How Oda works in your workbook

DataMind Oda works on the workbook that is open in Excel. This page covers what Oda sees without asking, the steps it uses to read, search, list, write, copy, clear and format cells, the limits of each, and the overwrites and formulas it refuses. When Oda asks before a change is set by your permission mode; see Permission modes and approvals in Excel. To review or undo what Oda changed, see Review and undo Oda's changes. To bring a Mind's answer or a query's result into a sheet, see Ask about data and pull it into Excel.

What Oda sees with each message

When you send a message, the pane adds a short description of where you are in the workbook. It holds no cell values: Oda reads the cells it needs with the steps on this page.

• With every message: the sheet you are on, the cells or the chart you have selected, what your version of Excel supports, your permission mode and, when you can use Minds, the Mind chosen in the Mind chip. When Excel calculates manually, or automatically except data tables, Oda is told that too, and recalculates before it relies on results; see How Excel calculates.
• With the first message of a chat: the file name and an outline of the workbook: every sheet in tab order with the area it uses, its number of rows and columns, whether it is hidden and its frozen panes, and every table with its column names. The outline lists up to 100 sheets, 100 tables and 30 column names per table; Oda looks up the rest when it needs them.
• Your edits since Oda's last reply: described in the next section.

The selection goes with your message through the selection chip at the top of the message box, which you can remove for one message; see Selection, citations and questions.

Your edits since Oda's last reply

While the pane is open, it notes what you change in the workbook and passes it to Oda with your next message. Oda builds on your edits and does not write its earlier values back over them.

• The pane notes edits to cells, with the old and the new value of a single cell; rows, columns and cells inserted or deleted; sorting; rows hidden or shown; formatting changes; sheets added, deleted, renamed, hidden or shown; and charts added or deleted.
• Repeated edits of the same cells count as one change. Oda gets the 20 most recent changes, and the number of earlier ones it does not see.
• Oda's own changes in the same chat are not listed. What Oda changed in another chat on this workbook while the pane stayed open is listed, also changes to a sheet as a whole, such as its name, a chart or the page setup, so each chat knows to read those cells again. When you click Revert turn, Oda learns that the turn was reverted, and does not redo it unless you ask.
• If the pane cannot watch the workbook for a while, for example because you were editing a cell as the pane opened, Oda is told so and reads the cells again before it relies on them.
• When you co-author the workbook, other people's edits that Excel reports are passed on too, marked as a co-author's.
• Changes made while the pane is closed are not seen. When you continue a chat after reopening the pane, Oda is told that it may have missed changes, and reads the cells again before it relies on them.
• Office 2021 does not report renamed, hidden or shown sheets; see What depends on your version of Excel.

Reading cells

Oda reads up to 10 ranges of one sheet in one step, by address such as A1:D20, whole columns such as A:C or rows such as 1:1, on the sheet you are on or on a named sheet. The step row reads Reading cells, then how many cells it read, such as 120 cells read.

• A read brings back values, formulas and number formats, and the notes on the cells. Oda can also read fonts, fills and alignment, and which cells are merged.
• Oda reads only the part of a range that falls inside the area of the sheet that holds data, so naming whole columns does not read a million empty rows.
• One read brings back at most 2,000 cells and 40,000 characters of cell text, cut at a whole row. When more is left, the step row reads 2,000 cells read, more left to read, and Oda reads the rest before it gives a total, or says which rows it covered.
• Text longer than 1,000 characters in one cell is cut.

Reading many rows as CSV

To analyse many rows, Oda reads the values of a range as comma-separated text. The step row reads Reading cells as CSV, then the size it read, such as 500 rows × 8 columns.

• A CSV read brings back values only, without formulas or formats, so dates arrive as Excel's date numbers.
• The first row of the range is the header line of every page, unless Oda reads a range without headers.
• One page holds 500 rows by default, and at most 5,000 rows and 40,000 characters. Oda reads the next page where the last one stopped.

Searching the workbook

Oda finds cells by their text: on one sheet, in one range, or on every sheet, hidden sheets included. The step row reads Searching the workbook and the text it looks for, then the number of matches, such as 14 matches.

