New Boundaries

The total number of available columns in Excel

Old Limit: 256 (2^8)

New Limit: 16k (2^14)

The total number of available rows in Excel

Old Limit: 64k (2^16)

New Limit: 1M (2^20)

Number of unique colors allowed a single workbook

Old Limit: 56 (indexed color)

New Limit: 4.3 billion (32-bit color)

Number of conditional format conditions on a cell

Old Limit: 3 conditions

New Limit: Limited by available memory

Number of levels of sorting on a range or table

Old Limit: 3

New Limit: 64

Number of items shown in the Auto-Filter dropdown

Old Limit: 1,000

New Limit: 10,000

The total number of characters that can display in a cell

Old Limit: 1k (when the text is formatted)

New Limit: 32k or as many as will fit in the cell (regardless of formatting)

The maximum length of formulas (in characters)

Old Limit: 1k characters

New Limit: 8k characters

The number of levels of nesting that Excel allows in formulas

Old Limit: 7

New Limit: 64

Maximum number of arguments to a function

Old Limit: 30

New Limit: 255

The number of characters that can be stored and displayed in a cell formatted as Text

Old Limit: 255

New Limit: 32k

Labels: General, Reference