Use Claude for Excel

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://claude.com/docs/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Claude for Excel is an add-in that brings Claude into Excel. Ask questions about open workbooks, adjust assumptions while preserving formula relationships, debug errors, and build or populate models, all without leaving Excel.

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What you can do

With Claude for Excel, you can:

• Ask questions about your workbook and get answers with cell-level citations.
• Adjust assumptions while keeping formula relationships intact.
• Identify and resolve errors and their root causes.
• Generate new spreadsheet models or populate existing templates.
• Work across multi-tab workbooks.
• Pull external context through connectors such as S&P Global, LSEG, and Daloopa.
• Apply enabled Skills automatically while you work.

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Get started with Claude for Excel

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Supported versions

Claude for Excel runs on the following Excel builds.

• Excel on the web
• Excel on Windows with a Microsoft 365 subscription, build 16.0.13127.20296 or later
• Excel on Mac, version 16.46 or later, build 21011600 or later

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Install for yourself

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Deploy to your organization

Organization admins can deploy Claude for Excel through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. After deployment, users can activate the Claude add-in from Tools, Add-ins on Mac or Home, Add-ins on Windows, sign in, and start working. For environments where “Let users access the Office Store” is disabled, deploy using the custom manifest XML file instead. Download the Excel manifest XML file, then follow Deploy with a custom manifest for the upload steps. The flow is identical apart from which manifest file you upload in Step 1.

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Connect through a third-party platform

If your organization routes AI traffic through Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud Vertex AI, Azure AI Foundry, or an LLM gateway, your admin can deploy the add-in without individual Claude accounts. See Use Claude for M365 with third-party platforms.

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Key features

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Understand complex models

Ask Claude to trace assumptions, explain formulas, or walk through how a number was derived. Answers include cell-level citations you can click to navigate to the referenced cell. Example prompts:

• “Walk me through how the revenue number in cell C42 is calculated.”
• “What assumptions drive the gross margin forecast?”

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Update values safely

Claude updates cell values while keeping formula relationships intact, so downstream cells recompute correctly. Example prompts:

• “Change the discount rate to 8% and update dependent calculations.”
• “Flex the growth rate from 5% to 10% and show me the impact on terminal value.”

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Build templates and models

Populate an existing template or generate a new model from a natural language description. Example prompts:

• “Populate this LBO template with a $500M purchase price and 6x leverage.”
• “Build a three-statement model from this trial balance.”

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Debug errors

Locate the root cause of calculation errors and suggest fixes. Example prompts:

• “Find the source of the #REF! error in the summary tab.”
• “Trace why cell H15 is returning #DIV/0.”

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Native Excel operations

Claude can sort, filter, edit pivot tables, apply conditional formatting, and create data validation dropdowns. Ask for these directly.

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Connectors and Skills

Claude for Excel supports connectors for pulling external context into your workbook, and Skills for applying reusable task recipes. See Connectors and Skills for details.

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Set persistent instructions

Open Settings in the add-in sidebar and use the Instructions field to set preferences that apply to every conversation in Excel. Instructions are useful for formatting conventions such as “format numbers with thousand separators” or “always bold column headers”, currency or locale preferences, or recurring context about your workflow. Instructions you set in Excel only apply to Excel. They are separate from Instructions you set in PowerPoint or Word.

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Work across M365 apps

Claude for Excel shares context with Claude for PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook, so a single conversation can span your open workbook, presentation, document, and inbox. See Work across M365 apps.

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Context and session management

The add-in handles long sessions and protects against accidental overwrites for you.

• Auto-compaction: longer conversations are automatically compacted into new conversations to avoid running out of context. See Understanding usage and length limits.
• Overwrite protection: Claude warns you before overwriting existing data to avoid accidental data loss.

Your use of Claude for Excel is associated with your existing Claude account and is subject to the same usage limits.

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Models available

You can switch between Claude Opus 4.7, Claude Opus 4.6, and Claude Sonnet 4.6 when using the add-in.

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Data handling

Inputs and outputs are deleted on the backend within 30 days of receipt or generation, except in cases outlined in How long do you store my organization’s data?. Data is cached for a number of hours after deletion so users can access context in recently closed workbooks. Chat history is stored locally in your browser using IndexedDB. Conversations are not stored on Anthropic’s servers, are not synced across devices, and can be cleared from Settings at any time. Claude for Excel does not inherit custom data retention settings your organization might have set. Activity is not included in Enterprise audit logs or the Compliance API.

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Current limitations

As a beta feature, Claude for Excel is not recommended for:

• Final client deliverables without human review.
• Audit-critical calculations without verification.
• Models containing highly sensitive or regulated data without proper controls.

Unsupported capabilities:

• Data tables.
• Macros and VBA operations.

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Unsupported versions

The add-in does not run on these Excel versions.

• Excel 2016 and 2019 perpetual or volume license.
• Excel on iPad. The add-in requires SharedRuntime support, which iPad does not provide.
• Excel on Android.
• Older builds of Microsoft 365 Excel below the SharedRuntime threshold.

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Prompt injection risk

External files such as downloaded templates, vendor files, and data imports can contain prompt injections that try to trick Claude into taking unintended actions. Testing has identified scenarios where Claude for Excel can be manipulated to extract sensitive information, modify critical data, or perform destructive actions if allowed to act without verification. When Claude proposes a risky operation, you are asked to confirm before it runs. Review confirmations carefully, especially for files from external sources.

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Best practices

Follow these guidelines to use Claude for Excel safely and effectively.

• Always review changes before finalizing your work.
• Start with a trusted copy of the workbook before asking Claude to edit widely.
• Be specific about what you want changed.
• Verify that outputs match your organization’s standards and your own judgment.