Getting AI to write and explain Excel formulas

Plenty of people lose time on spreadsheets: a formula that won't work, a list counted by hand, a table rebuilt every month. AI is surprisingly good at this, provided you describe clearly what you have and what you want.

Describe your sheet

The AI can't see your spreadsheet unless you upload it or use Copilot in Excel. So describe:

• What's in each column, with an example row.
• The result you want: a total, a count, a lookup, a warning.
• Which program you use: Excel, Google Sheets or something else. Formulas sometimes differ.
• Whether you use a comma or semicolon as the separator. In Belgian or Dutch-language versions of Excel it's often a semicolon.

Questions that work well

• "Total column B per month."
• "For each product code in column A, look up the price on the Price list tab."
• "Turn the row red if the due date in column D has passed and column E is empty."
• "Split a full name into first name and surname."
• "Why is this formula returning an error?"

Always ask for an explanation

Don't just ask for the formula; ask for a short explanation too. You learn as you go and spot sooner whether the AI understood you. Test the formula on a few rows where you know the right answer.

Watch out for

• Sensitive data: don't paste real customer lists or salary data into a personal AI account. An example with made-up values is enough.
• Check the result: a formula without an error can still calculate the wrong thing.
• Keep it simple: if needed, ask for a simpler two-step solution instead of one long formula nobody understands.

Exercise

Pick a spreadsheet you use often. Describe it using the four points above and ask for one formula that would save you time.

Prompt to copy