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AI Unlocked
Your trusted guide on the AI journey
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Issue #13 • September 15, 2026
Your Spreadsheet Just Got a Lot Less Annoying
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You know the drill. You export a month of expenses, open it up in Excel, and stare at a wall of numbers with zero idea where your money actually went. Adding it up by category means either digging up a formula you half-remember, or doing math in your head like it's 1995.
Here's the fix: ChatGPT now lives inside Excel, and you talk to it in plain English. No formulas to memorize. No macros. You just type what you want, and it builds it — right there in your spreadsheet.
I tried it on a real mess of a monthly budget. Here's what happened.
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Get it in 3 steps — no connector, no API key needed
- In Excel, go to Home > Add-ins
- Search “ChatGPT” and add it
- Open it from the ribbon and sign in with your regular ChatGPT account
I'm using the Plus version, but this also works on the Free plan.
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Watch It Happen
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1. Organize
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Before
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After
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“Categorize each transaction into Housing, Utilities, Groceries, Dining, Transportation, Entertainment, Health, Subscriptions, or Shopping. Then add a summary table showing the total spent in each category, sorted highest to lowest.”
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2. Make It Pretty & Color-Code It
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Before
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After
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“Make this spreadsheet look clean and professional — bold header, borders, currency formatting, alternating row shading. Then color-code the category totals like a traffic light: green under $250, yellow $250–$500, red over $500.”
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One honest note: this run, it got every category right on the first pass — no corrections needed. I won't pretend that's guaranteed every time (it isn't), so before you trust a total for anything that matters, give the categories a quick scan. If something looks off, just tell it in plain English and it'll fix it.
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Watch the Rundown →
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Also This Week: The Tool
ChatGPT for Excel is now up on the Tools page — what it does, what to watch for, and how to get started.
See the Tools Page →
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Talk soon,
Gary
Founder, AI Unlocked
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