Working with documents
Getting better results once the file is in.
28 guides
ChatGPT CV and resume review that is worth having
Ask for a review and you get praise. Ask it to argue for rejecting you, or to sit with 60 applications and 10 minutes, and the criticism finally arrives.
12 ways to get better answers out of ChatGPT about your documents
12 tips, and the first is a 30 second check, because long files are truncated with no warning. Then how to force quotes and stop invented answers.
How to get something useful out of a meeting transcript
Do not ask for a summary. Ask for 4 things: decisions, commitments with owners, open questions, disagreements. Keep the speaker labels or you lose every name.
The 30 second check for whether ChatGPT read your whole document
Files past 2 million tokens are truncated with no warning. One question about the final page tells you how much ChatGPT really read, in 30 seconds.
Does OpenAI train on the files you upload to ChatGPT?
Consumer plans: yes, unless you switch it off in data controls. API and Enterprise are excluded. Files go in 30 days, but deleting the chat no longer does it.
How to analyse a large JSON dataset with ChatGPT
JSON hits the 2 million token cap fast. Send the schema and a short sample, agree the approach, then convert tabular JSON to CSV, which is exempt from it.
How to analyse a whole book with ChatGPT
Text files cap at 2 million tokens, so a full book will not fit in one go. Work chapter by chapter with a running notes file, and know when to stop.
How to analyse financial statements with ChatGPT
Export the statements to CSV rather than uploading the PDF report. Spreadsheets are exempt from the 2 million token cap. Then check every figure it hands back.
Reading research papers with ChatGPT
Upload a paper and ChatGPT praises it. The prompts that turn it on the methodology instead, the statistics it gets wrong, and where to stop trusting it.
How to build a knowledge base in a ChatGPT Project
Free gets 5 project files, Plus 25, Pro 40. What belongs in project files, what to leave in a single chat, and why a smaller set gives sharper answers.
How to compare two documents with ChatGPT properly
Uploading both files at once blends them into mush. Summarise each in its own chat, then compare the 2 summaries in a third, and attribution stays intact.
How to pull specific data out of a document with ChatGPT
Name every field, name the format, demand the source: "Return a CSV with columns date, party, amount". The 3 rules that stop ChatGPT filling gaps for you.
How to extract tables from a PDF with ChatGPT
Ask for CSV, 1 row per source row, values copied exactly, empty fields for empty cells. Then check it: a misread table comes back looking perfectly clean.
How to fact check a document with ChatGPT, and what it cannot do
ChatGPT has no source to consult, so its verdicts are guesses. Use it to extract and rank the claims that need checking, then the prompt that keeps it honest.
How to get ChatGPT to cite pages and sections
Text extraction strips page breaks, so ChatGPT rarely knows the page. Ask it to quote the heading and the exact sentence, then search the PDF for that line.
Getting a whole website into ChatGPT, page by page
Pasting a URL gets you 1 page, and only when browsing works. Save each page as text, flatten them into one upload with URL headers, and quotes stay traceable.
How to keep a document in context in ChatGPT
There is no pin or lock for an attachment, so documents drop out of long chats silently. How to set the chat up, re-anchor when answers slip, when to restart.
How to make ChatGPT follow a document's structure
Extract the outline first, then hand it back as a template. Output arrives under your own section headings, in order, instead of one summary that flattens them.
How to actually revise from a textbook with ChatGPT
A chapter summary is the least useful thing to ask for. Upload the chapter and be tested on it instead, with worked examples and questions in exam format.
Summarising a legal document with ChatGPT
Summarise a contract, judgment or policy clause by clause, never in one sweep. What ChatGPT locates reliably, and why 'no such clause' is never proof.
How to summarise a YouTube video with ChatGPT in 4 steps
ChatGPT cannot open a YouTube link or the video file, so use the transcript. 4 steps to pull it out and paste it in, plus what a text only view misses.
How to summarise long documents with ChatGPT
Anything past 2 million tokens is cut off silently, so run the last section test before you read the summary. Then the prompts that stop it coming back bland.
How to translate a long document with ChatGPT
A translation runs as long as its source, so it needs 2x the room a summary does. Work section by section, and keep the glossary that stops 1 term becoming 3.
How to turn a document into slides with ChatGPT
Ask for a tab indented outline rather than markdown and PowerPoint imports it straight. One idea per slide, notes kept separate, and the prompt for both.
How to get a Notion export into ChatGPT
ChatGPT does not open archives, and a Notion export is a zip of markdown files. Unzip it, join every page into 1 text file with headers, upload that.
How to work with many documents in one ChatGPT chat
Ten files in one conversation blur into one vague source. Label each on upload, order them deliberately, and know when to open a second chat.
Using ChatGPT for contract review
3 things it does reliably: plain-English translation, spotting missing clauses, finding one-sided terms. 4 it cannot. Plus the data setting to check first.
Why ChatGPT gives different answers about the same document
3 causes: silent truncation, sampling randomness and context eviction. How to tell which one you have in under a minute, and the question that separates them.