Updated November 14, 2026
Most bad AI results come from vague requests. “Help me with this email” gets a generic email. “Reply to this thread, decline the meeting, suggest Thursday, under 80 words” gets something you can send after a quick read.
Below are 25 AI prompts for work that we’ve found useful for everyday office tasks. They work in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot. Copy them, swap the bits in square brackets, and save the ones you use most somewhere you can find them again.
Key takeaways
- Good AI prompts for work state the task, the context, the format and a limit.
- Paste real material instead of describing it.
- Tell the AI what not to do, such as inventing numbers.
- Save your best AI prompts for work so you never retype them.
What makes a good work prompt
Good AI prompts for work usually include four things: the task, the context the AI can’t guess, the format you want back, and a limit. A limit can be a word count, a number of bullet points or a rule like “don’t invent numbers”.
You don’t need clever tricks or “act as a world-class expert” preambles. Plain, specific instructions beat elaborate role-play almost every time. Both OpenAI and Anthropic publish free prompting guides that make the same point.
Email prompts (1 to 5)
- “Summarise this email thread in 3 bullet points. Then tell me exactly what’s being asked of me and by when.”
- “Draft a reply that [accepts / declines / asks for more time]. Main point: [your point]. Tone: friendly but brief. Under [80] words.”
- “Rewrite this email so the request is in the first sentence. Keep my wording where possible.”
- “Make this email firmer without being rude. Point out which sentences you changed.”
- “Write a polite follow-up to someone who hasn’t replied in [5] days. Don’t sound passive-aggressive.”
More on this in our guide to AI email management.
Meeting prompts (6 to 9)
- “Turn these rough notes into a 5-line agenda with a time estimate for each item. Meeting length: [30] minutes.”
- “From this transcript, list decisions, action items with owner and due date, and open questions. Write ‘not stated’ instead of guessing.”
- “Write a short recap email for people who missed this meeting. Under 120 words.”
- “What questions should I ask in a meeting about [topic] to uncover risks early?”
For tools that do this automatically, see our guide to AI meeting notes.
Writing prompts (10 to 13)
- “Here are two samples of my writing. Match their tone and sentence length when you edit the draft below.”
- “Cut this document by 30% without losing any facts. List what you removed.”
- “Point out anything unclear, ambiguous or likely to be misread. Don’t rewrite it.”
- “Rewrite this explanation for a non-technical manager. Keep it under 150 words.”
Research and reading prompts (14 to 17)
- “Summarise this document for a busy executive: one-line takeaway, 5 key points, and anything that needs a decision.”
- “List every number, date and commitment in this document in a table with the page or section where it appears.”
- “What are the strongest arguments against this proposal? Be specific.”
- “Compare these two documents and list the differences that matter. Ignore formatting changes.”
Our guide on summarising documents with AI explains how to handle long files and check summaries.
Planning prompts (18 to 21)
- “Here’s my task list for the week. Sort it by urgency and impact, and suggest what to drop or delegate.”
- “Break this project into steps of no more than half a day each, in order, with dependencies.”
- “I have [6] focused hours this week. Plan time blocks for these tasks and leave a buffer.”
- “What’s likely to go wrong with this plan? List the top 5 risks and one way to reduce each.”
Spreadsheet and data prompts (22 to 25)
- “Write an Excel formula that [describe result]. My data is in columns [A to D] with headers in row 1. Explain how it works.”
- “Clean this list: fix capitalisation, remove duplicates and split full names into first and last name columns.”
- “Look at this table and tell me the three most interesting patterns. Show the numbers behind each one.”
- “Explain what this formula does, step by step, and suggest a simpler version if there is one.”
Our guide to AI for Excel has more on formulas and data cleanup.
Three habits that make every prompt better
First, paste the real material. AI can’t summarise a document it hasn’t seen or match a tone it’s only heard described.
Second, ask for the format you’ll use. A table for comparisons, bullets for summaries, a word limit for emails. It saves the step of reformatting afterwards.
Third, tell it what not to do. “Don’t invent figures”, “don’t change the meaning” and “say if you’re unsure” cut down on the most common mistakes. You still need to check the output, and our guide on how to check AI output for errors explains how.
Save your best AI prompts for work
Once a prompt works, don’t retype it. Store it in a note, a text expander or a custom GPT, Claude Project or Gemini Gem with your standard instructions built in. A personal library of 10 good AI prompts for work beats a list of 500 you’ll never open. If you’re building a wider system for notes and references, see our guide to building an AI second brain.
These prompts are part of our complete guide to using AI at work.
Freelancing or selling your own work on the side? Our freelancing platforms guide compares Upwork, Fiverr, Gumroad, Topmate, Superprofile and more.
Quick FAQ
Do these prompts work in every AI assistant?
Yes. They’re written in plain language, so ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot all handle them. Results vary a little, so test the ones you use often in your preferred tool.
Do I need “act as an expert” in my prompts?
Rarely. Clear context, a format and a limit matter far more than a role. A role can help for tone, such as “write as a friendly support agent”, but it isn’t magic.
Is it safe to paste work documents into these prompts?
Only into tools your employer has approved. See our guide to AI privacy at work before pasting anything confidential.
