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Troubleshooting Common Issues with Excel Template

Encountering problems with your Promptitude Excel template? Here's how to fix common issues and optimize your experience.

Promptitude Team avatar
Written by Promptitude Team
Updated this week

The Promptitude Excel template allows you to harness the power of AI prompts directly from your desktop Excel application. While this integration offers tremendous convenience, you might encounter a few common issues along the way.

This guide will help you troubleshoot these problems and optimize your experience with the Excel template.

Understanding the Basics

Before diving into specific troubleshooting steps, it's important to understand that:

  • The template works only with the desktop version of Excel, not the online version

  • It uses your computer's resources, which may result in slower processing times

  • Each formula execution is a generation, it consumes tokens from your account

Common Issues and Solutions

1. Unexpected Token Usage

❌ Issue: You notice your token usage increasing rapidly when working with the template.

Why this happens: Every time a formula is executed—whether by inserting, pasting, dragging, or refreshing—it triggers a new generation and consumes tokens.

✅ Solution:

  • Copy and paste values only instead of formulas when you want to preserve results

  • Before removing a formula, save it somewhere for future reference

  • When storing formulas as text, add a space or quotation mark before the "=" symbol to prevent Excel from executing it

2. Regional Settings Conflicts

❌ Issue: Formulas don't work as expected or return errors.

Why this happens: Different regions use different list separators in Excel formulas.

✅ Solution:

  • Try using a comma (",") instead of a semicolon (";") as argument separators in your formulas, or vice versa

  • Check your regional settings in Excel to understand which separator your system uses by default

3. Formula Not Executing

❌ Issue: Your formula appears as text and doesn't execute.

Why this happens: The cell format might not be set correctly.

✅ Solution:

  • Ensure the cell format is set to "General" for proper formula execution

  • Right-click on the cell, select "Format Cells," and choose "General" from the category list

4. Slow Performance or Freezing

❌ Issue: Excel appears to freeze or becomes unresponsive when using Promptitude formulas.

Why this happens: Complex AI operations require processing time, and multiple clicks can trigger multiple requests.

✅ Solution:

  • Be patient when executing formulas, especially complex ones

  • Avoid clicking multiple times on the same action

  • Consider breaking complex operations into smaller steps

5. Formulas Re-executing When Reopening Files

❌ Issue: Your formulas automatically execute when you reopen your Excel file, consuming tokens unnecessarily.

Why this happens: This is Excel's default behavior—formulas are recalculated when files are opened.

✅ Solution:

  • Add an apostrophe (') at the beginning of your formula before saving the file

  • This converts the formula to text, preventing automatic execution

  • Remove the apostrophe only when you want to run the formula again

👉🏻 Best Practices for Using the Excel Template

To get the most out of your Promptitude Excel template:

  1. Monitor your token usage regularly to avoid unexpected costs

  2. Save formulas separately before converting results to values

  3. Use the apostrophe trick to prevent automatic formula execution

  4. Be patient during processing—complex operations take time

  5. Format cells appropriately as "General" for formula execution

When to Contact Support

If you've tried the troubleshooting steps above and still encounter issues, you might need additional help. Consider reaching out to Promptitude support if:

  • Formulas consistently return errors despite correct syntax

  • The template doesn't respond at all

  • You experience unexpected behavior not covered in this guide

Remember that the Excel template is designed to make your prompt management easier, but like any powerful tool, it requires some understanding to use effectively. With these troubleshooting tips, you'll be able to overcome common obstacles and make the most of your Promptitude Excel integration.

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