Anthropic is expanding the capabilities of its AI assistant, Claude, by rolling out new features that allow the tool to work more closely with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
The update is designed to help users move from data analysis to presentation building without constantly switching between apps. The changes, announced this week, aim to simplify common tasks for professionals who regularly use both applications.
With the update, Claude can coordinate tasks between the Excel and PowerPoint add-ins during a single session. Instead of manually copying information between the two apps, the AI can read data from one file and use it in the other. This means a spreadsheet analysis in Excel can quickly turn into presentation slides in PowerPoint without repeating prompts or re-entering information.
According to Anthropic, the new feature allows users to keep working in one place while the AI moves between apps in the background.
“A financial analyst can pull comparable company financials from an open workbook and other data sources,” the company said, explaining the idea behind the workflow. “From there they could build out a trading comps table in Excel, drop the valuation summary into the pitch deck, and draft the email to the MD — without switching tabs or re-explaining the dataset at each step.”
Shared context keeps conversations continuous
One of the key additions is shared context between the Excel and PowerPoint add-ins. The AI now keeps the full conversation history active across both programs during a session.
That means Claude can remember instructions, data points, and tasks while moving between a spreadsheet and a presentation. Users no longer need to paste information from one application into another or restate their request.
The system works only with files that are currently open, and the relevant add-ins must be active inside each application.
Reusable workflows with ‘skills’
Another major part of the update is the introduction of Skills inside the Excel and PowerPoint add-ins.
Skills allow users to save frequently used workflows for later reuse with a single click. Instead of writing the same instructions every time, teams can store common processes such as reviewing financial models or building presentation decks.
Anthropic is also shipping a starter set of Skills to handle common tasks, including auditing Excel models for formula errors, cleaning messy datasets, and building competitive landscape slides in PowerPoint.
The new integration is available to paid Claude users on both Mac and Windows. The add-ins can be installed from the Microsoft Marketplace and activated in each application.
Organizations can also route Claude’s add-ins through existing cloud infrastructure, including services from Amazon’s Bedrock, Google Cloud’s Vertex AI, or Microsoft’s Foundry environment. This allows companies to keep the tools within their existing compliance and security setups.
What you can’t do (yet)
The update comes with some understandable limitations. Claude can only read from and write to files that are currently open in Excel or PowerPoint. It cannot create, open, close, or switch files directly from the add-ins; users must open everything manually first.
Chat history for cross-app sessions isn’t saved between sessions either, meaning each new workflow starts fresh. Anthropic also noted that activity isn’t currently included in Enterprise audit logs, the Compliance API, or data exports, though inputs and outputs are automatically deleted from Anthropic’s backend within 30 days.
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