Creating the latest Microsoft Excel spreadsheet may soon be more of a team effort than ever, thanks to a new update.
The spreadsheet will now offer users the ability to more easily collaborate during a Microsoft Teams call with its new Excel Live feature.
This allows anyone on a video conference call to work together on an Excel spreadsheet during a meeting, including direct edits and additions, all updated and viewable in real time.
Live Excel in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft says the new addition will make it easier for users to collaborate like never before, enabling frictionless collaborative work during a Microsoft Teams call.
Users will be able to simply select the file they want to share to start editing directly in a meeting. Owners can then grant editing permissions to meeting participants or simply allow all meeting participants to edit the document from the meeting window.
In its official Microsoft 365 roadmap entry (opens in a new tab), Excel Live is still described as "under development"; however, it does have a target general availability date of March 2023, which means users shouldn't have to. wait too long to get your hands on it.
Upon release, Excel Live will be available to PC and Mac users, as well as mobile users with Android or iOS devices.
Microsoft has been hard at work delivering a series of updates to Excel and Teams over the past few months to ensure their platforms are useful and intuitive for customers around the world.
Microsoft Excel recently released a new "@mentions" extension that will allow users to tag colleagues, both within and outside of an organization. These labels can be requests for modifications, the addition of additional information or simply a clarification on a certain point.
The company also recently included the ability to add hyperlinks in comments added to spreadsheets, instead of having to copy and paste plain text as was previously the case.