Having AI write, explain and fix formulas in Grid

Formulas are where most people get stuck in a spreadsheet. You know what you want, "the total for each customer this year", but not which functions to combine. Or you've inherited a sheet with a formula three lines long and no idea what it does. If you've connected your own AI account, Grid by Zaweba has three actions for exactly these moments.

Write a formula

Write a formula... starts a sentence that you finish in plain words. "Write a formula that adds up column D where column B is North." "Write a formula that gives the number of working days between these two dates." The AI proposes a formula for the active cell, using the sheet's own headers and nearby formulas as context.

The more specific the sentence, the better the result. Name the columns or headers, say which rows matter, and say what should happen with blanks or errors.

Explain this formula

Select a cell and choose Explain this formula, and you get a plain-language explanation of what it does and how. It's a quick way to understand a workbook someone else built, to check your own work makes sense, or to learn how a function you've never used behaves. Pair it with trace precedents to see the cells the explanation is talking about.

Fix this formula

When a formula shows an error, or a result you know is wrong, Fix this formula asks the AI what's wrong and how to put it right. Typical fixes are a range that stops short, a missing dollar sign, a text value where a number is needed, or arguments in the wrong order.

Checked by Grid before you can insert it

AI models can invent function names or get argument counts wrong. Grid doesn't take their word for it. Every suggested formula is checked by Grid's own engine before Insert as formula is offered. The formula must parse, it must use real functions with valid numbers of arguments, and any names it uses must exist in the workbook. If it fails, you don't get a button to insert it.

When it passes, a dialog shows what the formula works out to now, using your actual data. That's the moment to compare it with a figure you can check by hand. A formula that is valid but answers the wrong question is still possible, and the preview is where you catch it.

Making the most of it

Use the AI to get started, then make the formula your own. If it suggests a long nested formula, ask whether LET would make it clearer. If it uses a function you don't know, look it up in Insert Function to see the description and arguments. Over time you'll find yourself writing more formulas without help.

Select only what the question needs. Grid sends the active cell with its formula and referenced values, the header row and the selection, and the Context sent view in the Ask AI panel shows what went. If something didn't work as expected, Undo reverses the insert.

These actions need your own AI account and are greyed out until one is connected. Without them, Grid by Zaweba still has Insert Function, argument tips and autocomplete to help you build formulas by hand.