5 MUST-KNOW NATURAL LANGUAGE PROMPTS FOR EXCEL COPILOT

Microsoft Copilot in Excel acts as a conversational data partner, allowing users to perform complex calculations, visualizations, and data cleaning tasks without wrestling with syntax.

5 Must-Know Natural Language Prompts for Excel Copilot

Mastering these five prompt categories will significantly boost your productivity and analytical capabilities:

• THE ULTIMATE INSIGHT DISCOVERY PROMPT

  Purpose: To quickly perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) and summarize key findings, trends, and outliers. This is the starting point for any analysis.

  Prompt Example: "Analyze sales data and summarize the top three trends, highlighting any anomalies in the East region's Q4 performance."

  Output: A summary paragraph of key insights, along with suggested PivotTables or charts illustrating the identified trends and outliers.

  
  

• COMPLEX FORMULA GENERATION PROMPT

  Purpose: To generate accurate, multi-function formulas from simple language, eliminating the risk of human syntax errors.

  Prompt Example: "Create a new column that calculates the total shipping cost for each order by multiplying 'Weight' by $2.50, but only if the 'Customer Status' is 'VIP'."

  Output: The fully constructed, error-free formula (e.g., a combination of IF and multiplication) ready to be inserted into a new column. Copilot can also generate formulas for conditional formatting and complex lookups.

  
  

• DATA CLEANING AND TRANSFORMATION PROMPT

  Purpose: To quickly prepare raw, messy data for analysis by automating repetitive cleanup tasks.

  Prompt Example: "Clean up the 'Customer Name' column by splitting 'Full Name' into two columns ('First Name' and 'Last Name'), and remove all duplicate rows from this table."

  Output: Copilot either executes the actions directly or generates the necessary Power Query steps or formulas (like Flash Fill) to perform multi-step data transformations instantly.

  
  

• VISUALIZATION AND PIVOT TABLE PROMPT

  Purpose: To generate the most suitable visualization for a specific business question or to create PivotTables based on aggregates.

  Prompt Example: "Show a stacked column chart of 'Revenue by Product Category' for the last six months, comparing 'Q1' to 'Q2'."

  Output: A chart or a PivotTable (often dynamically created if not explicitly requested) that addresses the query. This saves time navigating the Insert ribbon and dragging fields in the PivotTable builder.

  
  

• SCENARIO MODELING AND WHAT-IF PROMPT

  Purpose: To instantly test the financial impact of changing key variables in a model.

  Prompt Example: "Show the calculated loan payment amount if the 'Annual Interest Rate' increased by 1.5% and the 'Loan Term' was shortened to 5 years."

  Output: Copilot generates the necessary formulas (e.g., using the PMT function) or a new table reflecting the outcome of the hypothetical scenario, giving analysts quick decision-making context.

The power of Excel Copilot lies in its ability to translate everyday language into powerful data actions. By using these five types of specific, goal-oriented prompts, users can automate routine tasks, accelerate complex analysis, and move from being data processors to strategic decision-makers.