Best Excel Prompt Examples

How to use these

Copy a prompt, replace the bracketed placeholders with your details, and paste it into your AI assistant. Add your Excel version for accuracy.

The prompts

Below is a starter set you can adapt.

• Formula: "Write a formula that sums [column] where [column] equals [value]."
• Fix: "This formula returns [error]. Here it is: [formula]. Explain and fix it."
• VBA: "Write a commented macro that [task]."
• Power Query: "Write M steps to [transformation]."
• Pivot: "Suggest a pivot table showing [metric] by [dimension]."
• Cleaning: "Standardize inconsistent [dates/names] in column [X]."

Making these prompts your own

Treat each example as a template, not a finished product. Replace every bracketed placeholder with your real column letters, sheet names and values, and add a line about your Excel version so the model does not suggest a function you cannot use. The more concrete your inputs, the more accurate the output, and the less time you spend correcting a formula that was built for a different layout than yours.

After you get a working formula or macro, save the prompt alongside it in a notes file with a one-line description. Over time you build a personal library of tested prompts for the tasks you actually do, which is far faster than re-explaining the same workbook to the model every month. This is the same idea behind our Prompt Library, applied to your own work and your own files.

When a generated formula does not work, paste the exact error message back to the model along with the formula and a sample of the data. This turns a frustrating debugging session into a quick conversation, and the model's explanation of why it failed is often the most useful part of the exchange for learning Excel at the same time.