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Hi, Microsoft 365 Insiders! I’m Natalie Wiegand, and I’m a Product Manager on the Excel team. I’m excited to share that Microsoft Excel for Windows now offers descriptive error cards to help you understand and fix errors more easily!

Understand and fix errors with descriptive error cards in Excel for Windows

Historically, it has been difficult to get context on errors like #SPILL! and #VALUE! as to what the problem is or how it could be solved. About six years ago, we released more descriptive error cards in Excel for the web – which many of you told us you appreciated! – and now we’re thrilled to release this same feature on Windows.

Now, when you hover over an error indicator in an Excel cell, you’ll see more context explaining what the error is, how it was generated, and ways you might fix it. This enables you to write formulas with more confidence and troubleshoot formula errors more quickly and easily.

Here’s what you used to see in Excel for Windows:

Here’s what you’ll see now:

How it works

1. Open a workbook in Excel for Windows.
2. Write a formula in a cell that will generate an error (for example, ’1234 or =SQRT(-1)).
3. Hover over the green triangle that appears in the upper left-hand corner of the cell and review the information provided about the error and possible actions, like Show Calculation Steps.

Availability

This feature is rolling out to Beta Channel users running Version 2512 (Build 19502.20000) or later of Excel for Windows. A similar update is coming to Excel for Mac soon, so stay tuned!

Feedback

We’d love to hear your thoughts on how this feature is working to help us prioritize our work moving forward. Please share your feedback with us directly from Excel by going to Help > Feedback.

 

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What does it take to be ready to deploy M365 Copilot in your organization? Richard talks to Nikki Chapple about her latest incarnation of the M365 Copilot Readiness Checklist, working step-by-step to bring M365 Copilot into the organization without causing data leak issues. Nikki discusses utilizing existing tools to accurately identify sensitive data, archiving outdated information, and monitoring data usage by both users and agents - allowing you to detect issues before they escalate. The conversation also delves into the process of identifying issues, discussing policy changes, and how to communicate those changes so that people can take advantage of the power of these new tools without feeling threatened. It's a journey!

Links

• Microsoft Purview
• SharePoint Advanced Management
• Defender for Cloud Apps
• Restricted SharePoint Search
• Microsoft 365 Archive
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• Data Security Posture Management for AI
• Nikki's Readiness Checklist
• M365 Copilot Oversharing Blueprint
• Microsoft Purview Secure by Default Blueprint
• Prevent Data Leaks to Shadow AI Blueprint

Recorded November 7, 2025

Download audio: https://cdn.simplecast.com/audio/c2165e35-09c6-4ae8-b29e-2d26dad5aece/episodes/87745e89-9f8b-4332-af4f-4599ca7ebba6/audio/a4eb1c62-0962-4291-8a03-d8ef894ace1b/default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=cRTTfxcT

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