• Oda searches values, as stored or as Excel shows them, or formulas, for example to find every VLOOKUP or every reference to another sheet.
• A search can match the whole cell or the letter case, or use a pattern (a regular expression). A pattern has at most 200 characters and is tried on the first 500 characters of each cell. It runs apart from Excel, so Excel stays responsive: a pattern that runs more than 1 second on one part of the cells stops the search with no matches, a search whose pattern used 2 seconds in all returns the matches found so far, and Stop ends a pattern search at once. After two patterns ran too long, Oda searches for plain text only until you close and reopen the Oda pane. Where Excel cannot run patterns apart from the pane, Oda searches for plain text only.
• One step lists up to 500 matches in sheet order, 100 by default, and one search reads at most 1,000,000 cells. Oda says when a search did not cover everything.

Listing the workbook's objects

Oda lists what the workbook holds besides cell values, sheet by sheet: tables, charts, pivot tables, defined names, shapes and pictures, slicers, conditional formatting and data validation with the cells they cover, comments, notes, and protected sheets and workbook structure. The step row reads Listing the workbook’s objects, then the count, such as 24 objects, or 200 of 340 objects when there are more.

• Oda lists one sheet or every sheet, and every kind or only some. One step lists up to 500 objects, 200 by default; Oda lists the rest in further steps.
• Snapshot sheets are left out unless Oda names one. The temporary Show on sheet highlight does not count as your conditional formatting.
• In Office 2021 and Office 2024, Excel does not list notes to add-ins, so the list leaves them out.
• For the full settings of one chart, pivot table or name, Oda lists that kind on its own; see Charts and pivot tables and Defined names.

Writing cells

Oda writes cells of one sheet in one step: values, formulas, number formats, notes, fonts, fills, borders, and column widths or row heights. The step row reads Writing cells with Oda's short description of the change, then Wrote and the range. When a formula it wrote shows an error, the row reads, for example, Wrote Sales!B2:D9; 2 formulas show an error.

• One step writes at most 50,000 cells as a block, or 10,000 cells named one by one, and at most 200 notes.
• Oda writes formulas as formulas and text as text: text such as =A1 that it copies from a cell stays text unless you ask for the formula. Text that looks like a number or a date becomes one, unless the cell is formatted as text.
• After a write, Oda checks what its formulas show, and fixes an error in the same turn or tells you why it stays.
• In Office 2021 and Office 2024, add-ins cannot add notes, so Oda adds comments there instead.
• A note Oda writes takes the place of the note a cell already has. Before it replaces a note you did not name, Oda checks with you in the chat, as it does before it replaces your data.
• If the cells change while an approval card waits for your answer, nothing is written, and the step row reads Something Oda was going to change was edited while it waited for your approval, so Oda changed nothing.
• While you are editing a cell or Excel is busy, Oda waits and tries again for a short while. If you are still editing, the step row reads Excel is waiting for you to finish editing a cell. Press Enter or Esc, then try again.

Before Oda replaces your data

A write or copy step never replaces or empties a cell that holds a value or a formula unless that is what you asked for. When your message asks to change those very cells, such as Update B4:B9 or Set the discount rate to 8%, Oda goes ahead. Otherwise the step stops before it changes anything, and its row reads Oda stopped before replacing cells that hold data, to check with you first. Oda then tells you what the cells hold, with links to them, and asks whether to replace them, insert rows or columns for the new data, write somewhere else or stop.

• This check runs in every permission mode, also Skip all permissions. After you agree, your permission mode decides whether an approval card asks as well.
• Cells that hold only formatting count as empty, and formatting a cell never needs this check.
• When the cells hold what Oda wrote in this chat and replacing them is part of what you asked, Oda goes ahead without checking with you in the chat; in Ask before edits the approval card still asks.
• Clearing and merging cells, and the steps that delete, sort, insert or replace, such as deleting rows, a table or a sheet, have no such check in the step itself. Before they remove, replace or move anything you did not name, Oda checks with you in the chat the same way, and your permission mode decides whether an approval card asks as well; except in Skip all permissions, a card asks before anything that holds data is removed.

Copying cells

Oda copies cells as copy and paste does: everything, only the formats, only the values, which turns formulas into their results, or only the formulas, also to another sheet. It can skip blank source cells and turn rows into columns. The step row reads Copying cells with the source and the destination, then Copied to and the range.

