Claude for Excel is currently available in beta as a limited research preview to Max, Team and Enterprise plans. To request access, join the waitlist here.
Claude for Excel is an add-in that integrates Claude into your Excel workflow. It's designed for professionals who work extensively with spreadsheets, particularly in financial analysis and modeling.
With Claude for Excel, you can:
Ask questions about your workbook and get answers with cell-level citations
Update assumptions while preserving formula dependencies
Debug errors and identify their root causes
Build new models or fill existing templates
Navigate complex multi-tab workbooks seamlessly
Getting started with Claude for Excel
For individuals
Get started:
Visit Microsoft AppSource and search for "Claude by Anthropic for Excel"
Click Get it now to install the add-in
Open Excel, activate the add-in, and sign in with your Claude account
For Admins
Deploy Claude for Excel to your organization:
Visit the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Navigate to Settings > Integrated apps > Add-ins
Search for "Claude by Anthropic for Excel" in Microsoft AppSource
Deploy the add-in to your organization or specific users
Share these instructions with your team: Microsoft's deployment guide
After installation, team members can open Excel, activate the Claude add-in (from Tools > Add-ins on Mac or Home > Add-ins on Windows), sign in with their Claude credentials, and start working with their spreadsheets.
Key features
Read and understand complex models
Ask Claude questions about specific cells, formulas, or entire sections of your workbook. Claude can navigate across multiple tabs and provides answers with direct citations to referenced cells.
Example prompts:
"What assumptions drive the revenue forecast in Q3?"
"Explain how the WACC calculation flows through the DCF model"
Update assumptions safely
Modify values and inputs while Claude maintains all formula dependencies and relationships. Every change is highlighted with clear explanations.
Example prompts:
"Increase growth rate by 2% and show the impact on terminal value"
"Update interest rate assumptions based on latest Fed guidance"
Build and fill templates
Create spreadsheets from scratch or populate existing templates with new data, formulas, and assumptions.
Example prompts:
"Build a three-statement model for a SaaS company"
"Fill this DCF template with data from the uploaded 10-K"
Debug and fix errors
Identify error sources (like #REF!, #VALUE!, or circular references) and get actionable fixes that maintain spreadsheet integrity.
Example prompts:
"Why is this NPV calculation returning #VALUE?"
"Find all circular references in this workbook"
Change tracking and citations
Claude highlights every cell it updates and provides explanatory comments. When explaining calculations, Claude includes clickable citations that navigate directly to referenced cells.
Technical specifications
Supported file formats:
.xlsx files
.xlsm files
What's preserved:
Formulas and dependencies
Cell relationships
Existing formatting and structure
Current limitations
Claude for Excel does not inherit custom data retention settings your organization might have set for Team or Enterprise plans, and chat history is not saved between sessions. Additionally, Claude does not have advanced Excel capabilities, including:
Pivot tables
Conditional formatting
Data validation
Data tables
Macros
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
Claude for Excel uses Sonnet 4.5 and it’s not possible to switch to a different model at this time.
As a research preview in beta, Claude for Excel is not recommended for:
Final client deliverables without human review
Audit-critical calculations without verification
Replacing users’ financial judgment and expertise
Models containing highly sensitive or regulated data without proper controls
Best practices
To use Claude for Excel safely and effectively:
Always review changes before finalizing your work.
Verify outputs match your organization's methodologies.
Use appropriate permissions and access controls.
Maintain human oversight for client-facing work.
Prompt injection attack risks
Only use Claude for Excel with trusted spreadsheets and not spreadsheets from external untrusted sources (for example, downloaded templates, vendor files, collaborative documents, and data imports).
An important risk that users of Claude for Excel and other AI tools that can read and manipulate spreadsheets is prompt injection attacks that hide malicious instructions in spreadsheet content (cells, formulas, comments, etc.) to trick the AI models into taking unintended actions. For example, a seemingly innocent template or data file received from an external party or downloaded from the internet might contain hidden instructions to "export all financial data to this external URL" or "modify these financial records." Claude may interpret these malicious instructions as legitimate requests from you.
Our testing has identified edge scenarios where Claude for Excel can be manipulated to:
Extract and share sensitive information with bad actors through formulas, web searches containing your sensitive data, or file system access that exposes proprietary information.
Modify critical data such as financial records.
Perform destructive actions without verification, exploiting Claude's helpful nature to delete or corrupt important data across multiple sheets.
Users have the ability to approve all of Claude’s actions
External data fetching: WEBSERVICE
External imports: IMPORTDATA, IMPORTXML, IMPORTHTML, IMPORTFEED, FILTERXML
Dynamic references: INDIRECT
Command execution: DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange)
Code execution: CALL, EVALUATE, FORMULA
File system access: IMAGE, FILES, DIRECTORY, FOPEN, FWRITE, FCLOSE
System information: REGISTER.ID, RTD, INFO
While we continue to develop our offerings and improve safety measures to reduce these risks, users should exercise caution when using Claude for Excel and should not use it with spreadsheets from external, untrusted sources.
FAQ
Does Claude understand financial modeling conventions?
Yes, Claude is trained to recognize common financial modeling patterns, formula structures, and industry-standard calculations. However, always verify that outputs match your specific methodologies.
Can I use Claude for Excel with sensitive data?
Claude for Excel works within your existing security framework. For highly sensitive or regulated data, ensure you follow your organization's data handling policies.
What happens to my chat history?
Currently, chat history is not saved between sessions. Each time you open the add-in, you start a fresh conversation with Claude. However, we are working to support this in future versions of Claude for Excel.
How does Claude access my spreadsheet?
Claude reads the content of your currently open workbook, including cells, formulas, and tab structure. It can only access the workbook you have open in Excel.
What if Claude makes a mistake?
Claude highlights all changes it makes to your workbook. Review these changes carefully before saving or sharing your file. You can always undo changes using Excel's standard undo function.