Memory and instructions in Excel

Two settings under Personal let Oda in Excel remember how you work. Memory keeps short notes that Oda saves when you ask it to remember something, and Instructions holds standing instructions you write yourself. Both are off until you turn them on, both stay on this computer, and while they are on, Oda receives them with every message you send.

Turn on Memory or Instructions

1. Open More options, the three dots in the pane header, and choose Settings.
2. Under Personal, turn on Memory, Instructions, or both:
   • Memory: Oda keeps short notes you ask it to remember, on this computer, and sends them with each message. You see each note it saves and can undo it.
   • Instructions: Your standing instructions for every chat in every workbook. Oda asks before it changes them.

The pane remembers both switches for your account on this computer, in every workbook. They cannot be changed while Oda is working.

Your company can turn memory off for Oda in Excel. The Memory row then shows switched off, with Set by your company and Your company turned this off for DataMind Oda in Excel. Oda then saves no notes, and new chats receive none. A chat that already received your notes keeps them in its earlier messages until you start a New chat. Instructions have no company switch.

What a note is

A note has a title of up to 120 characters and a text of up to 1,000 characters, and it applies to one of two groups:

• Every workbook: how you want Oda to work, wherever you are, such as Answer in short bullet points.
• This workbook: facts about the workbook you are in, such as Column F of Sales is in thousands. These notes go only with messages in this workbook. A copy of the file, such as one made with Save As, counts as the same workbook, so it shares these notes, as it shares the workbook's chats: Oda can read and change them from the copy too.

With each message, Oda receives the notes for every workbook, then the notes of the workbook you are in. The notes of each group can take about 2,000 tokens in all; a note that would pass that is not saved.

A note shapes how Oda works. It never adds a task, approves a card, changes your permission mode or a setting, turns a tool on, has Oda change your notes or instructions, or decides where your data goes. When a note asks for any of that, Oda does not do it and tells you which note asks, so you can change or delete it.

When Oda saves a note

• Oda saves a note when your own message asks it to remember something, or tells it how you want it to work from now on, such as Remember that I report in euros. When a note on the same topic exists, Oda changes it instead of adding a second one, and it deletes a note when you ask it to forget something.
• Oda is told not to save notes because of what it reads: your cells, notes and comments, a Mind's answer, company knowledge, web pages, attached files, connector results or skills. A save after Oda read only your workbook still runs without a card and shows Undo; the cases that ask first are under When Oda asks first.
• Do not ask Oda to remember passwords, tokens, account or card numbers, or personal details about other people: Oda is told never to save them, and every note goes with each of your messages.
• Each change shows as a step in Oda's reply: Saving a note, Changing a note or Deleting a note, with the note's title and Every workbook or This workbook. When Oda looks its notes up, the step reads Reading memory.

While Memory is off and you ask Oda to remember something, Oda tells you that you can turn on Memory in Settings > Personal.

See and undo each change

Every note Oda saves, changes or deletes shows in two places:

• A notice at the top of the pane, under the header, such as Oda saved a note: Report currency, Oda changed the note Report currency or Oda deleted the note Report currency, with Undo. When one reply makes two or more such changes, one notice reads, for example, Oda made 2 changes to your notes or settings. Each one is listed under its answer.
• A line under the answer, one for each change, with Undo for as long as the note still holds what Oda left. For a note Oda saved or changed, the line also shows the note's whole text; a long text shows its start, and More shows the rest. The lines stay with the chat, so you find them again when you reopen it.

Undo puts the note back as it was before Oda's change. If the note changed again since, nothing is undone and the pane says It changed again since then, so it was not undone.

A note that Oda saved or last changed shows Written by Oda in the Memory list.

When Oda asks first

Most notes are saved without a card, in every permission mode, because you asked for them and you see each one, with its text and Undo, under the answer. In two cases a card asks first, in every permission mode, including Skip all permissions:

• Oda changes or deletes a note you wrote, one without Written by Oda.
• Oda saves, changes or deletes a note in a chat that received content from outside your workbook and your words, in that reply or an earlier one: a web search or page, an attached file or image, a result from a connector or the connector tools Oda found, a Mind, your company knowledge, or a long result stored on this computer. Such content stays in the chat, so every later memory change in that chat asks too; a New chat starts without it.

