Microsoft 365 Roadmap Weekly: New Copilot features are coming to Word, Excel and more

Microsoft 365 app icon with Office apps arranged on the sides

The Microsoft 365 Roadmap website had another busy week with a number of new entries being added over the past seven days. That's especially true of the many new listings that involved apps getting additional Copilot AI features.

Later this month, Excel is scheduled to get two new Copilot-powered features. One deals with making complete formula columns.

Users can ask Copilot to generate multiple formula columns suggestions at once, from a single prompt, such as "split the name into first name and last name.

The other listing, again for rollout in April, says Copilot will be able to be used in Exel to "utilize complex formulas such as XLOOKUP and SUMIF to create formula columns bringing together data from multiple tables."

New Copilot features are also coming to Word sometime in May. One listing on the roadmap states Copilot can start creating a document by using up to three Word or PowerPoint files:

In "Draft with Copilot," select Reference a file and choose up to three files that Copilot should use when creating the new document. Or, in "Compose," type "/" and the name of the file you'd like to use. You can only use files you have permission to access in your organization's SharePoint or OneDrive.

Another Copilot feature coming to Word in May involves the use of weblinks:

Users can copy and paste a link of a supported file into the Draft with Copilot UI as a reference instead of searching for it in the file reference menu.

Finally, the roadmap lists a feature that will let users "browse OneDrive and SharePoint folders to find files for grounding prompts in Copilot" in April.

Microsoft Teams will add a new chat feature sometime in June:

Organizers, co-organizers, and presenters can chat privately in a separate chat from attendees. This chat is available to access before, during, and after the event.

In May, Teams will add features that will let organizers of webinars and also organizers of town halls "to block the sending of attendee emails from Microsoft Teams."

That's our look back at the Microsoft 365 Roadmap this week. We will be back next week to see what's been added to the site in the next seven days.