Claude in Excel: Your New Spreadsheet AI Assistant

If you've heard that Claude can help with Excel but haven't had the time to sit down and try it, this is where to start. Across three hands-on hours, you'll set up both tools and work through a real spreadsheet. You'll have the opportunity to practice on a sample workbook, then experiment with one of your own. The aim is to explore a workflow you understand well enough to keep using on your own.

Learners will have the opportunity to:
1. Install the Claude Excel add-in and Claude Desktop and sign in to both
2. Explore the add-in sidebar and set up personal instructions so Claude works the way they work
3. Practice deciding when to use the add-in (quick, in-spreadsheet tasks) versus Claude Desktop (longer, more open-ended ones)
4. Ask Claude to summarize a workbook and describe its contents in plain English
5. Pose specific questions and work with answers that include cell-level citations they can check
6. Make a small edit and watch the Claude Log record what changed and why
7. Experiment with all of these moves on one of their own workbooks, with the instructor available to help
8. Explore why running Claude on files from outside your organization is discouraged and what to do instead
9. Practice the habit of verifying Claude's output rather than simply accepting it
 

Topics
- Installing and signing in to the Claude Excel add-in and Claude Desktop
- The add-in sidebar and personal instructions
- Choosing between the add-in and Claude Desktop
- Workbook summaries and plain-English descriptions
- Cell-level citations and how to read them
- The Claude Log and tracking changes
- Data-handling considerations before using Claude at work