# ChatGPT for Excel

7 Hacker News commenters recommended ChatGPT for Excel and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Helps people work through complex spreadsheets and tangled formulas inside Excel. Critics raise data-privacy concerns and frequent availability problems.

## Why people recommend it

- Handles complex spreadsheets and formulas (2 comments): "Nice addition for get my head around those narley formulas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47789255)) "ChatGPT for Excel does really well on complex sheets." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787037))

## What people warn about

- Data privacy and security concerns (4 comments): "I am worried about cases where an individual has chosen to integrate an add-in and then inadvertently leaks sensitive data" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787157)) "the poor UI and security story of COM add-ins and the inability to run on Excel for iOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787703)) "Chatgpt for Excel is still an office add-in running in the same sandbox though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47786718))
- Limited platform and regional availability (5 comments): "every time I have tried it I get 'Currently Unavailable - please try again later'. Which is very unhelpful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47798497)) "the poor UI and security story of COM add-ins and the inability to run on Excel for iOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47787703)) "doesn't seem to be available for excel on macOS, disappointing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47794547))
- Distracting and unreliable AI assistance (2 comments): "These tools are irrelevant, disrupt flow and if anything just add noise to what one is doing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47786498)) "a really smart but easily distracted and confused child" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47792687))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Claude for Excel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-for-excel.md): 11 recommend
- [Microsoft Copilot in Excel](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-copilot-in-excel.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "ChatGPT for Excel", https://hackerapproved.com/p/chatgpt-for-excel/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).