COPILOT
Unsupported (not recognized)Category: Text · Last tested 2026-09-01
Real compatibility results for the COPILOT function: executed in Excel for the web, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc, with desktop Excel behavior from Microsoft’s official documentation (we do not run desktop Excel — Excel for the web is a different application and is executed separately). Syntax and links to that documentation are below.
Support matrix
| Engine | Documented | Live-tested | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | Yes | No — documented only | n/a |
| Excel for the web | — | Yes (recalc, 2026-09-01) | Unsupported (not recognized) |
| Google Sheets | No | Yes (Drive import, 2026-08-31) | Unsupported (not recognized) |
| LibreOffice Calc | No | Yes (25.8.7.3, 2026-08-31) | Unsupported (not recognized) |
LibreOffice version history
We executed the same test cases under each LibreOffice release to show exactly when COPILOT’s support changed — not documentation claims, real results.
| LibreOffice version | Verdict | Tested |
|---|---|---|
| 24.2.0.3 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 2026-08-31 |
| 24.8.7.2 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.2.0.3 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 2026-08-31 |
| 25.8.7.3 | Unsupported (not recognized) | 2026-08-31 |
Why isn't COPILOT working in LibreOffice?
LibreOffice Calc does not implement COPILOT as of 25.8.7.3 — in our
executed tests it returns a #NAME? (unrecognized function) error. This is not a typo or a
settings problem, and saving the file as .xlsx does not change it: the function simply isn’t
available yet.
The same formula is documented for Excel.
Watch the LibreOffice version support page —
we re-run every test on each new release, so it will flip to Supported here as soon as it lands.
Why isn’t COPILOT working in Google Sheets?
Google Sheets does not implement COPILOT: we imported the formula into
Sheets on 2026-08-31 and every case came back #NAME?
(unrecognized function). Sheets is a rolling service with no version to pin, so this is a
statement about the service on that date, and Google’s own
function list does not document it either. Rewrite the formula with a documented
Sheets equivalent — see the
Excel ↔ Sheets equivalents table.
Executed test cases
Excel for the web (executed 2026-09-01 via OneDrive recalculation)
These values come from Excel for the web, not from desktop Excel. They are two different implementations of the calculation engine, and this run measured only the web one: the corpus was uploaded to OneDrive as .xlsx, recalculated by Excel for the web on open, and downloaded again for readback. Excel for the web is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so the run is identified by its date. Where a value here disagrees with the Expected column — which is Microsoft’s documentation of the desktop product — we cannot tell you whether the web engine diverges from the desktop one or the documentation is wrong about both, because we do not run desktop Excel.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =COPILOT("Five ice cream flavors") | Existence probe only: COPILOT sends a prompt to an Azure-hosted AI model, so its output is neither deterministic nor reproducible; this case only records whether the engine recognizes the function name at all | #NAME? | ProvenanceNOT ASSERTABLE BY DESIGN, and deliberately recorded as a probe rather than a support claim. Microsoft's page states the function "calls an AI model hosted on Azure directly from a cell formula", requires an active internet connection and a qualifying Copilot licence, currently uses gpt-4.1-mini (2025-04-14), and that "formula results may change over time, even with the same arguments" -- so there is no value any engine could be held to. The page also announces that from 2026-09-14 the COPILOT function will no longer be available in Excel at all. Without a licence Excel itself documents #BLOCKED ("License Not Found"), so a non-Excel engine returning #NAME? tells us the name is unknown, which is the only comparable datum here |
Error |
Google Sheets (executed 2026-08-31 via Drive import)
Google Sheets is a rolling service with no pinnable version, so this run is identified by its date. The corpus was imported to Drive as .xlsx, recalculated by Sheets, and exported back for readback.
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =COPILOT("Five ice cream flavors") | Existence probe only: COPILOT sends a prompt to an Azure-hosted AI model, so its output is neither deterministic nor reproducible; this case only records whether the engine recognizes the function name at all | #NAME? | ProvenanceNOT ASSERTABLE BY DESIGN, and deliberately recorded as a probe rather than a support claim. Microsoft's page states the function "calls an AI model hosted on Azure directly from a cell formula", requires an active internet connection and a qualifying Copilot licence, currently uses gpt-4.1-mini (2025-04-14), and that "formula results may change over time, even with the same arguments" -- so there is no value any engine could be held to. The page also announces that from 2026-09-14 the COPILOT function will no longer be available in Excel at all. Without a licence Excel itself documents #BLOCKED ("License Not Found"), so a non-Excel engine returning #NAME? tells us the name is unknown, which is the only comparable datum here |
Error |
LibreOffice Calc 25.8.7.3 (tested 2026-08-31)
| Formula | Description | Result | Expected | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| =COPILOT("Five ice cream flavors") | Existence probe only: COPILOT sends a prompt to an Azure-hosted AI model, so its output is neither deterministic nor reproducible; this case only records whether the engine recognizes the function name at all | #NAME? | ProvenanceNOT ASSERTABLE BY DESIGN, and deliberately recorded as a probe rather than a support claim. Microsoft's page states the function "calls an AI model hosted on Azure directly from a cell formula", requires an active internet connection and a qualifying Copilot licence, currently uses gpt-4.1-mini (2025-04-14), and that "formula results may change over time, even with the same arguments" -- so there is no value any engine could be held to. The page also announces that from 2026-09-14 the COPILOT function will no longer be available in Excel at all. Without a licence Excel itself documents #BLOCKED ("License Not Found"), so a non-Excel engine returning #NAME? tells us the name is unknown, which is the only comparable datum here |
Error |
Docs & syntax
- Excel (desktop): official documentation