Introduction to the TextCortex AI Agent for Excel

Read, edit, and check your spreadsheets with TextCortex without leaving Excel.

The TextCortex AI Agent for Excel is an add-in that opens the TextCortex agent in a panel next to your workbook. You can ask questions about your data, build and fix formulas, and apply changes directly in the sheet. There's no need to copy data into another tool.

Install the add-in

1. Open the TextCortex AI Agent for Excel listing in the Microsoft Marketplace and select Get it now.
2. Or, in Excel, go to Home → Add-ins, search for TextCortex, and add it.
3. Open the add-in from the ribbon and sign in with your TextCortex account.

What the add-in can do

• Understand your workbook: Ask what a sheet contains, or ask questions about your data.
• Write values and formulas: Fill ranges and build formulas, including formulas that reference other sheets.
• Fix formula errors: Trace an error back to the cell where it starts.
• Format cells: Apply number formats, fill colors, bold, italic, and font colors.
• Add conditional formatting: Highlight cells that match a rule, such as values below a threshold or a custom formula.
• Build charts and PivotTables: Visualize or summarize existing data with sums, counts, averages, and more.
• Duplicate worksheets: Copy a sheet to a new tab with its values, formulas, and formatting, for example to build a scenario from an existing model.

It sees your whole workbook

You don't have to select a sheet first. The add-in knows the name and used range of every tab in the open workbook, and it also sees your current selection. Ask something like "total progress per assignee across all sheets", and the agent works across tabs on its own.

The overview covers sheet names and ranges only. When the agent needs cell contents, it reads them as part of the task.

Review every change before it's written

Before the agent changes anything, it shows an approval card that tells you what will change and where. Nothing is written until you approve.

• Each approved change can be reversed with Excel's own undo.
• If a change can't be undone, the approval card warns you before you approve.
• You can turn on auto-approve if you prefer to skip the cards.

Built-in safeguard: The add-in blocks writes that would clear cells that already contain values. It asks the agent to narrow the change instead.

Start faster with starters and chat history

• Starters: Click a starter to attach its skill and drop a ready-to-send prompt into the message box. Press Enter to run it.
• Chats: Open the chat history from the left of the panel header to return to earlier conversations or start a new chat.

Good to know

• The add-in works on the workbook that's currently open. It can't copy a sheet into a separate file.
• Some actions need a recent version of Excel. If yours doesn't support an action, the add-in tells you instead of trying a workaround.
• The add-in can read and change your workbook, and it sends data over the internet to process your requests.
• Always check results that matter, especially formulas used for reporting or decisions.

Need help?

If the add-in isn't available in your organization, ask your Microsoft 365 administrator or contact your TextCortex account manager.