What we’ve covered
Over the past decade, Excel has undergone numerous changes and transformations. We have witnessed several new features and functions that have been introduced and have fundamentally changed how users interact with the software. Over the last few years alone, new formulas and functions such as GROUPBY and PIVOTBY have simplified analysing data, without the need to create additional pivot tables, while dynamic arrays have made it easier to work with formulas that apply to arrays of data. On the more complex side, the integration of Office Scripts has enhanced Excel's automation capabilities, and these only name a few!
It’s now also over 10 years since we published Tip #1. Over this period, our tips and tricks articles have covered a range of topics from how to master formulas, improve the formatting and appearance of your reports, to the best shortcuts and ways to use Excel more efficiently. Here are your top five favourites:
- Tip #440 – How to get better at Excel
- Tip #490 – Revisiting data entry shortcuts
- Tip #401 – Excel on Reddit
- Tip #388 – Power Pivot: Filtering measures
- Tip #498 – Introducing TRIMRANGE
We also understand that access to all this knowledge doesn’t always translate directly into building the skills and using the functionality. That's why, for our 500th Tip special, we asked the experts on the community’s advisory group to share what has helped them to get better at Excel so you can master the learning process.
As Excel continues to evolve, we will aim to keep you informed with easy-to-pick-up tips and tricks to support you in enhancing your skills and integrating new, productive, and reliable ways of working into your day-to-day use of Excel.
What’s hot in Excel
Excel in 2025 has evolved from a traditional spreadsheet tool into a dynamic, collaborative platform, fully integrated with Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot.
In recent years, Microsoft has introduced a range of smart features designed to make data handling and analysis in Excel faster and more intuitive. Functions like TRIMRANGE simplify data cleanup by removing unwanted blank rows or columns from dynamic ranges. Office Scripts and LAMBDA functions allow users to automate repetitive tasks and create reusable logic, streamlining tasks such as monthly reporting. And the addition of REGEX capabilities mean you can now extract, match, and manipulate text with greater precision. As we move forward, we will highlight practical ways to apply these features.
Copilot is now embedded in Excel, enabling you to ask questions about your data, generate quick charts, and identify trends using simple prompts (you can learn more in this on-demand webinar). While Copilot’s capabilities are still evolving, we will keep you updated as new features are rolled out.
Collaboration has also become a central focus due to Excel’s integration with OneDrive and SharePoint. With real-time collaboration, version control and tracking changes are more important than ever. Additionally, understanding how to secure and protect your spreadsheets, and sensitive data, has become critical. As a result, we will continue to provide tips and tricks to help you keep your data safe.
Finally, while Excel remains the leader in the spreadsheet market, Google Sheets has played its part in ensuring the spreadsheet software space is more competitive than ever. Indeed, many of the features highlighted in Tip #461 have now reached Excel, but both platforms continue to innovate, and other spreadsheet solutions gain traction in the market, we will keep you updated to ensure you have the best tools for your needs.
We hope you will see these trends reflected in the topics and tips we cover going forward, helping you stay top of what’s hot in Excel!
Get involved
We’ve hit 500 Tips and Tricks, and Excel is close to a significant milestone of its own, but we’re just getting started! We want you to help us shape our future content. Got a favourite Excel feature or a handy tip you use all the time? Please don’t hesitate to email us at excel@icaew.com, or share it on our Excel Community LinkedIn Group. We’d love to have you involved.
Archive and Knowledge Base
This archive of Excel Community content from the ION platform will allow you to read the content of the articles but the functionality on the pages is limited. The ION search box, tags and navigation buttons on the archived pages will not work. Pages will load more slowly than a live website. You may be able to follow links to other articles but if this does not work, please return to the archive search. You can also search our Knowledge Base for access to all articles, new and archived, organised by topic.