• Relative references in copied formulas shift as they do in Excel, and a destination that holds the source several times over is filled with repeats, so one row of formulas can fill a column.
• One copy covers at most 500,000 cells.
• A copy over cells that hold values or formulas stops first, as described above. A copy of formats only does not.
• Copying formats replaces the conditional formatting of the destination. Copying everything also replaces its data validation, such as dropdown lists, and puts the source's notes on it. Where the destination has conditional formatting or data validation, Oda asks first in every mode except Skip all permissions, and Revert turn cannot undo that copy. Replacing your notes asks as overwriting your data does.
• Formulas that reach outside the workbook are refused in a copy as in a write.

Clearing cells

Oda clears the contents of a range (values and formulas), its formats, or both. The step row reads Clearing cells, then Cleared and the range.

• Clearing formats also removes the conditional formatting on the range, and clearing both also deletes its notes, comments and links. The approval card lists the notes and comments that go.
• If your version of Excel cannot list notes, as some one-time-purchase versions cannot, or the sheet holds more than 2,000 notes or comments, clearing both clears the contents and formats and keeps the notes and comments, and Oda says so.
• Clearing cells that hold data, or removing conditional formatting, notes or comments, asks first in every mode except Skip all permissions. Clearing only plain formats runs like formatting.
• One clear covers at most 1,000,000 cells that are in use.

Formatting cells

Oda formats one range at a time: font, colour, size, bold, italic, underline and strikethrough, fill, alignment, wrapping, indent, number format, borders, a cell style such as Good, Input or Total, column widths and row heights, fitting widths or heights to the contents, and merging or unmerging cells. The step row reads Formatting cells, then Formatted and the range.

• Formatting changes only the range Oda names, except that column widths and row heights apply to whole columns and rows.
• Merging keeps only the top-left value or, when Oda merges each row, the first value of each row. A merge that would drop values asks first in every mode except Skip all permissions.
• A merge cannot cut across cells that are already merged, and one merge covers at most 50,000 cells.

Sheets, tables, charts and more

Beyond cells, Oda changes the structure of the workbook and the objects in it. Each has a page of its own:

• Sheets, rows and tables: adding, moving, hiding, protecting and deleting sheets, inserting and deleting rows and columns, freezing panes, Excel tables and page setup.
• Sort, filter, rules and comments: sorting, filters, removing duplicate rows, data validation, conditional formatting, notes and comments.
• Charts and pivot tables: native charts and pivot tables.
• Formulas, names and errors: tracing formulas, finding errors, defined names and how Excel calculates.
• Attach files in Excel and Images and pictures in Excel: reading the files you attach, inserting the sheets of an attached workbook, and looking at pictures of charts, ranges and shapes.
• Office.js code in Excel and Run Python with Oda: code Oda writes for what its other steps cannot do, and for analysis.

How Oda builds in your workbook

• Live formulas: a figure that can be calculated goes in as a formula, such as =SUM(C5:C16), not as a typed result. Typed numbers are inputs: actuals, assumptions or figures you gave. Each assumption gets its own labelled cell, which the formulas refer to.
• Your structure first: Oda reads the cells around a change before it writes, extends your layout, such as a new period in the next empty column with the formulas and formats of the one before, and keeps your formats, widths and labels.
• Room for new data: when a change needs room, Oda inserts rows or columns or adds a sheet, and never moves your data with writes to make room. It creates tables, merges cells, sorts and removes duplicate rows only when you ask.
• Finance conventions: in a model Oda builds where the workbook has no style of its own, typed inputs are blue, formulas black and formulas that link to another sheet green; negative amounts show in brackets, and units go in the header, such as Revenue (USD m).
• What it notices: Oda points out errors and typed numbers inside formulas that it finds, and offers to fix them rather than fixing them unasked.
• No markers: Oda never marks its changes with fills, font colours or notes. The Changes panel under its reply lists them; see Review and undo Oda's changes.
• Market data: Oda never types prices, exchange rates or other market data from memory. Where you name a market-data add-in, or the workbook already uses one such as Bloomberg or FactSet, Oda can write that add-in's formulas; they fill in where the add-in is loaded and signed in. Otherwise, or where the add-in is not loaded, Oda asks your Minds, searches the web where it is on, or asks you for the figures, and types each figure as an input with its source; see Search the web and read pages in Excel.

