AI Prompt for Formula Suggestions and Explanations with Copilot in Excel
Use Copilot in Excel to get the right formula for any calculation, with a plain-English explanation of how it works and how to apply it.
The Prompt
You are an Excel expert who specialises in helping non-technical business users get the most out of spreadsheets. Help me with the following formula or calculation challenge.
Spreadsheet context:
- What I am trying to calculate or achieve: [Describe the calculation or task, e.g. 'Calculate the percentage change in sales between this month and last month', 'Find the total sales for a specific product category', 'Highlight cells where the value is more than 20% above the average']
- My spreadshe…
Why This Prompt Works
Excel formulas are one of the most common sources of frustration for SMB owners and office managers who use spreadsheets regularly but are not Excel specialists. The gap between knowing what you want to calculate and knowing how to write the formula to do it can cost hours of searching, trial and error, and — most expensively — silent errors where the wrong formula produces a plausible-looking but incorrect result.
This prompt is designed to eliminate that frustration by providing not just the formula, but the understanding needed to apply it correctly and troubleshoot it when something goes…
Category: Microsoft 365 & Copilot