Worksheet Operations¶

Inspect existing names, contents, and dependencies before creating, moving, or removing sheets. Deleting a worksheet removes all its contents and can break references. There is no tool-level undo.

Use CLI help or MCP tool descriptions for current worksheet controls and inputs.

The server checks Microsoft's documented naming rules before creating, copying, or renaming a worksheet: names cannot be blank, exceed 31 characters, contain / \ ? * : [ ], begin or end with an apostrophe, or be History. Non-English names and apostrophes inside a name are allowed. See Microsoft's worksheet naming guidance. Names are not trimmed: leading or trailing spaces may be part of a name, but a name made entirely of whitespace is rejected as blank. The server checks these documented constraints before changing the workbook; Excel also validates the name when it is assigned. If Excel rejects a name after a create or copy has added the sheet, the error identifies that sheet. It remains in the workbook for the caller to inspect and remove if appropriate.

Cross-file operations¶

Use the user's intended source and destination files. Cross-file transfer owns opening, saving, and closing those files; do not apply it to workbooks already open in unrelated sessions.

Copying keeps the source sheet. Moving removes it and saves both workbooks. Closing another session without saving cannot reverse a saved transfer. Failures do not promise rollback across files: inspect both before retrying. When an error reports a retained recovery session, that session owns both file paths. The error includes its session ID, filePaths, and whether the original work is still running. Do not repeat the transfer while that work is pending.

The recovery session selects the source workbook; use its Excel window to inspect the opened workbooks. A later explicit session save writes remaining unsaved changes in both files; unchanged workbooks are not saved again. A close without saving discards remaining unsaved changes in both. Inspect their actual state before choosing either action. Discovering the destination does not change the recovery session's selected workbook or create another owner.

Styling and outlines¶

Worksheet presentation includes tab colors, visibility, legacy notes, images, shapes, page layout, and outlines. Legacy notes are different from modern threaded comments.

Page setup prepares output but does not print or open preview. Decide whether fixed scaling or fitting to pages serves the report; printer support and scaling affect automatic pagination. Manual-break replacement affects the whole sheet, including breaks outside the current print area.

Inspect the print area, repeated headers, margins, and page breaks before PDF/XPS export. Native settings can partly change before failure, so read back the result rather than assuming rollback.

Outline changes affect complete rows or columns. Inspect existing groups and summary positions first. Removing one grouping level is different from clearing all outlines; expand/collapse when only the visible detail level should change.

Protection permissions¶

Changing worksheet protection replaces its permission configuration; omitted permissions need not preserve the previous choices. Inspect the full current state before replacing it.

Filtering permission allows changes to an existing filter, not necessarily creating a new one. Sorting and deletion can still require unlocked cells. Automation-only protection is runtime-only and is not retained after reopening.

Worksheet protection and hidden formulas control editing or display, not encryption or confidentiality. Do not bypass security or promise that a failed change restored the previous state.

Workbook themes¶

A theme change can affect colors and fonts throughout the workbook, including styles and charts. Fixed RGB colors remain fixed. Choose an existing Office theme file for the requested appearance rather than making unrelated changes.

Inspect the actual theme definitions. Empty script-font definitions do not mean fallback fonts were applied, and Excel cannot expose every theme name or original file path. Read back changes before retrying after failure; saving remains explicit.