Spreadsheets are ubiquitous for data management and extensively utilized within platforms like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. However, spreadsheets pose unique challenges for LLMs due to their expansive grids that usually exceed the token limitations of popular LLMs, as well as their inherent two-dimensional layouts and structures, which are poorly suited to linear and sequential input. Furthermore, LLMs often struggle with spreadsheet-specific features such as cell addresses and formats, complicating their ability to effectively parse and utilize spreadsheet data.
In this paper, we introduce SpreadsheetLLM, a pioneering framework to unleash and maximize the potential of LLMs for spreadsheet understanding and reasoning.
