Python excels

Python in Excel. © Microsoft.

Microsoft is giving Insider 365 program participants a preview of a feature that lets users manipulate and analyze Excel data using Python. “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,” explains Stefan Kinnestrand, general manager of modern work at Microsoft.

Back in 2000, Python worked in Excel as an OLE automation language but as it presented considerable security risks, that functionality was dropped. Now, Microsoft extols the security benefits of Python in Excel running on Microsoft’s cloud. The company says the language runs in isolated containers without access to devices, user networks or user tokens. Python and Excel only really communicate through limited xl() and =PY() functions, which can only return results, not macros, VBA code, etc.

⇨ YouTube, “Python in Excel: a powerful combination for data analysis and visualization”

⇨ Ars Technica, Kevin Purdy, “Excel gets containerized, cloud-based Python analytics and visualization powers.”

2023-08-22