Clean up a messy spreadsheet and list issues with Copilot in Excel

Your prompt

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Clean up my spreadsheet without changing the real values, and list everything that needs a human check.

Questions to ask me first:
- What is this data, and who will use it?
- Which date format, currency and capitalization rules should I follow?
- Which columns must never be changed?

Inputs (fill in or confirm):
- The workbook or table: [FILE OR RANGE]
- Date format to use: [FORMAT]
- Currency and number format: [FORMAT]
- Columns that must not change: [COLUMNS]

Rules:
- Work on a copy and keep the original sheet untouched.
- Fix safe, obvious issues yourself: trim spaces, standardize capitalization of names and places, convert text amounts like 'USD 12.00' to numbers, and fix dates that can only be read one way.
- Flag, don't fix, anything that could mean two things, such as 08/01/2025.
- Put every flag on a separate review sheet with the cell, the problem and a suggested fix.
- Use one font and consistent alignment across the sheet.

Checkpoint: After the first pass, show me a summary of what you changed and what you flagged before formatting.

If you get stuck: If a rule I gave you conflicts with the data, ask me instead of choosing.

Verify before you finish: Check that row counts and column totals match the original.

Output: The cleaned copy, a change log and a review sheet.

Done when: The cleaned sheet matches the original totals and every remaining issue is on the review sheet.

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