- The total of one category: SUMIF adds the example’s six “Groceries” rows and shows 309.60.
- The price behind a reference: XLOOKUP finds it, and VLOOKUP takes over on Excel 2016 or 2019.
- The chat trial is free, with no account and no card.
One evening, your October receipts pile up beside the keyboard and the Excel sheet is waiting for a single answer: how much did you spend on groceries? The formula bar stays empty, so you open a free ChatGPT online alternative instead. Describe your columns to Nicolas, and the formula arrives in one message; two more rescue the rest of the evening.
The groceries total with SUMIF
Your “Expenses” tab keeps it simple: the dates in A, the categories in B and the amounts in C. In October, six rows carry the “Groceries” category.
The message you send him
Hi Nicolas, I have a tab with this month’s expenses: column A holds the dates, B the categories, C the amounts. I’d like the total of the “Groceries” category.
“Use SUMIF to add the amounts in column C where the category in column B is “Groceries”:”
“=SUMIF(B:B,”Groceries”,C:C)”
On the October sheet, the formula shows 309.60, the exact total of the six amounts. SUMIF runs down a first range, applies the criterion to it, then adds the amounts range given last.
How much does item REF-103 cost?
A second tab, “Products”, lists four items: a notebook, a pen, a binder and a planner. The reference is in A, the price in C.
Right after, the price
The “Products” tab has the references in column A and the prices in column C. How do I show an item’s price as soon as I type its reference?
“If the reference you want to look up is in E2, use:”
“=XLOOKUP(E2,Products!A:A,Products!C:C,”Not found”)”
“It searches for the reference in Products column A and returns its price from column C. If you don’t have XLOOKUP, use:”
“=VLOOKUP(E2,Products!A:C,3,FALSE)”
Type REF-103 in E2: both formulas show 4.75, the binder’s price. XLOOKUP also knows how to search to the left of a table, where VLOOKUP only reads from left to right. Microsoft notes, though, that XLOOKUP is missing from Excel 2016 and Excel 2019, which is why Nicolas gives the second formula without being asked.
When the cell shows #N/A
A reference missing from “Products” slips into the formula, and the cell answers #N/A with no further explanation.
Nicolas first reads the signal: “#N/A means Excel couldn’t find the lookup value in Products!A:A. Common causes include:” Then he lines them up: “The reference isn’t in the Products list.” “One value is stored as text and the other as a number.” “There are extra spaces or slightly different characters.” The remedy follows: “With VLOOKUP, wrap it in IFNA:”
“=IFNA(VLOOKUP(E2,Products!A:C,3,FALSE),”Not found”)”
Before
The cell shows #N/A as soon as the typed reference isn’t in the “Products” tab.
After
With IFNA around the lookup, the same cell shows “Not found”.
Microsoft points to two frequent causes on its page about the error: extra spaces in the cells, or a lookup value of a different type, a number stored as text for example. For the spaces, the TRIM function removes those at the start and at the end.
Describe your sheet well and the formula comes back right
A request wins by being complete the first time: the columns, one example row, your Excel version.
Example request
My October budget is in Excel 2016: the dates in column A, the categories in B and the amounts in C. Row 9, for example, has Groceries in B and 45.10 in C. Which formula gives me the Groceries total?
The total of one category
SUMIF
Adds the amounts of the rows that meet the given criterion, “Groceries” for example.
The price behind a code
XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP
Finds a value from a code, and XLOOKUP is also free to search to the left.
The #N/A error gone
IFNA
Shows your own message in place of the error, “Not found” for example.
For more ready-made requests, our library of prompts ready to copy also keeps a model for formulas.
A word from Nicolas
Don’t put anything personal or confidential in your message to me, company data included. And before you fill a whole column, run the formula on two or three rows and add one total up by hand to compare.
Nicolas
AI file analyst
“Describe your columns to me and I answer right away, formula in hand. A sheet full of numbers, a contract or course notes: I always separate what the document says from what I conclude from it.”
The same Nicolas runs our PDF summary tool, for documents that don’t fit in a spreadsheet.
For other needs, Nation’s 25 coaches are there, one per subject: languages, math, cooking, gardening, law.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need Microsoft’s AI in Excel to get a formula?
In Excel, Microsoft’s AI is Microsoft 365 Copilot. Its page sets two conditions: the spreadsheet must live on OneDrive or SharePoint, and if the icon is missing, you first sign up for it. Nicolas works from the Nation AI chat without it: the trial is free, with no account and no card. For slides, our article on AI to make PowerPoints takes over.
XLOOKUP doesn’t work in my Excel, why?
Your version is the likely cause: Microsoft notes that XLOOKUP is absent from Excel 2016 and Excel 2019. Nicolas’s fallback formula goes through VLOOKUP: “=VLOOKUP(E2,Products!A:C,3,FALSE)”
Why does a formula show #N/A?
The code appears when a formula can’t find what it looks for. Microsoft lists two frequent causes: extra spaces in the cells, or a lookup value of a different type, a number stored as text for example. Make sure the value really exists in your data, or wrap the lookup in IFNA to display a clear message.
Is Nicolas free?
The trial, yes: “No account or card needed”, not even an email address, and “A few free messages” to try everything. After that, in October 2026, count $19 per month, or $9 every 2 weeks, with “No commitment”.
Your next formula is one message away
Ask it to Alex on the Nation AI chat, or ask him for something else: the trial is free, with no account and no card.
Sources
- Correct a #N/A error, Microsoft.
- SUMIF function, Microsoft.
- XLOOKUP function, Microsoft.
- VLOOKUP function, Microsoft.
- IFNA function, Microsoft.
