Proctor Excel Exams by Replaying How the Answer Was Built

An independent product, not affiliated with Microsoft.

Excel doesn't have exam proctoring built in. Most instructors either skip integrity checks on spreadsheet assignments entirely, or bolt on a webcam lockdown tool built for essay exams, not for Excel. ExcelRewind's Kiosk/Exam mode takes a different approach: it records the cell-edit timeline of the workbook itself, so you can replay exactly how the answer was built.

How does replay-based exam integrity work?

ExcelRewind is an Excel add-in (with a Google Sheets add-on) that records why the numbers in a spreadsheet change. It captures every cell edit with timing and a note explaining the reasoning, and saves them to a shareable, replayable .rewind companion file. It never modifies the original workbook and never uploads spreadsheet content¹. For an exam, that same recording engine becomes the evidence. Instead of grading a static final grid, you get the sequence of edits that produced it.

A workbook built cell by cell over 45 minutes looks different from one where three columns of values and formulas appear in the same second. The replay makes that difference visible without guessing from file metadata or a submission timestamp.

How do I set up Excel exam proctoring with Kiosk/Exam mode?

1. In the team console, create the exam and set a duration. That's a countdown clock for the attempt, not a scheduled open/close window (there isn't one yet, see the FAQ below).
2. Invite each student to your org and have them accept. Only accepted members can see the exam; an unaccepted invite doesn't put anyone on the roster.
3. The student installs the Excel add-in and the Companion on a Windows machine and signs in. Kiosk/Exam mode requires the Companion: the consent gate will not let an exam start without it connected.
4. A "Take an exam" panel appears in the add-in automatically, listing any active exam for their org. No link, no join code.
5. The student goes through a consent gate (Companion connected, microphone, and webcam all confirmed) before the pane locks into exam mode. The countdown runs, and pasted content gets flagged as it happens.
6. On submit, or when time runs out, the .rewind file uploads to ExcelRewind's storage for your review. Enable an organization encryption key so every submission is sealed to your org; without one, submissions are stored unencrypted. You review them in the team console's audit dashboard and replay each session in the browser.

What does the replay catch that a final grade alone can't?

A finished workbook looks the same whether it took 40 minutes of real work or thirty seconds of pasting. The replay shows the order and pace of construction: values and formulas landing one at a time, versus a block of cells filling in together, which is consistent with copying in a finished answer. Paste actions are also flagged automatically in the audit dashboard, so you don't have to sit through a full replay just to find them.

What it doesn't do is run plagiarism detection or compare submissions against each other. ExcelRewind gives you each student's own timeline to review; it doesn't flag two students as colluding on its own. Noticing a shared pattern across two students, like an identical sequence of pasted blocks at the same point in the exam, is something you catch by watching the replays yourself, not a conclusion the software reaches for you.

Is Kiosk/Exam mode webcam or screen-lockdown proctoring?

Not exactly, and the difference matters. Kiosk/Exam mode does not record the student's whole screen, does not lock down their operating system or browser, and does not log keystrokes outside the spreadsheet. It locks only the add-in pane in Excel: Settings, Import, and Replay are hidden, and a countdown and identity bar stay pinned until the student submits. Pasted content is flagged in the audit trail rather than blocked outright; an Office add-in can't intercept the system clipboard, so flagging is the honest option, not blocking.

The consent gate does ask for microphone and webcam access before a session starts, and an org admin can turn that off. That audio and video get reviewed alongside the cell-edit timeline, which stays the primary evidence for anomalies. It's an explicit, per-session ask shown to the student before anything records, not a background capture. See how data handling and encryption work and the privacy page for more on what does and doesn't leave the student's machine.

Install the add-in   or see what Excel's built-in change tracking misses outside of exams.

Frequently asked questions

How does Excel exam proctoring work with ExcelRewind?

ExcelRewind's Kiosk/Exam mode records a student's cell-by-cell edits during a timed exam into a .rewind file. There's no link or join code: an instructor creates the exam in the team console, and it appears automatically inside the Excel add-in for any student who is a member of that org. The instructor reviews it afterward by replaying the edit timeline in the browser.

How do I detect cheating in Excel assignments?

Compare the pace of the replay to the size of the answer. A workbook built steadily over the exam period looks different from one where several columns of values and formulas appear in the same instant, which is consistent with pasting in a finished answer. ExcelRewind also flags paste actions automatically in the audit dashboard, so you do not have to watch the whole replay to find them.

Can ExcelRewind detect Excel assignment plagiarism between students?

Not automatically. ExcelRewind doesn't compare submissions against each other or run plagiarism detection. It gives you each student's own edit-by-edit replay. Spotting a shared pattern across two students, like matching pasted blocks at the same point in the exam, is something you notice by reviewing the replays yourself, not a conclusion the software reaches for you.

Does Excel exam proctoring with ExcelRewind use webcam or screen recording?

It doesn't record the student's whole screen, lock down their operating system or browser, or log keystrokes outside the spreadsheet. The consent gate does ask for microphone and webcam access before a session starts (an org admin can turn this off), and that recording gets reviewed alongside the cell-edit timeline, which stays the primary evidence.

What do I need to run an exam with Kiosk/Exam mode?

An organization on a Team or Enterprise plan, students invited and accepted into that org, and a Windows machine with Excel, the ExcelRewind add-in, and the Companion running. The exam is created once in the team console and stays available to every accepted org member until it is archived; there is currently no scheduled start or end time.

¹ The one exception is an exam submission itself: as described in the setup steps above, it uploads to ExcelRewind's storage for your review, sealed to your organization's encryption key when one is enabled.

Last updated: July 2026.

ExcelRewind is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft and Excel are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Questions? [email protected].