilot in Excel

Why is there no Power BI option in Copilot in Excel?

Power BI under Add content > More appears only when your admin has turned on Fabric data in Microsoft Copilot. Ask your IT team.

Does Power BI data update when the report does?

No. It is a snapshot from when you attached the report. For newer figures, attach the report again and send a new prompt.

How far back can Copilot see changes?

Excel keeps supported changes for up to 365 days. Edits made in an unsupported version of Excel may not be recorded.

Can a personal Microsoft 365 plan pull data from email?

Microsoft says Work sources and federated connectors need a commercial Copilot subscription. Its pages put no such condition on web search.

Can I ask for data in Thai?

Yes. Thai is a supported language. Type file, sheet and table names exactly as they are.

Sources

Checked against Microsoft's support pages on 27 October 2026. Copilot in Excel's sources, connectors and conditions change often, and menu names may move. Check Microsoft's current pages before relying on them for a live file.