Chats and history in Excel

Oda keeps a separate list of chats for every workbook you work in. This page covers the History list in the pane, how chats are titled and kept, and how Oda picks up where you left off when you open the workbook again. See Oda in Excel for the pane itself, and Sign in to Oda in Excel for the sign-in screen.

Chats belong to the workbook

Each workbook keeps its own chats. History shows only the chats stored for the workbook you have open; open a different workbook and you see that workbook's list instead.

Open an earlier chat

1. Click History in the pane header, the clock button beside New chat. History opens over the chat, with your chats grouped under Today, Yesterday and Earlier, most recent first. Your current chat is highlighted.
2. Pick a chat to open it. History closes.
3. The chat opens for reading. When you send a message, it becomes your working chat again and Oda answers there.

Each row shows the chat's title and when it last changed: the time for chats of today and yesterday, the date for earlier ones. Back, Esc or a click beside the list closes it without changing the chat. If no chats are stored for the workbook yet, the list reads No earlier chats in this workbook.

To find a chat, type part of its title in Filter chats above the list. The list shows only the chats whose title holds what you typed, or No chats match. Esc in the field clears it.

Rename or delete a chat

Each row in History has an actions button, the three dots at its end, named for the chat, such as Actions for Quarterly revenue. It shows when you point at the row or move to it with the keyboard, on the chat you are in, and always on a touch screen. Its menu holds:

• Rename: the title turns into a field named Chat name. Type the new name and press Enter, or click elsewhere, to save it; Esc keeps the old one. A name holds up to 120 characters. An empty name brings back the title taken from your first message. The pane header shows the new name too.
• Delete: the row asks Delete this chat? Its messages and attached files are removed from this computer. Click Delete chat to delete it, or Cancel. The pane says Chat deleted. Deleting the chat you are in starts a new chat.

Delete all chats in this workbook, at the bottom of History, deletes every chat in the list after you confirm, for example, Delete all 12 chats in this workbook? This cannot be undone. with Delete all. The pane says Chats deleted. The chats of your other workbooks stay.

A deleted chat cannot be brought back. Deleting a chat also deletes its attached files, the long results stored with it and what Oda kept about its Mind conversations. Ratings and reports you sent about its answers stay in your company's DataMind workspace; see Rate, copy and report answers in Excel. Renaming and deleting are unavailable while Oda is working.

Start a new chat

New chat, in the pane header or at the top of History, starts an empty chat and closes History. The new chat is stored for the workbook once you send your first message in it, so a chat you start and leave empty does not appear in the list.

New chat is disabled while Oda is working.

How chats are titled

A chat takes its title from your first message in it, cut to 80 characters, until you rename it; see Rename or delete a chat. The pane header shows the title of the chat you are in, or New chat before your first message. Each row in History shows the chat's title, or Untitled chat when it has none.

How many chats are kept

Up to 50 chats are kept for each workbook, and up to 500 on this computer for all your workbooks together. When a new chat is stored beyond either limit, the chat that changed least recently is deleted, with the files attached only to it. The chat you are in always stays.

Copy or download a chat

Open More options, the three dots in the pane header:

• Copy chat copies the chat you are in as Markdown, and the pane says Chat copied as Markdown. If Excel does not let the pane use the clipboard, it says Could not copy. Excel blocked the clipboard.
• Download chat saves the chat as a Markdown file named after the chat and the date, such as Quarterly revenue 2026-10-20.md, and the pane says Saving with the file's name. It is offered in Excel on Windows and Excel on the web, not in Excel for Mac or on an iPad, where downloads from the pane do not reach you; use Copy chat there.

Both are unavailable while the chat is empty. The Markdown starts with the chat's title, the date and the workbook's name, then holds your messages with the selection, files and skill you sent with each, Oda's answers, one line per step with the step's name only, such as Reading cells, and the errors that ended a reply. It never holds what a step read or returned, such as cell values, query results or SQL, and nothing in it loads a picture from the web when you open it.

While Oda is working

While a run is in progress:

• New chat, the rows in History and their actions, Delete all chats in this workbook, the Mind chip, the model button and Sign out are unavailable, so the run is not disturbed. Pointing at a row in History shows Available once Oda finishes this reply. See Choosing the Mind.
• A message you send while Oda works waits in the Queued strip and goes after the reply; see Send more while Oda works.
• The pane header names the step Oda is on and counts the time.
• Send turns into Stop, and Esc stops Oda too; an approval or question card has its own Stop. Stop cancels the run, every approval card still waiting for your answer is answered Don’t allow, so nothing more is written, and a waiting question card closes unanswered. Office.js code and Python that are running stop at once. A step that was stopped says Stopped., or Stopped, but the change was already made. when the change had already happened, and the reply ends with Stopped.
• While Revert turn puts a turn back, Send, New chat and the rows in History wait until it finishes; see Review and undo Oda's changes.
• The approval cards themselves are covered in Permission modes and approvals in Excel.

