Microsoft Excel is one of the most powerful tools in the world — but most people only use a fraction of its potential. With AI now available directly inside Excel, the game has completely changed.
In this guide, you'll learn exactly how to use ChatGPT inside Excel to automate tedious tasks, write complex formulas in plain English, and extract insights from your data in seconds.
Why Use AI in Excel?
Excel has hundreds of functions, and even experienced users regularly hit walls when they need something complex. AI solves this by letting you describe what you want in plain English — and it figures out the formula, transformation, or analysis for you.
Here's what becomes possible:
- Write formulas without memorizing syntax — just describe what you need
- Summarize large datasets in a single cell
- Classify and categorize data automatically
- Translate column values to any language
- Extract specific information from messy text
Getting Started: Install CoreGPT for Excel
To use ChatGPT inside Excel, you need the CoreGPT add-in. It works directly inside your spreadsheet — no switching tabs, no copy-pasting.
- Open Excel (desktop or web)
- Go to Insert → Add-ins → Get Add-ins
- Search for CoreGPT
- Click Add and open it from the ribbon
Once installed, a sidebar appears where you can chat with AI or use custom AI functions directly in cells.
Using the AI Chat Sidebar
The sidebar works like ChatGPT but with full context of your spreadsheet. You can:
- Ask it to explain what a formula does
- Ask it to write a new formula for your specific use case
- Paste error messages and ask it to debug your sheet
- Describe a report you need and ask it to walk you through building it
Example Prompt
"I have sales data in columns A through D with headers: Date, Product, Region, Revenue. Write a formula to calculate the total revenue for the North region in Q1 2026."
The AI will write the exact SUMIFS formula with the right cell references.
Using GPT Functions Directly in Cells
CoreGPT also brings AI functions you can use like any other Excel function. These are perfect for processing data at scale.
COREGPT_SUMMARIZE
Summarizes long text into a short description:
=COREGPT_SUMMARIZE(A2)
Great for: customer feedback, product descriptions, meeting notes stored in cells.
COREGPT_CLASSIFY
Categorizes text into labels you define:
=COREGPT_CLASSIFY(A2, "Positive, Neutral, Negative")
Great for: sentiment analysis of feedback, lead scoring, ticket triage.
COREGPT_TRANSLATE
Translates cell content to any language:
=COREGPT_TRANSLATE(A2, "Spanish")
Great for: multilingual reports, product catalogs, customer communications.
COREGPT_EXTRACT
Pulls specific information out of unstructured text:
=COREGPT_EXTRACT(A2, "company name")
Great for: parsing emails, extracting order numbers, pulling names from text blobs.
Real-World Use Cases
1. Cleaning Messy Data
You have a column of addresses in inconsistent formats. Use COREGPT to normalize them all into a consistent structure in seconds — no manual editing required.
2. Sentiment Analysis on Customer Feedback
You exported 500 rows of customer reviews. Use COREGPT_CLASSIFY in a new column to tag each one as Positive, Neutral, or Negative automatically.
3. Generating Formula Explanations for Your Team
Paste a complex formula into the chat and ask it to explain it in plain English for a non-technical colleague.
4. Building Dashboards Faster
Describe the dashboard you want to build. The AI will suggest the structure, formulas, and charts to use — step by step.
Tips for Getting the Best Results
- Be specific in your prompts. Instead of "summarize this", say "summarize this in 1-2 sentences for an executive audience."
- Reference cell ranges by mentioning column names rather than cell letters — the AI understands both.
- Use functions in bulk — drag the formula down to apply it to thousands of rows.
- Combine functions — for example, translate a summary:
=COREGPT_TRANSLATE(COREGPT_SUMMARIZE(A2), "French")
Conclusion
AI inside Excel isn't a gimmick — it's a genuine productivity multiplier. Whether you're analyzing data, cleaning spreadsheets, or building reports, having ChatGPT available without leaving Excel saves meaningful time every day.
The best part? You can start for free. No complex setup, no new tools to learn — just AI working inside the tool you already use.