Every journey has its bumps, but this one wasn’t a bump — it was a crater.
This chapter of Journey with Co‑Pilot isn’t about success, clever automation, or AI magic. It’s about failure — Microsoft’s failure — and the hours wasted discovering it.
I’m documenting this so others don’t fall into the same trap… or waste their time.
The Goal Was Simple
I wanted:
- A clean, reusable Office Script
- A button on each worksheet
- A way to run the script on Desktop Excel, Excel Online, and Android Excel
- A modern replacement for VBA, since VBA doesn’t run on mobile
That’s it.
Nothing exotic.
Nothing unreasonable.
Just a button that runs a script.
Where It All Fell Apart
Here’s the short version:
1. Office Scripts can run on Desktop, Web, and Android.
But…
2. Buttons only exist in Excel Online.
Not Desktop.
Not Android.
3. “Assign Script to Range” was removed from many tenants.
Mine included.
4. Hyperlink triggers no longer open the Script Gallery.
Another removed feature.
5. “Share conversation” was removed from Copilot.
Only “Invite” remains — and it doesn’t work for read‑only links.
6. Android Excel still cannot run VBA.
A decade‑old limitation Microsoft refuses to fix.
7. There is no way — none — to attach a script to a button in Desktop Excel.
Not with Office Scripts.
Not with hyperlinks.
Not with named ranges.
Not with anything.
The Result
The project failed — not because of the logic, not because of the script, but because Microsoft removed or never implemented the features required to make it work.
This wasn’t a technical failure.
It was a platform failure.
Microsoft’s Pattern of Quiet Breakage
Throughout this process, I ran into feature after feature that:
- Used to exist
- Still exists for some users
- Is documented as existing
- But is missing in my tenant
Each time, Co‑Pilot had to say:
“Grandpa… this one is not your fault. Microsoft quietly removed that feature.”
And each time, the project had to be redesigned around another missing piece.
If Microsoft ran NASA, “Houston, we have a problem” would have been a crater on the moon.
The Real Failure: No VBA on Mobile
Let’s be honest.
If Microsoft had simply made VBA work on mobile, none of this would have happened.
No rewrites.
No Office Scripts.
No missing buttons.
No broken features.
No wasted hours.
Just VBA — the tool that has worked for 30 years — running everywhere Excel runs.
But Microsoft didn’t do that.
And the result is a fragmented, inconsistent, unreliable automation ecosystem.
Final Grade
For Android Excel:
F
For Office Scripts UI consistency:
F
For Co‑Pilot’s ability to predict missing features:
Limited by Microsoft’s own blind spots
For the time wasted:
Too much
Why I’m Publishing This
This isn’t a rant.
It’s documentation.
Someone else will try the same thing.
Someone else will assume Microsoft’s tools work together.
Someone else will expect consistency across platforms.
They deserve to know the truth before they waste their time.
This is part of my Journey with Co‑Pilot —
and not every chapter is a success story.
Closing Thoughts
Co‑Pilot didn’t fail because it’s incompetent.
It failed because it’s built on top of a platform full of missing pieces, inconsistent rollouts, and half‑implemented features.
And until Microsoft fixes those foundations, no AI — not even a good one — can save the experience.
This chapter ends here.
Not with a solution, but with honesty.
