About this Video

• Video Title: Use This Trick to Automate Any Excel Task (Better Than Macros)
• Channel: Kenji Explains
• Speakers: Kenji
• Duration: 00:10:53

Introduction

This video demonstrates how to automate Excel tasks using Office Scripts, an alternative to macros. The video covers using pre-built scripts, creating custom scripts, and integrating with other platforms like Outlook and Teams.

Key Takeaways

• Office Scripts are a superior alternative to macros for automating repetitive Excel tasks for 90% of users. They offer advantages in saving and sharing across workbooks and integrating with other platforms.
• Numerous pre-built Office Scripts are available for common Excel tasks. These can be accessed and run directly from the Automate tab.
• Custom scripts can be created by recording actions. This allows users to automate even complex or unique tasks without needing coding expertise.
• Office Scripts can be integrated with other applications like Outlook and Teams via Power Automate. This expands automation possibilities beyond Excel.
• ChatGPT can be used to generate complex Office Script code. This allows automation of tasks that are difficult to record manually.

The video describes using ChatGPT to generate Office Script code for creating invoices for each customer in a dataset. The process involves:

1. Copying the entire data table from Excel.
2. Pasting the table into ChatGPT, providing context with a brief description of the desired outcome (creating a separate worksheet for each customer's invoice, including their details and a 20% sales price).
3. ChatGPT generates the Office Script code. The video shows the prompt and the generated code.
4. Copying the generated code from ChatGPT.
5. In Excel, creating a new script instead of recording actions.
6. Pasting the ChatGPT-generated code into the new script.
7. Running the script. If errors occur (as shown in the example), copy the error message and paste it back into ChatGPT for correction. ChatGPT will provide an updated code snippet.
8. Paste the corrected code into the Excel script and run again. The script then generates separate worksheets containing the invoices.