Excel: Replace 5 Emails with One Comment

Key insights

• Threaded Comments
  Insert, reply to, resolve, and delete comments directly in Excel cells and sheets. This feature works like a group chat and can replace several follow-up emails or a quick status meeting.
• Mentions
  Tag teammates in comments to notify them and keep replies tied to the right cell. Reply chains preserve context so issues get resolved faster without long email threads.
• Collaboration
  Use comments in shared workbooks stored on cloud services to keep everyone updated. Comments track who said what and make it easier to find previous discussions.
• Power Automate
  Create flows that send personalized emails from Excel based on data triggers like due dates or status changes. Automation fills recipient, subject, and body to cut manual steps.
• COPILOT
  Use Excel’s AI to generate email drafts, explain formulas, and turn plain prompts into clear text inside cells. Copilot speeds writing and helps personalize messages without repeated editing.
• Time savings
  Combine threaded comments, automation, and AI to reduce repetitive emails and meetings. Keep your sheets structured and use simple triggers for the best, most accurate results.

Video overview: a practical Excel shortcut for busy teams

The YouTube video by Mynda Treacy (MyOnlineTrainingHub) [MVP] demonstrates how modern Excel features can replace routine follow-up emails and even short meetings. The presenter frames the story around a common workplace problem: multiple clarifying emails about spreadsheet entries that waste time and interrupt work. Consequently, the video promises faster, clearer collaboration by using in-sheet tools and automation together.

In addition, the tutorial combines step-by-step instructions with short demonstrations, showing how to add, reply to, resolve, and remove comments inside cells and sheets. The video also highlights a different but related approach: using AI and workflow automation to generate personalized emails from Excel data. As a result, viewers see both low-friction collaboration tools and higher-automation options that together reduce repetitive communication.

Threaded comments: replacing quick catch-ups and follow-ups

First, the presenter focuses on threaded comments as a lightweight alternative to email chains and impromptu meetings. She shows how tagging colleagues in a comment lets teams ask about a cell’s content, a formula, or a final value without leaving the workbook, and she explains how to reply, hide, or resolve threads to keep the sheet tidy. Thus, threaded comments behave more like a focused group chat tied to specific data points, which reduces confusion about context.

Furthermore, the video gives practical tips for finding older comments and managing notifications so that important threads don’t get lost in the noise. However, Mynda notes that threaded comments can create clutter if teams do not adopt simple conventions for use, such as resolving threads when an issue is fixed or using clear tags for action items. Therefore, the tool works best when combined with agreed-upon practices and basic governance.

Automating follow-ups: AI and flows inside Excel

Next, the video explores how to automate personalized follow-up emails directly from spreadsheet data, using tools such as Power Automate and AI-assisted features like COPILOT. Mynda demonstrates how structured sheets with contact details and status flags can trigger flows that craft and send tailored messages, reducing the need for manual outreach. Consequently, teams can automate reminders for due dates or payment statuses while maintaining a personal tone that would otherwise require many emails.

Moreover, the presenter explains how COPILOT can generate email copy from short prompts inside a cell, turning natural-language inputs into usable drafts. She also points out that storing the workbook on services like SharePoint or in a shared cloud location makes automated flows more reliable, because the automation service needs consistent access to the source file. As a result, combining AI and automated workflows shortens the loop between data changes and stakeholder notifications.

Tradeoffs and practical challenges to consider

Despite clear benefits, the video fairly outlines tradeoffs that teams must weigh before fully adopting these tools. For example, automated emails increase speed but require careful setup and testing to avoid sending incorrect or poorly worded messages, and AI-generated text can sometimes be imprecise or off-tone. Therefore, organizations should implement quality checks and approval steps when accuracy and compliance matter.

Additionally, Mynda highlights governance concerns: shared workbooks may expose contact data that must be protected, and triggers tied to live data can produce unexpected volumes of messages if conditions are misconfigured. Teams must balance convenience against control by limiting who can run or edit automation flows and by documenting rules for comment use and message generation. Thus, the efficiency gains come with responsibilities for security and change management.

Recommendations and newsroom takeaways

In closing, the video offers a practical roadmap for teams that want to reduce repetitive outreach while keeping communication clear and traceable. Mynda recommends starting with simple conventions for threaded comments and then piloting small automation flows for low-risk follow-ups, which allows organizations to build confidence before scaling up. Consequently, a staged approach helps teams capture wins quickly while managing the risks of automation and AI.

Overall, the tutorial by Mynda Treacy presents a balanced view: Excel can replace multiple emails and a short meeting when teams adopt the right mix of in-sheet collaboration and automated messaging, but success depends on setup, governance, and ongoing oversight. Newsrooms and business teams will find the video useful as a practical guide, and they should weigh both the time savings and the management overhead before changing established workflows.

Keywords

Excel co-authoring, Excel collaboration tools, Excel shared workbook, Excel comments and mentions, reduce follow-up emails Excel, Excel real-time collaboration, Excel workflow automation, Power Query Excel