Prompts
Get cleaning steps for a spreadsheet, without uploading it
You describe the columns and the mess; it returns numbered steps and a formula or script you run yourself. Your data never leaves your computer.
What may go into it: Only after identifying details are removed
The prompt
Answer in [ANSWER LANGUAGE], even if the material below is in another language. I have a spreadsheet I cannot upload. I will describe it instead. The three rows below are invented by me, not copied out of the file, and I will never paste a real row. Do not ask me for the file or for real rows. Columns and what they hold: [LIST THE COLUMN NAMES AND WHAT EACH CONTAINS] Three invented rows, in the same shape as the real ones: [PASTE THREE INVENTED ROWS] What is wrong with it: [DESCRIBE THE PROBLEMS: mixed date formats, duplicates, mixed digits: ١٢٣ alongside 123, trailing spaces, merged cells, several answers in one cell] What I need at the end: [DESCRIBE THE RESULT YOU WANT] Give me, in this order: A. Numbered steps, in the order I should do them, each saying what to do and what the file will look like afterwards. B. The formula, or the script, for each step that needs one. Say which program it is for. C. The assumptions you made about my data, one per line, and for each one what it will silently break if the assumption is wrong and how I would spot that. D. What to check after each step to know it worked, including the row count before and after. Work only from my description. If my description is not enough to write a step safely, say what you need to know instead of guessing.
Opens a new chat in that tool with this prompt already typed in. Fill in every box first, and read the line at the top about what may go into it.
20 minutes · Gives you numbered steps · How much to paste at once: Paste only the column list and the three invented rows, which is a few lines. If the steps stop in the middle of a formula, ask for the rest of that one step instead of sending the whole prompt again.
Read the answer against the checks below before you use it in anything that leaves your organisation.
What to fill in
- [ANSWER LANGUAGE]: Arabic, Kurdish Sorani or English.
- [LIST THE COLUMN NAMES AND WHAT EACH CONTAINS]. Column names only.
- [PASTE THREE INVENTED ROWS] that you made up yourself. Never paste a real row.
- [DESCRIBE THE PROBLEMS] and [DESCRIBE THE RESULT YOU WANT].
Before you trust the answer
- Work on a copy of the file. Always.
- Read section C before you run anything. A wrong assumption about a date format destroys a column quietly.
- Run one step at a time and compare the row count before and after each one.
When it goes wrong
It will write a step that assumes every date starts with the day, and silently turn 03/04 into the wrong month down the whole column.
Tools this is written for
Written 2026-09-01Nobody has run this prompt in this language yet, so read the answer twice.
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Never for sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
- Only approved or redacted sensitive materialHas a free versionWorks in Iraq
Where to go next
- The task this belongs toCleaning and analyzing data
- Staying safeClassify the material first
Written forResearcher or analystGrants and operations