The Datarails add-in enhances Excel with advanced data management and reporting tools, enabling seamless data connections, management, and dynamic report creation. Key features include data management, powerful reporting tools, and an intuitive interface.

Start by visiting the Installation Guide, then open the add-in from the Excel ribbon. 
Everything happens in the task pane on the right side of the Excel window. You can leave it open beside your sheet as you work, or close and reopen it whenever you like.

This article gives a brief overview of each feature and links to the detailed guides.

How the add-in is organized

A top bar is always visible, and the Home screen has two tabs.

Top bar

Connect

The Connect button allows you to link a local Excel file to a Filebox in Datarails, enabling you to store and manage it directly within your Datarails environment. To upload and organize a locally saved file:

1. Click Connect to open the Connect as Filebox window.
2. Select the desired path to create a new Filebox and complete the required fields.
3. Click Connect to Filebox to add the new file to the selected destination.

Once the file is connected, the button becomes Submit. You can also disconnect a file from its Filebox from the task pane.

Submit

Submit sends your updates from Excel directly to Datarails, so your changes are immediately reflected in the connected data source. Use it to keep your data current and synced. Hover over Submit to see when the file was last submitted.

If your Filebox uses draft and final tags, you can submit as draft or final.

Refresh

Refresh keeps your Excel workbook up to date with the latest data from Datarails, syncing any changes made to datasets, mappings, and groupings. If the database has been updated, Refresh indicates that new data is available. Hover over Refresh to see when the file was last refreshed.

Filters

Filters allow you to slice and dice your data in Excel, helping you quickly navigate consolidated views to find your numbers efficiently, across any dimension in your datasets. A filter applies across every table that shares a field, so one selection updates your whole report consistently.

Reference date

The Reference Date (formerly known as Date Picker) sets the reference date for your reports, making them dynamic by allowing you to adjust the reporting period directly within your Excel workbook. Use it to work through historical periods or the most recent data available.

Info, the "i" icon

Key details about your file:

• The Filebox name
• Filebox tags, such as Date, Budget Cycle, Forecast Cycle and File Status, along with any custom dimensions your organization uses
• A banner telling you if you are not working on the latest version of the file

Additional options, the three dots menu

The three dots beside the "i" icon open additional options, where you will find Settings, along with help and troubleshooting tools. Settings is where you control refresh behavior, including whether the file refreshes automatically when you open it.

Errors and notifications

Real-time feedback on the health of your reports, at the top of the task pane. Three kinds of notification can appear, each taking you straight to the place you can resolve it:

Build & analyze

Your daily work: getting data into the sheet, building the report, and analyzing what it shows.

Get data

Brings live Datarails data into your cells, through three tools.

Formulas. Data comes into Excel through formulas, which combine a DR formula, a function, and the conditions that narrow the result. Create and manage your formulas and functions here.

Report builder. Creates custom reports tailored to your data analysis needs, and manages the reports and dynamic settings you already have.

Data tables. A Datarails Excel table is a filtered extract of your data stored in the Datarails database, so you can work with the exact subset you need. Add a table, edit the one you have selected, or manage every table in the workbook.

Drill down

Drill down lets you dive deeper into your data by breaking down aggregated figures into detailed components. Open the full list of underlying records, summarize the value by a field such as department or vendor, and save frequently used drill-downs as favorites for quick access. Manage the tabs your drill-downs create from Drill tabs, rather than deleting the sheets in Excel.

Management

Managing what you have built, plus advanced setup such as dynamic ranges and planning.

Export

Export provides flexible options for sharing your reports, letting you distribute your data from Datarails while maintaining control over presentation and accessibility. The file must be connected to your Datarails environment to use Export.

Embedded ranges

Embedded ranges (formerly known as Published Ranges) let you share your data by publishing selected ranges from your Excel workbook directly to a Datarails dashboard, keeping your dashboards up to date with the latest insights. Manage what you have already published, and configure dashboard inputs to feed values from your workbook into a dashboard.

Dynamic range

Dynamic ranges keep your reports up to date by automatically adjusting to changes in your database, eliminating the need for manual updates. When new line items are added to your data, the range incorporates them and fills the formulas down with them, so your report always reflects the most current data.

See Dynamic Ranges.

Planning module

The planning module sets up your planning periods and the default formulas applied to them, so forecast values are replaced with actuals as they arrive. You set the planning periods and formulas up here in Excel, and the roll forward itself runs in the Datarails web application.

See Planning Module.

The right-click menu

Right-click any cell for quick access without opening the task pane: refresh all, refresh the cell, refresh or edit a table, and the drill-down options.

See Right-Click Context Menu.

Working on Windows, Mac and the web

The add-in is the same on Windows desktop, Mac desktop and Excel on the web. A report built on one opens the same way on the others, with the same task pane and the same features.

Updated August 27, 2026 15:03