How to Use Google Bard with Google Sheets and Excel

This guide will explain how to use Google Bard with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel.

Bard is an AI-powered chatbot tool by Google that is capable of performing various tasks.  Bard uses a state-of-the-art neural network trained on a massive amount of text data, giving the chatbot the ability to answer questions about Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel.

You should know how to best phrase your prompts when conversing with the chatbot. With the proper wording, you’ll be able to ask Bard to explain functions, modify formulas, and even create new formulas from scratch.

In this guide, we will provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to use Google’s Bard chatbot with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel.

A Real Example of Using Google Bard 

Using Google Bard to Explain Complex Formulas

Let’s explore a simple example where we can use Google Bard to help us write formulas for both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets.

In the table above, we have an Excel spreadsheet with a formula that we would like to understand. We can ask Bard to explain the formula to us. We can improve Bard’s response by providing additional details such as the labels associated with each cell reference. 

In the image above, we can see that Google Bard was able to explain that the FV formula used in our spreadsheet calculates the future value of an investment. 

We achieved this result by starting our prompt with “Explain the following Excel formula: =FV(B2/B3,B3*B4,0,-B1)”. To further improve Bard’s response, we’ve added more context to our prompt by indicating that cell B1 holds our principal amount, B2 holds the annual interest rate, and so on.

Using Google Bard to Explain Specific Functions

Google Bard can also explain individual functions from both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel.

For example, we can enter the prompt “Explain the SUMIF Excel function” to return a short explanation of the function, the arguments required, and an example of it in use.  

Using Google Bard to Generate Formulas

Google Bard is also capable of generating formulas based on specific requirements.

The table above tracks when specific tasks are due. Given a starting date and a specific number of weeks allotted to do a task, we want to know the deadline for each task.

We can use Google Bard to write a formula that will help us add a certain number of weeks to a given start date. 

Our prompt returns the following formula:

=A2+B2*7

We can then click on the Copy code icon to copy the formula into our clipboard and paste it into our spreadsheet.

Using Google Bard to Troubleshoot Your Spreadsheet.

You can take advantage of Bard’s knowledge of Excel and Google Sheets to troubleshoot your documents.

In the image above, we asked Bard why our VLOOKUP function is returning a N/A error. The chatbot responds with a list of possible reasons why this error occurred and even laid out some steps to troubleshoot our formula.

Click on the link below to create your own copy of our examples.

Head to the next section to read our step-by-step tutorial on how to start using Google Bard with Excel and Google Sheets.

How to use Google Bard with Google Sheets and Excel

1. Go to the Google Bard landing page and click on the Sign in button.
   Log in to Bard using your Google account credentials.
   
2. In the Google Bard app, click on the provided textbox to start entering a new prompt.
   
3. The best way to interact with Google Bard is by phrasing your question in the form of an instruction. After typing your prompt, click on the blue arrow to submit it.
   In the image above, we used the prompt ‘Explain the SUMIF Excel function’ to instruct Bard to explain our desired Excel function.
   
4. Wait for a few seconds for Google Bard to return a response to your prompt. Google Bard will be able to explain what the function is for and what arguments are needed.
   
5. We can also instruct Google Bard to write a formula we can add to our spreadsheet. We can start our prompt with “Write an Excel function that…” or “Write a Google Sheets formula that…” followed by a detailed description of what you want the formula to do.
   
6. Google Bard will return a code snippet with the formula you’ve requested. Click on the Copy code icon to add the formula to your clipboard.
   
7. You can now try pasting the code into your Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
   

These are all the steps you need to follow to use Google Bard with Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel!

FAQs

1. Why does my formula from Google Bard return an error or unexpected result?
   Since Bard is still an experimental AI, users should be aware that the chatbot may return inaccurate formulas. We recommend double-checking any response from Bard with existing documentation from either Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
   
2. Does Bard recall past conversations when chatting with it?
   According to Bard’s FAQ page, Google has intentionally limited Bard’s ability to retain information from past conversations. Because of this limitation, you may have to be more detailed with your prompts to achieve the right response.

If you’ve enjoyed this article, you may also be interested in our guide about using ChatGPT to automate workflows in Google Sheets.

That’s all for this guide! Be sure to check out our library of spreadsheet resources, tips, and tricks! 

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