Excel Canvas: Microsoft's New Interactive Reporting Tool

Microsoft is rolling out Excel Canvas, a new feature in its Copilot tool that turns workbook data into interactive reports. The feature, which requires access to Copilot in Excel, will be available through October.

Copilot generates the initial version of the canvas automatically from the data in the workbook. Users can then ask Copilot to adjust the report using natural language prompts, rather than rebuilding each chart by hand.

The canvas remains linked to the spreadsheet, so edits made manually in the workbook will show up in the charts and metrics, as well as new data pulled in from external sources. This means that users won't have to recreate static dashboards every time they update their data.

Excel Canvas is part of a series of updates to Copilot in Excel, which has also included features like multiple values per cell and the ability to move the floating Dynamic Action Button to the toolbar.