Let ChatGPT Write Your Excel Formulas: 3 Worked Examples

Step-by-step

You don’t need to memorise Excel’s syntax. Describe what you want in plain words and ChatGPT writes the formula. The free version is fine. Put Excel and ChatGPT side by side.

What makes a good prompt

Say where the data lives (the table name and column names, plus the sheet if another one is involved) and what result you want, in the same sentence. Ask for a beginner-friendly, minimal formula if you want the simplest version.

1. Join two columns

Prompt: I need an Excel formula that joins the contents of two columns named Country Code and Phone from a table named Customers, separated by a hyphen. Please use the table column names in the formula. ChatGPT returns something like:

=[@[Country Code]]&"-"&[@Phone]

Add a Reference column to the table and paste it in the first cell. The table fills the whole column. If the result shows an odd format, set the column to General. Ask for alternatives and you’ll also get TEXTJOIN (good for many columns, ignoring blanks) and CONCAT.

2. Percentage change

Prompt: In the same table, give me a formula that returns the percentage change between Amount and Amount Last Year. Typical answer:

=([@Amount]-[@[Amount Last Year]])/[@[Amount Last Year]]

Paste it into a new Percentage change column and click the % button (or press Ctrl+Shift+%).

3. Sum only the unpaid amounts

Paste a copy of the table into ChatGPT, leave a blank line, and ask: I need an Excel formula that sums the Amount column in the table named tbl_Customers, but only where the Status column equals Unpaid. You’ll get SUMIFS:

=SUMIFS(tbl_Customers[Amount],tbl_Customers[Status],"Unpaid")

When something isn’t right

Describe the problem in one line, for example Your formula shows a divide-by-zero error when Amount Last Year is zero. Return a blank instead. If you’re on an older Excel, say which version, or ask for a version that works without dynamic arrays. ChatGPT can’t click buttons in Excel, so formatting is still your job.