Python is coming to Microsoft Excel

Python—the programming language, not the reptile—is coming to Microsoft Excel, in a bid to bring the best of both worlds together when it comes to data analysis and visualisation.

In a new blog post on the Microsoft community forums, the Redmond company revealed that they were bringing Python to Excel. According to them, it allows the user to combine the powerful data analysis and visualisation libraries of Python with the core features of Excel. You won’t need to install any extensions or set up anything in Excel. Instead, it’ll all be available straight off the Excel ribbon tab.

As for what you can do with Python on Excel, Microsoft says that you can collaborate easier with your colleagues when working on projects by sharing your workbooks and Python analytics using Microsoft Teams and Outlook, with your co-authors able to see the Python in Excel analytics even if they don’t have Python on their version of Excel. Analysts in particular should benefit from having Python on Excel with advanced visualisations, more machine learning and predictive analytics tools as well as more efficient data cleaning.

“Python in Excel combines Python’s powerful data analysis and visualization libraries with Excel’s features you know and love. You can manipulate and explore data in Excel using Python plots and libraries, and then use Excel’s formulas, charts and PivotTables to further refine your insights,” – Stefan Kinnestrand, Microsoft 365 General Manager

Python in Excel is being unveiled first as a Public Preview to those in the Microsoft 365 Insiders Beta program first, with it heading to Excel for Windows soon after and other platforms at a later date.