Reopen the workbook

Opening a workbook with the pane writes nothing to the file. Oda stores the workbook's id in it with your first message there, together with the Mind you picked before that message; picking a Mind earlier changes nothing in the file until then. See How your choice is kept.

After your first message in a workbook, the add-in installed from your DataMind reopens with that workbook the next time you open the file, and your most recent chat for that workbook loads automatically. Your next message continues that chat. You can also start a New chat or pick an earlier chat from History.

Notes Oda keeps for one workbook follow the same rule: they appear, and can be added, after your first message in that workbook; see Memory and instructions in Excel.

Where your chats are kept

• Oda keeps your chats on this computer, in the add-in's own storage, separately for each workbook. From your first message in a workbook, the file holds an id that ties its chats to it, but not the chats themselves.
• Oda saves each chat in order as you work, and when the pane closes, it finishes saving what is still pending.
• With each chat, Oda also keeps its conversation with each Mind and the names and columns of the queries the Mind ran, so follow-up questions and pulls still work after you reopen the pane.
• Files you attach, and pictures Oda takes of the workbook, are kept with the chat in the add-in's storage on this computer, up to 200 MB per workbook. A file goes when the last chat it was attached in goes; see Attach files in Excel.
• When a step brings back a very long result, such as a large connector result, the pane stores the whole result on this computer with the chat, and Oda reads it in parts. The step's row reads Long result, stored on this computer, and Oda's later reads show as Reading a stored result. Stored results of all chats together take up to 100 MB, the oldest going first, and each goes with its chat.
• Python's variables are not kept with the chat: after you reopen the pane, the next Python run starts fresh; see Run Python with Oda.
• The Changes panels under Oda's replies are not kept with the chat. They show while the pane stays open, for the last 20 turns of each chat; after you reopen the pane, earlier turns show no panel.
• Sign out deletes the Excel chats on this computer, for every workbook, with their attached files and stored results, and your memory notes and instructions. When a different DataMind account signs in to the pane on this computer, what the previous account left is deleted first. See Sign in to Oda in Excel and Memory and instructions in Excel.
• The workbook keeps a record of each result you pulled into a sheet, so it can be refreshed: names and identifiers, and the SQL of a query Oda wrote, never the data. See Ask about data and pull it into Excel.

Questions, answered

Why did an old chat disappear from the list?

Up to 50 chats are kept for each workbook, and up to 500 on this computer for all your workbooks together. When a new chat is stored beyond that, the chat that changed least recently is deleted, with the files attached only to it. A chat you delete yourself goes at once.

Does History show chats from my other workbooks?

No. Chats belong to the workbook. History shows only the chats stored for the workbook you have open, and each workbook keeps its own list.

Why are New chat and the History rows disabled while Oda is answering?

A run in progress cannot be interrupted by switching away. New chat, the chats in History, the Mind chip and Sign out are unavailable until the run finishes. Wait for Oda to finish, or click Stop first.

How is a chat titled?

A chat takes its title from your first message in it, cut to 80 characters. To give it another name, choose Rename from the row's actions in History. A row with no title yet shows as Untitled chat.

Can I get a deleted chat back?

No. Delete and Delete all chats in this workbook remove the chats from this computer, with their attached files. To keep a copy first, use Copy chat or Download chat under More options.

Why is Download chat missing from the menu?

The pane offers Download chat only where a download from the pane reaches you: Excel on Windows and Excel on the web. In Excel for Mac and on an iPad, use Copy chat and paste the chat where you want it.

I clicked New chat but sent nothing. Is that chat saved?

No. A new chat is stored for the workbook once you send your first message in it, so an empty one does not appear in History.

What happens if I send a message in a chat I opened from History?

The chat becomes your working chat again: your message is added to it and Oda answers there. It is no longer just for reading.

Do my chats follow the workbook if I rename or move it?

Yes. Oda matches a workbook's chats by the workbook itself, not by its name, so renaming or moving the file keeps its chat list. The chats themselves are kept on this computer.

Which chat opens when I reopen the workbook?

Your most recent chat for that workbook. After your first message in a workbook, the add-in installed from your DataMind reopens with the file and loads that chat automatically; your next message continues it. Click New chat for a fresh one.

Why does the list read "No earlier chats in this workbook."?

No chats are stored for the workbook you have open. Send a message in a chat and it is stored for the workbook, then it appears in History. If you worked in other workbooks, each one keeps its own list.

How do I stop Oda while it is working?

Click Stop in place of Send, or press Esc. While a card waits for your answer, click Stop at the top of the card. Stop cancels the run, and every approval card still waiting for your answer is answered Don’t allow, so nothing more is written. See Permission modes and approvals in Excel.