Microsoft has just announced that Excel Power Pivot will now be available in all Windows editions of Excel, which is awesome news and a step in the right direction.
Key Takeaways
-
Power Pivot Is Now Universally Accessible – All Microsoft 365 and Excel 2016+ versions now include Power Pivot capabilities.
-
Advanced Data Modeling Without Add-ins – No need to install anything extra; it’s built directly into Excel’s Data tab.
-
Handle Millions of Rows Easily – Power Pivot allows importing and working with large datasets far beyond Excel’s row limits.
-
Build Relationships Across Tables – Combine multiple tables and create relationships just like in a database.
-
Use DAX for Deeper Insights – Perform advanced calculations using Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) for powerful analysis.
Table of Contents
What did Microsoft Announce?
Here is what they announced:
I’m happy to announce that your input has had another direct impact on the product. In this case, a decision has been made to have Power Pivot be available in all Windows editions (“SKUs”) of Excel! This means the Business, Home, Standard, etc.. all of these will have Power Pivot. As your comments have indicated, Power Pivot has moved from targeting a specialized audience to generally useful capability for working with data in spreadsheets. As such, it makes sense to make this as broadly available as possible.
We have started rolling this change out with the April Current Channel updates (Builds 9330 and beyond). I’m also happy to announce that these SKU changes will be reflected on the upcoming 2019 version as well.
Previously in the 2016 version of Office 365, you needed to have purchased the Office Pro Plus or Office 365 E3 to have access to Power Pivot within Excel, as I discuss in detail here.
So now you can get Power Pivot in Excel 2010, Excel 2013, and all Office 2016 products, such as:
Power Pivot Office 365 Home, Office 365 Personal, Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business, Office 365 Business Premium, Office 365 Enterprise E1
You can check if your version of Office 365 has Power Pivot Excel available by clicking on the Microsoft Office Support page here.
Happy Power Pivoting!
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find Power Pivot in Excel?
Go to the Data tab, and look for Manage Data Model or enable the Power Pivot tab via Excel Options → Add-ins → COM Add-ins → Check “Microsoft Power Pivot for Excel”.
What’s the difference between Power Pivot and regular Pivot Tables?
Power Pivot handles much larger data and allows data modeling across multiple tables with advanced DAX formulas.
Do I need to install anything to use Power Pivot?
No. In current versions of Excel (Microsoft 365 and Excel 2016+), Power Pivot is already included—you just need to enable it.
Can I import data from different sources into Power Pivot?
Yes. You can bring in data from Excel, SQL Server, Access, web, and many other sources.
Is Power Pivot suitable for everyday Excel users?
Absolutely. While it’s powerful, many users can start with basic features like table relationships and gradually learn DAX as needed.
John Michaloudis is a former accountant and finance analyst at General Electric, a Microsoft MVP since 2020, an Amazon #1 bestselling author of 4 Microsoft Excel books and teacher of Microsoft Excel & Office over at his flagship MyExcelOnline Academy Online Course.
30 Days - Full Access 
