Microsoft Excel Web App extends your Microsoft Excel experience to the web browser, where you can work with workbooks directly on the website where the workbook is stored.
For more information about Office Web Apps, see Getting started with Office Web Apps.
Integrate seamlessly with Excel
You create a workbook in Microsoft Excel. You want to post it on a website so that other people can interact with the live data, maybe even enter some data. What if you want to collaborate with someone who has a different version of Excel than you do? Wouldn't it be great if you could work on it together, right there on the website? Excel Web App makes this scenario possible.
In Microsoft Excel 2010 you can start using Excel Web App by saving your workbook to your SkyDrive or your SharePoint library. On the File tab, click Save & Send, and then click Save to Web or Save to SharePoint.
Now, your workbook is available to view and edit in the browser, or re-open in Excel.
Note Workbooks don’t have to be created in Excel 2010 to be opened in Excel Web App. For best compatibility, use Office Excel 2003 or later, or use Excel for Mac 2008 version 12.2.9 or Excel for Mac 2011. If you’re using Excel 2003, install the most recent service pack and save workbooks on your computer as .xlsx files. Then upload the workbook to a SharePoint site where Office Web Apps are configured, or upload the workbook to SkyDrive.
View a workbook in the browser
When you open your workbook in SkyDrive or SharePoint, Excel Web App opens the workbook in the browser, where you can move around the workbook, sort, filter, expand and collapse PivotTables, and even recalculate the workbook.
You can also use the Find command to search for words or phrases. As with a web page, you can select content on a worksheet and copy it so that it's available to paste in another application.
Edit in the browser
If you want to make changes in the workbook, click Edit in Browser to change data, enter or edit formulas, and apply basic formatting.
In Editing view, you can type and format text as usual, and you can use cut, copy, paste and undo/redo commands. Enter a formula by going to the cell where you want to enter the formula, typing an equal-sign (=), and then typing the formula or function.
You can also add tables and hyperlinks. Go to the Insert tab to add these. If you want to add a chart, select the range of cells to be charted, and then go to the Insert tab and select the type of chart you want.
Note In SkyDrive, Excel Web App includes the capability to insert functions via a dialog box interface, perform AutoSum, and add, delete, and rename worksheets. These features are not available when you use Excel Web App on a SharePoint site.
Excel Web App saves your workbook automatically while you work on it. You don’t have to save your changes. If you make changes that you don't want to keep, use the Undo command or press CTRL+Z (Windows) or ⌘+Z (Mac).
Work with other people
If you make your workbook available for other people to edit, your friends or colleagues can work on the workbook at the same time as you. This works well for workbooks where you are collecting information from a group of people, such as a list of information or a group project. No more e-mailing a list around or waiting for your teammate to check it back in on the server.
While you are editing the workbook, Excel Web App shows you whether other people are also working on the workbook.
- Store the workbook on a website where your colleagues can access it, such as your team's SharePoint library or a folder in SkyDrive that your colleagues can access.
- Invite other people to work on the workbook.
- In SharePoint, copy the web address of the workbook that appears in the browser and then paste the web address into a message.
- In SkyDrive, click the File tab in Excel Web App, and then click Share. Add the people who you want to share the workbook with, click Save, and then compose a message.
- Edit the workbook in Excel Web App. You are able to see who else is working with you in the status bar.
Seamlessly edit in Excel
Editing in Excel Web App is best suited for quick changes or working collaboratively with other people. If you want the full set of Excel capabilities, click the File tab, and then click Open in Excel.
Excel Web App opens the workbook directly in your Excel desktop application, where you can work more substantially. For example, you could change the settings in a chart or PivotTable. In Excel, when you click Save, Excel saves the workbook back on the web server.
Note Opening workbooks directly from the browser into the Excel desktop application is supported in Firefox, Internet Explorer (Windows), and Safari (Mac) browsers. In Windows, you must also be using Excel 2003 or later to use this feature (If you are using Firefox, you must also be using Excel 2010). On the Mac, this feature requires Microsoft Excel for Mac 2008 version 12.2.9 or Excel for Mac 2011.
