Microsoft rolls out new Excel features this July

Microsoft rolls out a bunch of new features for Excel this July of 2022. The update covers Excel for web, Windows, and Mac, and will be introducing Natural Language Query improvements for both Excel for Windows and Mac and search for fields in PivotTable field List for Excel for the web. Microsoft’s Tech Community blog post details other additions to the July 2022 update.

Excel might not be regularly getting the same amount of updates and new features as other Office apps, but it is nice to know that Microsoft continues to improve it bit by bit every month. One of its best additions is the Natural Language Query improvements, which are coming to Excel for Windows (Current Channel & Monthly Enterprise Channel) and Mac. This means users will now be allowed to do a search in the spreadsheet using natural language. “You can now ask questions about specific patterns or insights that might be in your data like ‘Show me insights for the Northwest region,'” explains the Excel Team. “You get more options when there are multiple answers to your question.”

On the other hand, Excel for the web will get an update to the PivotTable field list, which will let them search for fields in their PivotTables. However, note that the new feature will be gradually rolled out to users, so some Excel for web users might not experience it right away.

Meanwhile, the automatic data conversion control, which will arrive in Excel for Windows (Insiders Beta), will allow better control over data conversions. Here, users can choose the specific formats where they want their data to be converted automatically.

Lastly, Beta Channel Insiders using Excel for Mac will get a new resizable Conditional Formatting dialog. This is handy since the current size of the Manage Rules dialog only allows simultaneous viewing of just five conditional formatting rules and is incapable of showing long formulas. This update changes that by allowing you to make the dialog wider and/or taller. According to Microsoft, the update also includes an accessibility improvement, which should make it easier to manage conditional formatting rules using the keyboard.