Anthropic has announced a significant update to Claude's integration with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, introducing shared context across open files and new Skills features designed to streamline professional workflows.

Continuous Conversations Across Files

The most impactful change allows Claude for Excel and PowerPoint to share full context across all open files in one continuous conversation. This means users no longer need to re-explain their data or goals when switching between spreadsheets and presentations.

For example, a financial analyst can now:

  • Ask Claude to analyze data in one Excel workbook
  • Reference that analysis while working in a second workbook
  • Create a PowerPoint presentation summarizing findings
  • All within a single, uninterrupted conversation

Practical Impact

Previously, users would need to restart context or manually copy information when moving between files. The new shared context eliminates this friction, making complex multi-file workflows significantly more efficient.

Introducing Skills

The update also introduces "Skills"—a feature that turns best practices into one-click actions. Skills allow users to save frequently-used Claude interactions as reusable templates.

Preloaded Starter Skills

Anthropic has included preloaded starter skills covering common financial analysis workflows:

  • DCF Model Builder: Guides creation of Discounted Cash Flow models
  • Comparable Company Analysis: Automates peer comparison tables
  • Financial Statement Normalization: Standardizes data across different reporting formats
  • Presentation Formatter: Converts Excel analysis into presentation-ready slides

Custom Skills

Users can also create custom Skills based on their specific needs. Once created, these Skills can be shared across teams, enabling organizations to standardize their analytical approaches.

Enterprise Features

For enterprise customers, the update includes:

  • Skill Library Management: IT administrators can curate and distribute approved Skills
  • Audit Logging: Track how Claude is being used across the organization
  • Data Governance: Controls for what types of data can be processed

Availability

The update is rolling out to Claude Pro and Team subscribers with Microsoft 365 integration. Enterprise customers can access additional features through their account settings.

The Skills marketplace, which will allow third-party developers to create and distribute Skills, is planned for Q2 2026.

Source: Claude Blog →