Microsoft’s browser-based Excel has seen its session count climb tenfold over the past six years, according to Excel product chief Brian Jones. The milestone, shared in a recent interview, signals that users are flocking to the web version of the world’s most popular spreadsheet tool—even as Google Sheets remains a formidable browser-first competitor.

The surge isn’t just a vanity metric. For everyday users, power users, and IT administrators, it reshapes where and how spreadsheet work gets done, blurring the line between desktop and cloud. Here’s what changed, why it matters, and what you should do about it.

What’s Behind the Numbers

Excel for the web’s growth didn’t happen overnight. Microsoft has been quietly modernizing the platform, adding features once reserved for the heavyweight desktop client. Real-time co-authoring, improved performance, and tighter integration with OneDrive and Teams have all played a part. But the jump from single-digit millions of sessions to a tenfold increase suggests a tipping point: web-based Excel is no longer just a viewer; it’s a viable editor.

Jones didn’t share absolute session counts, making it impossible to size the user base directly. But a 10x multiplier over six years implies a significant shift in usage patterns. During the same period, Google Sheets has continued to dominate the browser-first spreadsheet market, especially in education and collaborative environments. Microsoft’s growth, then, likely comes from its existing Office user base—people who traditionally used desktop Excel but are now discovering the convenience of the web version.

What It Means for You

For Everyday Users

If you’ve been avoiding Excel for the web because it felt like a stripped-down afterthought, it’s time to give it another look. The web version now handles everything from pivot tables to charts, conditional formatting, and most core formulas. And because it saves automatically to OneDrive, you’ll never lose another spreadsheet to a forgotten Ctrl+S.

Collaboration is the killer feature. Share a link, and you and a colleague can edit the same cell in real time, seeing each other’s changes instantly. No more emailing versions back and forth. For household budgets, trip planning, or simple lists, the web app is often faster and easier than firing up the desktop program.

For Power Users

Power users—those who rely on complex macros, Power Query, or advanced data models—will still need the desktop client for now. But the gap is narrowing. Microsoft has been adding support for LAMBDA functions, dynamic arrays, and even script-based automation via Office Scripts in the web version. If your workflow revolves around formulas and basic VBA-free automation, you might be surprised by how much you can do in a browser.

One subtle shift: Excel for the web now handles large datasets better than it did a few years ago. While it’s not yet a replacement for the desktop’s performance with million-row tables, it’s no longer just a lightweight companion. If you’re on a Chromebook, a locked-down work PC, or a device where installing Office isn’t an option, the web version is now a legitimate primary tool.

For IT Administrators and Developers

For IT teams, the rise of Excel for the web dovetails with broader “cloud-first” mandates. Deploying and maintaining Office desktop licenses is costly and time-consuming. The web version requires no installation, updates automatically, and works across Windows, macOS, Linux, and ChromeOS. It also integrates with Microsoft 365’s compliance and security tooling—data loss prevention, sensitivity labels, and conditional access policies all apply to web-based spreadsheets.

Developers building add-ins or custom solutions may need to retool. The web version doesn’t support VBA, but it does offer a JavaScript-based API for Office Add-ins and the newer Office Scripts platform. If your organization has legacy VBA macros sprawling across shared drives, now is the time to start planning a migration. The trend line is clear: more users will open those files in the browser, and VBA simply won’t work.

How We Got Here

Excel for the web’s journey mirrors Microsoft’s broader cloud transformation. When Office Online launched in 2010, it was little more than a document viewer with basic editing. For years, it languished as a “good enough” tool for quick edits, while serious work demanded the desktop.

The turning point came around 2017–2018, when Microsoft significantly ramped up investment in web-first features. Real-time co-authoring arrived in Excel for the web in 2017, a direct response to Google Sheets’ collaborative strength. Successive updates brought support for more formulas, charts, and data analysis tools. The pandemic supercharged adoption: with remote work becoming the norm, users needed access to spreadsheets from any device without VPNs or virtual desktops.

Behind the scenes, Microsoft rebuilt Excel’s calculation engine to run efficiently in a browser using WebAssembly. That performance boost, coupled with a modernized interface, has made the web experience feel less like a separate app and more like an extension of the desktop. Notably, the 10x growth figure spans a period that includes the rise of Microsoft 365 subscriptions, which bundle web apps with every plan. Many users may be using the web version without even realizing it’s a separate product.

What to Do Now

Try it today. Open OneDrive in your browser, click “New” > “Excel workbook,” or go directly to excel.new. Start with a real task: a budget, a schedule, or a simple data table. You’ll likely find the experience smooth and familiar—even the ribbon and most keyboard shortcuts are the same.

Audit your macros and add-ins. If you rely on VBA, open your critical workbooks in the web version to see what breaks. Start documenting which macros can be replaced by Office Scripts or Power Automate flows. Microsoft provides a migration guide and tools to help convert VBA to Office Scripts, though it’s not a one-click process.

Evaluate collaboration workflows. If your team still passes around .xlsx files via email or a shared network drive, try moving that file to OneDrive or SharePoint and sharing a link instead. You’ll get real-time co-authoring, version history, and comments—without anyone having to install anything. For teams already using Microsoft Teams, the web version of Excel is embedded directly in chat tabs and meetings.

Check your device mix. The web version runs on any modern browser, including Edge, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. If you have users on Chromebooks or Linux machines, they can now use Excel natively without workarounds. This alone can simplify license compliance and hardware policies.

Watch for Copilot. Microsoft has begun integrating its AI assistant, Copilot, into Excel for the web. Copilot can analyze data, suggest formulas, and create charts based on natural language prompts. While it’s currently rolling out and may require a specific plan, it’s a sign that the web version isn’t just catching up—it’s becoming a priority platform for new innovation.

Outlook

Excel for the web’s tenfold growth is more than a headline statistic; it’s a signal that the center of gravity for spreadsheets is shifting. Microsoft isn’t abandoning the desktop—the full-fat Excel application remains a powerhouse for financial modeling and data science. But for the vast majority of everyday tasks, the web version is now the faster, more collaborative, and increasingly more capable choice.

Keep an eye on the next few major updates. Microsoft’s development pace for the web version has accelerated, with features often landing there first or simultaneously with the desktop. As Copilot deepens its integration and web performance continues to improve, the distinction between “desktop” and “web” Excel may eventually vanish. For users and IT departments alike, that means one less decision to make—and one less piece of software to manage.