Excel Breaks a 40-Year Rule: Microsoft Lets One Cell Hold Multiple Values
For roughly 40 years, Microsoft Excel has operated around one basic rule: one cell, one value. Microsoft is now changing that.
Excel is introducing lists, arrays in cells, and nested arrays, allowing a single cell to contain multiple distinct values that Excel can still use for filtering and calculations. The new capabilities are rolling out first to Beta Channel users on Windows and Mac, according to Microsoft’s announcement.
It sounds like a small change to a spreadsheet. Under the hood, however, Microsoft is altering one of Excel’s most fundamental assumptions about how information is stored.
- One Excel cell can now contain an actual list
- Arrays no longer have to spill across multiple cells
- Excel is also getting nested arrays
- There are still some major limitations
- You probably shouldn’t rebuild your spreadsheets yet
- What Excel’s 40-year change means for you
One Excel cell can now contain an actual list
Excel...
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