Excel formula explainer
Inherited a spreadsheet full of nested IFs and lookups? Paste any formula and Mindy explains what it does, part by part, in plain English. If it’s broken, she fixes it.
- Free
- No sign-up
- Excel and Google Sheets
- Powered by Claude
What you get
A plain-English summary of what the formula does, then each part in the order Excel works it out.
- What the formula returns, in one or two sentences
- A breakdown of every function and reference
- A worked example with real values
- Tips: simpler alternatives, edge cases and errors to watch for
- Broken formula? Switch to Fix a formula for the cause and a corrected version
In plain English
Looks up the product code in A2 on the Prices sheet and returns its price. If the code isn’t there, it shows “Not found” instead of an error.
Step by step
MATCH(A2, Prices!A:A, 0)- Finds which row of Prices column A holds the code in A2. The 0 means exact match only.
INDEX(Prices!C:C, …)- Returns the value from column C on that same row: the price.
IFERROR(…, "Not found")- Replaces the #N/A error you’d get for a missing code with a friendly message.
Formulas people ask about most
Nested IFs
Five IFs deep, each with its own condition. Mindy lists the conditions in order and often suggests IFS or a lookup table instead.
Lookups
VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH and XLOOKUP, including approximate matches and lookups across sheets.
SUMPRODUCT
The multi-condition workhorse from before SUMIFS. Mindy explains how each array is multiplied and summed.
Dynamic arrays
FILTER, UNIQUE, SORTBY and why the results “spill” into the cells below.
LET and LAMBDA
Named steps inside a formula, read out like a short recipe.
Text wrangling
LEFT, MID, FIND, SUBSTITUTE and TEXTSPLIT chains that pull codes and names apart.
Excel Formula Explainer questions
What kinds of formulas can it explain?
Anything from a simple SUMIF to deeply nested IF, INDEX/MATCH, XLOOKUP, LET, LAMBDA, array formulas and Google Sheets QUERY formulas.
Can it fix a formula that returns an error?
Yes. Switch to “Fix a formula”, paste the formula and describe what goes wrong (for example “returns #N/A for some rows”). Mindy explains the cause and gives you a corrected version.
Does it need my spreadsheet?
No. Paste the formula on its own. If it refers to cells, Mindy explains what each reference is used for.
How do I check a whole workbook for broken formulas?
Use the Excel error checker. It scans every formula in a sheet for error values, inconsistencies and numbers typed over formulas.
Is it free?
Yes, with 25 free AI credits a day and no sign-up.
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Do the whole job in one place.
The full workspace cleans the file, removes duplicates, checks formulas, answers questions and writes the report.