When people think about using AI in Excel, they often jump straight to Copilot. While Copilot is brilliant, you can still get great insights from your data by using a clever little feature built right into Excel.

It’s called Analyse Data, and once you know it’s there, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it!

So, what is the “Analyse Data” button?

The Analyse Data button lives on the Home tab in Excel (over on the right-hand side). It uses AI to look at your data and instantly serve up:

• 📊 Trends you might’ve missed

• 💡 Suggested insights and patterns

• 📈 Ready-made charts and visuals

• 🤔 Answers to plain-English questions you type in

No formulas. No pivot tables. No technical know-how required.

It’s one of the most underrated features in Excel.

How to use Analyse Data — in 3 simple steps

1. Open your spreadsheet and click anywhere inside your dataset.

2. Go to the Home tab and click Analyse Data (top right corner).

3. Explore the suggestions — or type a question in plain English, like: 

   • “What were the top 5 products by sales last quarter?”

   • “Show me trends in customer enquiries over time.”

   • “Which region had the highest growth?”

Excel will pop up a side panel with charts, summaries, and insights you can drop straight into your workbook.

A real-world example

Imagine you’ve got a spreadsheet with monthly sales figures across different regions. Instead of building pivot tables or fiddling with formulas, you simply:

• Click Analyse Data

• Type: “Which region had the biggest increase this year?”

Within seconds, Excel gives you a chart and a clear answer. You can insert it into your spreadsheet with one click; ready to share with your team or pop into a report.

You don’t need to be a data analyst, and you don’t need the latest AI add-on to get value from Excel. 

This is exactly the kind of thing we love teaching in our training on site sessions or live webinars. We enjoy helping people get more value from the tools they already have.

Want to see it in action?

We’ve put together a short video walking you through exactly how to use the Analyse Data button.

👉Watch it here on YouTube

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