How to Use AI in Excel (and Google Sheets)

Option 1: Copilot in Excel

If your Microsoft 365 plan includes Copilot, it lives in a pane beside your spreadsheet. You can ask it to write formulas, explain a formula you inherited, sort and highlight data, build charts and PivotTables, summarize text columns, and point out patterns in your data. It works best when your data is formatted as a table with clear headers.

One change to know about: Microsoft previewed a =COPILOT() function that put AI directly into cells, but it was removed on September 14, 2026, before it ever became generally available (Microsoft Support). Microsoft points people to the Copilot pane for the same kinds of tasks, like summarizing, classifying, and generating text.

Option 2: Gemini in Google Sheets

Google Sheets has an =AI() function that runs Gemini inside a cell. You write a prompt and point it at your data, for example =AI("Categorize this feedback as positive, negative, or neutral", A2). It handles text generation, summaries, categorization, and sentiment (Google). Sheets also has Fill with Gemini for filling a column from a few examples, and Gemini can help build and edit whole spreadsheets. What you can use, and how much, depends on your Google Workspace or Google AI plan.

Option 3: ChatGPT or Claude on the side

Any AI chat tool can write spreadsheet formulas. The trick is describing your layout: paste your header row and a few sample rows (with fake or anonymized data), say which columns hold what, and describe the result you want. Ask for the formula plus a one-line explanation. This works for Excel, Google Sheets, and anything else with formulas, and it's ideal for the long formulas nobody remembers how to write.

Here is a prompt that works:

My sheet has order dates in column A, customer names in column B,
and order totals in column C, starting in row 2. Write an Excel
formula for cell F2 that totals column C for the customer named
in E2, counting only orders from 2026. Explain it in one sentence.

The free AI prompt builder helps you structure prompts like this.

What AI is good at in spreadsheets

• Writing and explaining formulas: XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, INDEX and MATCH, date math, text cleanup.
• Cleaning messy data: splitting names, fixing inconsistent capitalization, standardizing dates.
• Categorizing and summarizing text, like survey answers, support tickets, or reviews.
• Building charts and PivotTables from a plain-language request.
• Explaining someone else's spreadsheet.

What to double-check

• Formulas: test them on a few rows where you already know the answer. AI formulas can look right and still break on blank cells, text in number columns, or dates.
• Numbers the AI "reads": for totals and statistics, use real formulas, not an AI summary. Language models can misstate figures.
• Categories: spot-check a sample before trusting a whole column.
• Sensitive data: don't paste customer or financial data into a personal AI account. Use your company's approved tool, or anonymize the sample.