The 15 Best Excel Plugins You Must Use

Although the standard features of Microsoft Excel meet the needs of most professionals, you could still benefit from the occasional extension. That's where Excel add-ins come in. These little plug-ins can unlock your hidden potential and transform the way you work. Whether you're a casual Excel user or a seasoned pro, check out the best Excel add-ins to take your skills to the next level.



Of course, you don't have to download every add-in on the list. Choose the ones that fit your specific needs and workflow. Most paid plugins have a free trial, so be sure to take advantage of it to find out which plugins will maximize your Excel productivity.

What is an Excel add-in?

Before I get into the main Excel add-ins, I want to briefly talk about them. Excel plugins are small programs that you can install to extend the functionality of Excel. They provide additional features, tools and commands and can be a huge time saver for Excel experts.

How to find and download Excel plugins

Microsoft provides a dedicated add-in store for Excel. You can download and set up any add-in in your Excel account using the following steps.


  1. Open any workbook in Microsoft Excel. Go to Home Tab.
  2. Choose Add Ins and look for one you want to download.
    Open the Add-In menu in Excel

  3. Click Add next to an add-in.
  4. You can even click on the add-in to open more information and select Add from the same menu.
    Getting Excel Add-Ins

  5. Agree to the terms and conditions and your add-in will be ready to use from the sidebar.
    Excel add-ins in the sidebar

Here are some of our favorites to help you get started!


15 ChartExpo

ChartExpot Add-In for Excel

Source: Microsoft


While Excel offers a number of charting options, they can be limiting in certain use cases. This is where ChartExpo comes in. It unlocks a wide range of chart types such as Sankey diagrams, Marimekko charts, gauge charts, Likert scale charts, and many more. You can also customize them with different colors, fonts, labels, and other visual elements.

14 Draw.io

Draw.io add-in for Excel

Source: Microsoft

Draw.io plugin for Excel provides a seamless way to embed flowcharts, UML, mockups, mind maps, and other diagram types into your workbook. It features an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to make diagram customization easy. As for flexibility, you can import existing diagrams from various formats and export your creations to different formats.


Whether you're a business analyst, project manager, software developer, or simply someone who likes to communicate information visually, Draw.io can be a great tool to improve your workflow.

13 ChatGPT for Excel

ChatGPT Add-In for Excel

Powered by the latest AI models, ChatGPT unlocks the trending AI bot in your Excel. If you don't prefer Microsoft Copilot, you can try this. It can provide you with relevant questions and answers, create AI-powered tables, translate content, format your data for better consistency, extract valuable information, and even clean your data and fill in missing areas.

12 Jira Cloud for Excel

Jira Cloud Add-in for Excel

Source: Microsoft


If you or your organization uses Jira to manage projects, this official add-in from Atlassian (Jira's parent company) is a must-have for you. You can seamlessly import your Jira reports and use Excel pivot tables and interactive dashboards to create custom reports and charts that let you quickly review important data. You can also schedule reports that make weekly reporting a breeze.

This add-in requires a Jira Cloud subscription.

11 Bearing connector

Stock Connector Add-in for Excel

Source: Microsoft


As the name suggests, Stock Connector allows you to track the prices of stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, currencies and cryptocurrencies right in your spreadsheets. The add-in extracts relevant data from reliable sources and ensures that you have access to accurate information for US and international markets. It updates stock prices automatically and you can choose whether you want to see the latest price or the stock's price movements throughout the day.

The add-in is free to use, but with an optional donation you can unlock more features like real-time price updates. It is a handy Excel plugin for anyone who wants to track their investments or create detailed financial models in Excel.

10 Person diagram

People Chart Add-In for Excel

Source: Microsoft


Does your workflow require a people chart style for your data? Since Excel doesn't support such charts out of the box, you'll have to rely on third-party add-ins like People Graph to get the job done. With a single click, you can insert a people chart to display your data and tell the story in a unique way.

9 Lucidchart

Lucidchart Add-In for Excel

Source: Microsoft

If you don't prefer the Draw.io plugin, Lucidchart lets you add flowcharts, mind maps, and other diagramming solutions to your Excel workbook. Such diagrams simplify complexity, organize your team's insights, and improve clarity among employees. The company offers several options for creating stunning diagrams and allows you to update them with just one click. The company also has separate extensions for other Microsoft 365 apps, including Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint.


