AnyTool
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How do I get the right Excel or Google Sheets formula for my task?

Describe what you want in plain English — like “sum sales where region is West” or “days between two dates” — and a keyword matcher suggests the closest task from a catalog of common spreadsheet patterns. Or browse by category and pick a task. Fill in your ranges and criteria and you get a ready-to-paste formula for both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets, with an explanation and a worked example. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

  • Describe your task or browse a catalog of common spreadsheet patterns
  • Get the formula for both Excel and Google Sheets, side by side
  • Fill in your own ranges, criteria and columns with sensible placeholders
  • Optional IFERROR wrapper to hide errors like an empty lookup
  • Each formula comes with a plain-English explanation and an example
  • 100% client-side — pattern match, not AI; nothing is uploaded

What is

Spreadsheet Formula

A spreadsheet formula is an expression beginning with “=” that calculates a result from cell references, ranges and functions — for example =SUMIF(A2:A100, "West", B2:B100). This generator maps a plain-English task to the matching formula pattern (SUM, SUMIF, VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, IF, TEXTJOIN, DATEDIF and more) and fills in your ranges for both Excel and Google Sheets.

Spreadsheets

Related terms

ExcelGoogle SheetsSUMIFVLOOKUPINDEX MATCHCell Range

Frequently Asked Questions

Use SUMIF: =SUMIF(A2:A100, "West", B2:B100) adds column B for every row where column A is West. For several conditions use SUMIFS.

SUMIF takes three parts: the range to test, the criterion, and the range to add. So =SUMIF(A2:A100, "West", B2:B100) totals the values in B2:B100 only on rows where A2:A100 equals “West”. Numeric criteria such as ">100" go in quotes; a cell reference does not. When you have two or more conditions, switch to SUMIFS — but note its argument order is reversed, with the sum range coming first: =SUMIFS(C2:C100, A2:A100, "West", B2:B100, ">100"). The Formula Generator builds either one and explains the difference.

VLOOKUP only looks right from a key in the first column; INDEX + MATCH (and XLOOKUP) can look in any direction and do not break when columns move.

VLOOKUP searches the first column of a table and returns a value from a column to its right by number, so the key must be the leftmost column and the formula breaks if you insert a column. INDEX + MATCH separates the two jobs — MATCH finds the row position of your value in any column, and INDEX returns the aligned cell from any other column — so it can look left and survives column changes: =INDEX(Sheet2!C:C, MATCH(A2, Sheet2!A:A, 0)). Modern Excel 365 and Google Sheets also offer XLOOKUP, which does the same with a cleaner syntax and a built-in “not found” message. The Formula Generator can produce all three.

Mostly yes — core functions match — but separators, array behaviour and a few functions differ, so this tool shows both versions.

Common functions like SUM, SUMIF, COUNTIF, VLOOKUP, IF, TEXTJOIN, DATEDIF and ROUND work the same way in both apps, so most formulas are identical. The differences are around the edges: some regional setups use a semicolon instead of a comma to separate arguments, Google Sheets often needs ARRAYFORMULA to spill a calculation down a whole column where Excel 365 spills automatically, and a handful of functions exist in only one app. The Formula Generator shows the Excel and Google Sheets versions side by side and flags when they differ.

It is not an AI — it matches your words to a known pattern and fills in your ranges — and it is fully private: nothing is uploaded.

This tool is honest about what it does: it scores your description against a curated catalog of common spreadsheet patterns and inserts the ranges you type, rather than understanding arbitrary requests the way a large language model would. The catalog, the keyword matcher and the templating all run as pure functions in your browser, so your descriptions, ranges and data are never uploaded, logged or stored, and the tool works offline once cached. Always adjust the ranges to your own sheet and test on a copy.

Detailed Explanation

Methodology

Task Catalog and Plain-English Keyword Matching

The Spreadsheet Formula Generator maps a user’s plain-English description to a curated catalog of common spreadsheet tasks across eight categories — aggregates (SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, MAX/MIN), conditional sums and counts (SUMIF, SUMIFS, COUNTIF, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIF, cross-sheet SUMIF), logic (IF, IFS, AND/OR), lookup (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX+MATCH), text (concatenation, TEXTJOIN, LEFT/RIGHT/MID, TRIM/CLEAN, email-domain extraction), dates (TODAY/NOW, DATEDIF, NETWORKDAYS), numbers (ROUND, percentage of total, percent change) and unique/rank (UNIQUE, duplicate flag, RANK). A pure keyword matcher tokenizes the query, removes stopwords, and scores each task by verbatim keyword phrases and token overlap, returning the closest tasks.

  • Around thirty common tasks across eight categories
  • Covers SUMIF/SUMIFS, COUNTIF/COUNTIFS, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX+MATCH, IF/IFS, TEXTJOIN, DATEDIF, UNIQUE, RANK
  • Keyword matcher scores phrase and token overlap — no LLM
  • Browse-by-category picker as an alternative to searching
  • Each task carries editable inputs, an explanation and an example
Technical Details

Excel and Google Sheets Output Side by Side

For the chosen task the tool builds the formula for Microsoft Excel and for Google Sheets from the ranges, criteria and columns the user types, with sensible placeholders so the output is valid before any edit. An optional IFERROR wrapper hides errors such as an empty lookup. Most core functions are identical between the two apps, so the two outputs usually match and the tool says so; the page is explicit that some regional setups use a semicolon argument separator instead of a comma, that Google Sheets often needs ARRAYFORMULA to spill a calculation down a column where Excel 365 spills automatically, and that a few functions exist in only one app.

  • Generates the formula for both Excel and Google Sheets
  • Editable ranges, criteria and columns with valid placeholders
  • Optional IFERROR(…, "") wrapper toggle
  • Flags when the two dialects differ for a task
  • Notes the comma-vs-semicolon separator and ARRAYFORMULA caveats
Limitations

Pattern Match, Not AI — and Fully Private

The tool is explicit that it matches words to a known pattern and fills in ranges rather than understanding arbitrary requests the way a large language model would, so users should adjust the ranges to their own sheet (data may start on a different row or live on another tab) and test on a copy, combining patterns for very custom logic. The catalog, the keyword matcher and the formula templating all run as pure functions in the browser, so descriptions, ranges and any typed data are never uploaded, logged or stored, and the tool works offline once cached.

  • Honest: pattern match and fill-in, not an AI that understands free-form requests
  • Users must adjust ranges to their own sheet and test on a copy
  • Catalog, matcher and templating are pure in-browser functions
  • No descriptions, ranges or data are uploaded, logged or stored
  • Works offline once the page is cached
Spreadsheet formula generation: in-browser (AnyTool) vs typical AI formula bots
CapabilityAnyToolTypical AI formula bots
ProcessingRuns entirely in your browserSends your request to a server/LLM
Excel + Google SheetsBoth shown side by sideOften one dialect only
ExplanationPlain-English how-it-works for every formulaSometimes missing or generic
Worked exampleConcrete example per taskRarely included
ApproachHonest pattern match over a catalogOpaque LLM that can hallucinate
IFERROR wrapOne-click toggleManual
PrivacyNothing uploaded, works offlineRequest transmitted and may be logged
Cost / signupFree, no signupOften gated or rate-limited

AnyTool matches and templates locally in the browser and uploads nothing you type.