How to Use ChatGPT Inside Microsoft Word

ChatGPT for Word puts ChatGPT in a side panel inside Microsoft Word. It's available on all ChatGPT plans, including Free. You can ask questions about the document you have open, turn notes into a first draft, get a summary, revise text you've selected, and tidy headings and formatting. This guide shows you how to set it up and gives you three prompts to try first.

Before you start, you need Microsoft Word itself and a ChatGPT account to sign in with.

1. Install ChatGPT from the Microsoft Marketplace

Go to the Microsoft Marketplace and find the ChatGPT listing. Choose Get it now to add it.

2. Open ChatGPT in Word and sign in

Open Word, then open ChatGPT from the Word ribbon (the row of tabs and buttons along the top of Word). Sign in to your ChatGPT account. ChatGPT works in a side panel next to your document.

3. Ask for a summary

Open a document you want to understand quickly. Start with:

Write an executive summary of this document.

An executive summary is a short overview of the main points, written for someone who doesn't have time to read everything.

4. Check your wording

Long documents often use different words for the same thing. Then say:

Find inconsistent terminology in this draft and suggest corrections.

Read each suggestion and only keep the ones that fit. You decide what stays.

5. Make a paragraph clearer

Select a paragraph in your document, then say:

Revise this so it's clearer.

Compare the new version with the old one before you move on.

6. More things to try

• Ask questions about the open document.
• Turn your notes into a first draft.
• Tidy headings and formatting.

Good to know

• It's available on all ChatGPT plans, including Free. Your plan's limits still apply.
• It can only read the open document. It can't read other files on your computer.
• Memory doesn't carry over from ChatGPT, so it won't know what you've told ChatGPT before.
• It can make mistakes and it can change your content. Save a copy of your document first.
• You need Microsoft Word itself to use it.

Official sources

OpenAI Help: ChatGPT for Word