8 Supermetrics

Supermetrics Add-In for Excel

Source: Microsoft

Supermetrics is a must-have plugin for your marketing and sales department. It lets you pull data from over 100 tools into your Excel spreadsheets in minutes. Whether you want to analyze meta ad spend, campaign performance, or website metrics, you can easily use Supermetrics to pull data into your Excel spreadsheet.

It offers automation to pull data weekly, daily, or monthly, a report template to quickly get started with your data, AI reports, and more. The add-in supports Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Azure Synapse, Apple Search, Quora, TikTok, X, and many other ads.


7 Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat Add-In for Excel

Adobe Acrobat is one of the most used Excel plugins in my workflow. When you first install it, you log in with your Adobe account and can upload your Excel workbooks with just one click. You can upload your Excel sheet as a PDF, add a password if needed, and make it available on all your devices via Adobe Document Cloud. You no longer need to save and upload it separately somewhere.


Although Microsoft Excel offers a vast library of templates in various categories, some users may still find it difficult to choose a suitable one. Instead of searching for Excel templates on the internet or third-party e-commerce platforms like Etsy, you can simply download the Vertex42 plugin and unlock over 300 templates for your workflow.

These templates are divided into several categories such as invoices, inventory, project management, calendars, planners and more.

5 SmartCharts

SmartCharts Add-Ins for Excel

Source: Microsoft

SmartCharts is another powerful Excel plugin that unlocks a variety of charts for your workbook. Thanks to multiple charts like stacked area, bubble chart, pie chart, treemap chart, day of the week chart and more, you can quickly identify trends and patterns and take necessary actions accordingly. The add-in is also smart enough to display chart suggestions and let you filter data using standard Excel functions.


4 Zebra BI Charts

Zebra BI Charts Add-Ins for Excel

Source: Microsoft

Zebra BI Charts is another highly rated Excel plugin that unlocks a range of charts in your Excel workbook. You can add different chart types like hills and valleys, advanced waterfalls, stacked charts, combination charts and more. You can also choose a chart picker that helps you find the right chart for the current data.

As always, the plugin supports numerous customization options, allowing users to customize colors, fonts, labels, legends, and other visual elements to match their branding and report style.

3 DIY Portfolio Manager

DIY Portfolio Manager Add-Ins for Excel

Source: Microsoft


DIY Portfolio Manager is a great Excel add-in for people who want to take control of their investments and make informed decisions. You can monitor your personal investments, take a look at holdings and transactions, and manage the overall performance of your portfolio like a pro.

In addition to real-time performance monitoring, it offers mobile access to view your portfolio directly on your phone or tablet. It is fully customizable, protects your data and remains a cost-effective alternative to professional portfolio management software.

2 Excel to Word Automation

Excel to Word Automation Add-Ins for Excel


If you frequently switch between Microsoft 365 apps, use this add-in to update your Word and PowerPoint files using Excel data, calculations, tables, and charts. It basically bridges the gap between Excel and Word and automatically updates Word documents based on data stored in Excel workbooks.

The company offers a sample document to help you get started with the process. You can create customized letters or emails for clients based on your Excel database, generate custom reports and invoices, and even speed up your legal agreements using Excel data fields. Of course, Excel-to-Word automation is another time-saving add-in for Microsoft 365 users.

1 Microsoft Power Automate

Power Automate Add-in for Microsoft Excel

Source: Microsoft


Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, allows you to automate repetitive tasks and workflows by integrating your favorite apps and services. It works with both Microsoft apps and third-party tools. You can connect Excel to SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Salesforce, and other platforms and set up triggers.

For example, you can set a trigger where the system sends an email notification when a new row is added to a table. It provides a user-friendly interface for creating various triggers without any programming language.

It saves time, reduces errors, improves efficiency, and enhances collaboration. And because Power Automate is cloud-based, you can access and edit your flows from anywhere.

Tackle complex tasks

From automating tedious tasks and unlocking new charts to integrating your favorite productivity apps into Excel, these tools have something for everyone. After all, Microsoft Excel isn't just about rows and columns; it's about unlocking the insights hidden in your data. So what are you waiting for? Use these plugins and experiment with others too to discover the true power of Excel.


Once your Excel workbook is ready, be sure to follow our checklist before sharing it with others.

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