ChatGPT for Excel, Word and PowerPoint: how to set it up, what it does and its limits

ChatGPT for Excel, Word and PowerPoint puts ChatGPT in a sidebar inside three core Microsoft Office apps, so you can build a spreadsheet, draft a document or shape a deck without switching windows. On September 17, 2026, OpenAI added Word to the set, joining Excel and Google Sheets (released May 5, 2026) and PowerPoint (generally available July 6, 2026). All three run from the same Microsoft add-in. This guide covers how to install it, what each app does, the limits to know and how it compares with Microsoft’s own Copilot.

ChatGPT in Office at a glance

How to install ChatGPT in Excel, Word and PowerPoint

In Excel or PowerPoint

1. Open the app (desktop or web for Excel).
2. Go to Home, then Add-ins.
3. Search for ChatGPT and add it.
4. Open ChatGPT from the ribbon.
5. Sign in with the ChatGPT account that has your plan.

In Word

1. Install ChatGPT for Word from Microsoft Marketplace: open the ChatGPT listing and select Get it now.
2. Open Word and open ChatGPT from the ribbon.
3. Sign in with your ChatGPT account, and select your workspace if you use one.
4. Open a document and type your request in the sidebar.

You don’t need a separate add-in for Word: OpenAI says all three apps use the same one. If your company blocks the Microsoft Store, a Microsoft 365 admin can deploy the add-in from the Microsoft 365 admin center using the manifest file: go to Integrated apps, choose Deploy Add-in, upload the custom app and assign it to users.

What ChatGPT can do in Excel

ChatGPT for Excel is built for spreadsheet-heavy work, including large, multi-tab files with formulas, references and assumptions. OpenAI lists these as typical jobs:

• Building trackers, budgets, plans and templates from scratch.
• Cleaning messy sheets: formatting, labels, duplicates and broken formulas.
• Understanding an unfamiliar spreadsheet, including its assumptions and key formulas.
• Updating a model when inputs change and summarising what changed.
• Running scenarios and sensitivity tables.

Prompts from OpenAI’s help centre that show the range:

• “Build a formatted monthly budget with categories, totals, and charts.”
• “Why am I getting an error in cell B145? Explain the formula chain and propose a fix.”
• “Create a new scenario tab that compares base, upside, and downside cases.”

Tips that make it more reliable: say what to keep and what to overwrite, ask for a plan before big edits (“Before editing, outline exactly which tabs and ranges you’ll modify”), and @ mention specific sheets to focus the prompt. It can also search the web for information to pull into your workbook.

Codex in the desktop app. In the ChatGPT desktop app you can select Codex, mention @Microsoft Excel and let it work directly on an open workbook — inspecting and updating sheets, formulas, values, formatting and charts. This is currently for Microsoft Excel only, and you should review changes before saving or sharing.

What ChatGPT can do in Word

ChatGPT for Word opens in a sidebar next to your document. You can ask questions about the document, revise selected text or turn notes into a first draft. OpenAI suggests using it to:

• Draft a memo, proposal or report from notes and source text.
• Summarise a document or write an executive summary.
• Revise a section for a different audience.
• Reorganise content and adjust headings, numbering and formatting.
• Check a draft for unclear language or inconsistent terminology.

For a specific edit, select the text and describe what you want changed, including anything that must stay the same. For a larger change, ask ChatGPT to propose an outline or explain its edits first. Prompts to try: “Write an executive summary of this document. Include the recommendation and the main risks,” and “Find inconsistent terminology in this draft and suggest corrections.”

Word-specific limits: complex formatting, tables and charts may need manual fixes; the add-in works with your open document but can’t reference other files on your computer, so paste relevant text into the prompt; and plugins are not currently supported in Word.

What ChatGPT can do in PowerPoint

ChatGPT for PowerPoint can create a first draft of a deck from source material, add or revise slides in an existing presentation, tighten a deck for a particular audience and answer questions about its story and structure. Slides stay editable in PowerPoint. Prompts from OpenAI include “Build a 10-slide board update from these notes and KPIs,” “Add a risks slide after the market overview” and “What is the story of this deck?”

It is designed to work within your existing template, but generated slides may not always match your style perfectly, and some advanced edits, charts, shapes and slide management may be limited. OpenAI’s advice: be specific about what to change and preserve, ask for a plan first on larger edits, and review claims, numbers and edits before you share a deck.

Limits to know

• Separate from your chats: the add-in has its own conversations, with no access to ChatGPT memory. In Word, skills don’t carry over either.
• Accuracy: ChatGPT can make mistakes, and it can change content you meant to keep. Save a copy of important files before large edits, and check facts, figures and citations.
• Usage: Excel and PowerPoint tasks draw on your plan’s agentic usage limit, shared with Codex. Word uses token-based pricing at API rates and the same shared allowance, so using it can reduce what is left for other features.
• Not advice: OpenAI says ChatGPT is not a financial, legal or tax advisor, so treat spreadsheet outputs as drafts.
• Privacy: under Microsoft’s Add-in Marketplace terms, Microsoft may be able to read the content of your files and prompts. Business, Enterprise and Edu inputs and outputs aren’t used to train OpenAI models by default.

For IT admins

Workspace admins can turn ChatGPT for Word on or off in the ChatGPT admin console, and can enable the Excel, Sheets and PowerPoint add-ins in workspace settings. Microsoft 365 admins must also allow the add-in for it to appear in the apps. OpenAI says ChatGPT for Word will be enabled by default starting October 1, 2026. Where an organisation uses role-based access control, an admin may need to enable the add-in.

ChatGPT vs Microsoft Copilot in Office

Microsoft’s own assistant is built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. At home, Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps comes with Microsoft 365 Personal ($9.99 a month), Family ($12.99, owner only), Premium ($19.99) or Pro ($99.99); companies use Microsoft 365 Copilot. ChatGPT’s add-in works with a ChatGPT account you may already have, including a free one, and runs on OpenAI’s models. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 with Copilot, try it first; if you already use ChatGPT, the add-in lets you keep one assistant across your apps. Our Copilot vs ChatGPT comparison covers the wider differences, and Copilot in Outlook and other AI email assistants compares email tools.

Anthropic has its own add-ins too: Claude for Outlook shares context with Claude for Excel, PowerPoint and Word. See What is Claude Cowork? for its agent, and the ChatGPT profile or ChatGPT Go vs Plus to pick a ChatGPT plan.