---
title: "SIA for Microsoft Excel"
description: "Read your hiring tracker and write results straight back — without keeping two systems in sync"
canonical_url: https://senseloaf.guides.markdrop.in/sia-connectors/sia-for-microsoft-excel
last_updated: 2026-11-01
site: "Senseloaf"
index: https://senseloaf.guides.markdrop.in/llms.txt
---

# SIA for Microsoft Excel

Most teams already run hiring out of a spreadsheet alongside whatever tool they officially use. Connecting MS Excel lets SIA work with that workbook where it already sits and write results straight back into your rows — no second system to maintain by hand.

> **Warning**
>
> **Note:** The workbook you want SIA to use should be stored in OneDrive or SharePoint before connecting. MS Excel access is granted through those — make sure your files are there before you begin.

### Connecting MS Excel

[Video: Connecting MS Excel](https://senseloaf.guides.markdrop.in/docs-assets/import/sia-connectors/sia-for-microsoft-excel/connecting-ms-excel.mp4)

1. In Chat, open [**Connectors** ](https://sia.senseloaf.ai/settings/connectors)from the sidebar
2. Find the **Excel** card and click **Connect Excel**
3. A Microsoft sign-in tab opens — sign in with the Microsoft 365 account that has access to your templates
4. Review the permissions shown and click **Allow**
5. You're redirected back to Chat and the card now reads **Connected**

> **Warning**
>
> MS Excel is its own separate Microsoft connection — connecting it does not connect OneDrive or MS Word, and each needs its own approval even though all three are part of Microsoft 365.

### What you can do once connected

Once MS Excel is connected, SIA can read and updated your workbook directly:

* **Find and read a workbook** — SIA can list your workbooks and worksheet tabs by name, then read the data from a tab or a specific range you point it at
* **Write grades and scores back into your existing rows** — tell SIA which rows changed and it updates that range with the new values
* **Export a shortlist or pipeline summary as a new workbook** — saved into any OneDrive folder you choose, as a fresh file with the data on its first tab
* **Style a range** — bold or italicise it, change the font size or colour, or add a background colour to make header rows stand out

### Try it in chat

```text wrap title="Format Content"
Bold the header row in the Shortlist tab and fill it blue."reviewers disagreed.
```

```text wrap title="Write back data"
Update the Grade column for these three rows in that workbook.
```

```text wrap title="Fetch Information"
What tabs are in my 'Applicants Q3' workbook, and what's in the Candidates tab?
```

[Video: Try it with SIA Chat](https://senseloaf.guides.markdrop.in/docs-assets/import/sia-connectors/sia-for-microsoft-excel/try-it-with-sia-chat.mp4)

### A few things to note

* **Screening candidates directly from a workbook isn't available yet -** Unlike Google Sheets, the MS Excel connector reads and writes cell ranges but can't turn workbook rows into candidates by itself. Importing and screening a tracker in one step isn't supported for MS Excel at this time.
* **Writing to a range overwrites it -** When SIA updates specific rows, it reads the existing block, edits the rows that need changing, and writes the whole block back. There's no row-by-row matching by email or candidate ID on the server side — that matching happens against what SIA already has in context.
* **Reading a range doesn't include lookup shortcuts -** SIA works with the data that's returned from a range — it doesn't ask MS Excel to find a row by email or calculate an average across a column. That kind of processing happens on what SIA already has.
* **Column widths can't be adjusted -** Only font styling (bold, italic, size, colour) and fill colour are supported through this connector.
* **Nothing changes in your workbook without your approval -** SIA always shows you what it's about to write before making any changes.

### Disconnecting MS Excel

1. Go to [**Connectors**](https://sia.senseloaf.ai/settings/connectors) in the sidebar
2. On the Word card, click **Disconnect**

This revokes access to Excel only — your OneDrive and MS Word connections, if you have them, are unaffected.