Python in Excel

• Native Python features will enable Excel users to leverage the Python language for data analysis, machine learning, and other tasks.
• The features are still in preview.

In Aug. 2023, Microsoft announced the preview of native Python features available in Excel. The new capability enables Excel users with Python expertise to use the extensive data analysis, graphics, statistics, and machine learning libraries available for the programming language.

The Python capabilities primarily target data analysts familiar with Python programming metaphors, such as data frames. In the accompanying screenshot, Python code places a range of Excel data (A1:B10) into a data frame, sorts it, deduplicates (aggregates), and calculates the average price (mean). A new Excel function, =py() calls the Python code. Conversely, a new Python function, xl(), enables Python to access spreadsheet data; for example, to apply the Python variable rate to the contents of the cell B5, the code would be rate=xl(B5)).