{"id":37045,"date":"2026-10-01T08:48:57","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digife.it\/?p=37045"},"modified":"2026-10-01T08:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T07:49:27","slug":"excel-enters-multiple-values-in-a-cell-what-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digife.it\/en\/excel-enters-multiple-values-in-a-cell-what-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Excel enters multiple values in a cell: what changes for business data?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft<\/a> One of Excel's historic rules has changed: a single cell can now contain multiple distinct values, which can be used separately for filters and calculations. However, the feature is still in preview mode.<\/b><\/p>\n

Microsoft introduced in Excel <\/span>lists, arrays contained in cells, and nested arrays<\/b>, overcoming the traditional limit of only one value per cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The news was announced on <\/span>September 24, 2026<\/b> and is initially available in the Beta channels of Excel for Windows and Mac. Instead of entering multiple information as simple text separated by commas or other characters, Excel can now maintain them as separate elements within the same cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those who use spreadsheets in the daily management of clients, products, and projects, this is an interesting change. But it doesn't eliminate a much more common problem: the quality and structure of the data entered.<\/span><\/p>\n

How multiple values work in an Excel cell<\/b><\/h2>\n

Until now it was possible to write, for example:<\/span><\/p>\n

Ferrara, Bologna, Padua<\/b><\/p>\n

within the same cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

For Excel, however, that sequence remained essentially a single text value.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the new ones <\/span>lists<\/b>, elements can remain within the same cell but be treated individually in supported operations, including filters and calculations. Microsoft cites cases such as multiple managers assigned to the same project or multiple responses from a form.<\/span><\/p>\n

The novelty also includes the <\/span>array in cells<\/b>, that is, structured sets of values that can have different sizes and in turn contain other arrays.<\/span><\/p>\n

Microsoft has also introduced new features dedicated to managing this data, including <\/span>FLATTEN, HAS, HASANY and HASALL<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it can be useful to have multiple values in the same cell<\/b><\/h2>\n

The advantage is especially evident when a single element belongs to multiple categories at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

A customer may be interested in multiple product lines. A project may have multiple managers. A card may be associated with multiple classifications at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past, these cases were often handled by adding many columns, inserting text separated by delimiters, or building more complex structures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The new lists offer one more possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n

This does not mean, however, that using fewer columns automatically makes an Excel spreadsheet better.<\/span><\/p>\n

If each project manager's role, email, phone number, and responsibilities also need to be stored, compressing all this information into a single cell might simply shift the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

The structure must depend on the subsequent use of the data.<\/span><\/p>\n

A new feature does not fix inconsistent data<\/b><\/h2>\n

Let's imagine that three people use different terms to indicate the same product category:<\/span><\/p>\n