Formulas Oda does not write

Oda refuses any formula that can reach outside the workbook: send its data over the internet, run another program or code, or read files on your computer or network. The refusal applies in every permission mode, including Skip all permissions, and nothing is written for that step. The step row reads Oda does not write formulas that can reach outside the workbook., and Details names the cell and the reason.

The check also catches a refused function passed to another function as a value. Text in quotes, sheet names and table and column names never count as a function.

The same check covers everything else that holds a formula or a reference: what a defined name refers to, conditional formatting and data validation formulas and lists, a table column's formula and new table rows, and the cells a chart or a pivot table reads.

What Oda cannot do in the workbook

• Oda cannot create Data Tables, run Goal Seek or Solver, or add macros or Power Query. It builds a sensitivity grid from plain formulas instead, can solve or optimise with Python where it is on, and gives the steps or the code as text.
• On a protected sheet, Excel accepts changes only to unlocked cells. Oda tells you which cells it could not change, so you can unprotect the sheet or unlock them. Oda unprotects a sheet itself only when you ask, and never one protected with a password.
• Oda leaves very hidden sheets, which only the VBA editor sets, as they are.
• Oda never runs macros or code from a workbook or a file, and text in a cell can never become a script. Code runs only when Oda writes it for your task, as Office.js code or Python, in the pane's sandbox, where your company and your settings allow it. Every change that code makes goes through the same checks and approvals as the steps on this page and in Ask about data and pull it into Excel.

Questions, answered

Can Oda see everything in my workbook?

With each message it gets the sheet you are on and your selection, and with a chat's first message an outline of the sheets and tables. It reads cell values only when a step needs them.

Does Oda know what I changed since its last reply?

Yes, while the pane is open. Your next message carries up to the 20 most recent changes: edited cells, inserted or deleted rows and columns, sorting, formatting and sheet changes. Changes made while the pane was closed are not seen, so Oda reads the cells again.

How many cells can Oda read at once?

At most 2,000 cells and 40,000 characters in one read, cut at a whole row. The step row says when more is left, and Oda reads the rest in further steps. A CSV read holds up to 5,000 rows a page.

Why did Oda read fewer cells than the range I named?

Oda reads only the part of a range that falls inside the area of the sheet that holds data. Naming A:C reads the filled rows of those columns, not the whole sheet.

Why did Oda stop before writing into my cells?

The cells hold values or formulas that your message did not ask to change. The step row reads Oda stopped before replacing cells that hold data, to check with you first. Answer Oda's question in the chat: replace them, insert rows or columns for the new data, write somewhere else, or stop.

How many cells can Oda write or copy at once?

At most 50,000 cells per write, or 10,000 cells named one by one, and 500,000 cells per copy.

Why did Oda refuse to write a formula?

The formula could reach outside the workbook: a function such as WEBSERVICE, HYPERLINK, INDIRECT or RTD, an Excel 4.0 macro function such as GET.CELL, the DDE operator, or a reference to another workbook. The step row reads Oda does not write formulas that can reach outside the workbook., and Details names the cell and the reason. Ask for the values themselves, or for a formula that uses other functions.

Can Oda put a clickable link in a cell?

No. HYPERLINK is one of the functions Oda refuses, so a link goes into the cell as plain text.

Can Oda tell me what my workbook holds besides data?

Yes. Ask, for example, What charts and pivot tables does this workbook have?. Oda lists the tables, charts, pivot tables, names, shapes, rules, comments and notes sheet by sheet, with the cells they cover.

Why does Oda say Excel is waiting for me to finish editing a cell?

You are typing in a cell, and Excel does not accept changes from add-ins until you finish. Press Enter or Esc, then ask Oda to try again.

Can Oda run code or macros from my workbook?

No. Oda never runs macros or code from a workbook or a file you attach, it cannot add macros, and text in a cell can never become a script. It can write and run its own Office.js code or Python for a task, where they are on, and every change that code makes is checked and approved like Oda's other changes; see Office.js code in Excel.