Microsoft will add Python to Excel and make a beta version available

Microsoft will integrate support for the Python programming language into Excel. This allows users to use Python in their spreadsheets to analyze and visualize data. A public preview of the feature will be available immediately.

Python in Excel allows users to use the programming language directly in the Excel ribbon, Microsoft writes in a blog post. Users can do that by writing ‘=PY’ in a cell and then adding Python code. There is no need to install any plug-ins or additional software to use Python in Excel; the programming language is built into Excel’s connectors and Power Query upon release.

Users can use Python code to “manipulate and explore” data in Excel, according to Microsoft. It is then possible to ‘further refine’ those insights with Excel’s formulas, graphs and PivotTables. The feature is based on the Anaconda distribution of Python running in Azure. It integrates several Python libraries, including pandas for data manipulation, statsmodels for statistical models, and Matplotlib and seaborn for data visualization.

Python in Excel runs on the Microsoft Cloud as a Microsoft 365 service. This means that Python code does not run locally, but in the cloud. It happens according to Microsoft in an isolated Azure container. The Python code does not have access to the Internet or users’ devices and accounts.

The feature is immediately available as an Insider Preview. Users can install this trial version by enrolling in the Microsoft 365 Insider program and choosing the beta channel. Users can then activate the feature by clicking ‘Formulas’ in the ribbon at the top of the screen, selecting ‘Insert Python’ and then pressing the ‘Try preview’ button. It is not known when the feature will become generally available.

Source: Microsoft