The card's top line reads Changes settings, and its title Allow Oda to save this note?, Allow Oda to change your note? or Allow Oda to delete your note?. A line says why it asks: You wrote this note., or Earlier in this chat, Oda read web pages or searches, attached files or images, connectors, Minds, company knowledge or a stored result. Allow this only if you asked for it. The card shows where the note applies, its full title and text, and for a change, the lines it removes, struck through, and the lines it adds, marked +. These cards never offer Always allow in this chat. Don’t allow leaves your notes as they are. If the note changes, for example in another Excel window, while the card waits, Allow changes nothing, and Oda asks you whether you still want the change.

Characters you cannot see, such as zero-width spaces or direction marks, are spelled out wherever the pane shows a note, for example as <U+200B>. A note Oda writes that holds such a character is refused. The joiners that words in scripts such as Persian or Hindi need, and those inside an emoji, stay as they are.

Manage your notes

1. Open Settings > Personal. Beside Memory, the count reads, for example, 3 notes.
2. Click Manage. The Memory sheet opens over Settings, with the groups Every workbook and This workbook. Under a group that holds notes, a line such as About 350 of 2,000 tokens shows how much of the group's room they take.
3. Each note shows its title and text; a long text shows its start, and More shows the rest. Click Edit to change the note, or Delete to delete it. In its place, the list then shows Note deleted: and its title, with Undo, which the keyboard reaches like any other button in the sheet. If the note cannot be put back, that line reads The note could not be put back. A chat that already received the note still holds it in its earlier messages, which go with each later message of that chat; start a New chat to leave it out.
4. To add a note yourself, click Add a note, fill Title and Note, which counts up to 1,000, choose Every workbook or This workbook under Applies to, and click Save note. Until you send your first message in a workbook, the pane does not know it yet: This workbook cannot be chosen, and both under Applies to and as the group's only line the sheet reads Notes for this workbook appear after your first message in it.

A note you add or edit here is yours: Written by Oda goes, and Oda asks before it changes or deletes it. Characters you cannot see are dropped when you save. With no notes yet, the sheet reads No notes yet. Ask Oda to remember something, or add a note here.

A note that would take its group past about 2,000 tokens is not saved, and the form says This note does not fit. The notes for every workbook, and those for this workbook, may each take about 2,000 tokens. Shorten it, or delete a note first. If the note you are editing was deleted in the meantime, for example in another Excel window, the form says This note was deleted in the meantime, so it could not be changed.

Delete all notes, at the bottom of the sheet, deletes every note on this computer, for every workbook, after you confirm Delete all your notes on this computer? This cannot be undone.

Write your instructions

1. Open Settings > Personal, and click Edit beside Instructions.
2. In the Instructions sheet, type how you want Oda to work, for example Use thousands separators. Keep answers short. The counter under the box counts up to 4,000 characters, and the sheet reminds you: Your company’s instructions come first.
3. Click Save. Over 4,000 characters, Save stays unavailable until you shorten the text.

While the Instructions switch is on, Oda receives your instructions with every message, in every chat and every workbook. You can edit them while the switch is off, and they wait until you turn it on.

• What you say in a chat takes precedence over your instructions, and your company's instructions and skills come before them.
• Instructions shape how Oda works, such as the language, the format or the level of detail. They never approve a card, change your permission mode or a setting, turn a tool on, have Oda change your notes or the instructions themselves, or decide where your data goes.
• Characters you cannot see are dropped when you save.

When Oda changes your instructions

Oda changes your instructions only with a card, in every permission mode, including Skip all permissions, and the card never offers Always allow in this chat:

1. The step row reads Updating your instructions, and the card Allow Oda to change your instructions? shows how many lines change, such as 2 lines added, 1 removed, with each removed line struck through and each added line marked +.
2. Click Allow to save the change, or Don’t allow to keep your instructions as they are.
3. After Allow, a notice reads Your instructions were updated, with Undo, and the same line shows under the answer.

Oda cannot switch Memory or Instructions on or off: only you change them, in Settings. See Settings Oda can change.

What stays on this computer and what is sent

• Your notes and instructions are stored in the add-in's storage on this computer, for your account, not in the workbook and not on your other computers.
• While a switch is on, Oda receives what it covers with each message you send: your instructions, the notes for every workbook and the notes of the workbook you are in. They go to your DataMind server as part of each message, like the rest of the chat.
• When you turn Memory off, your notes stay on this computer, new chats no longer receive them, and Oda can no longer save, change or delete notes. A chat that already received your notes still holds them in its earlier messages, which go with each later message of that chat; start a New chat to leave them out. Turn Memory on again and your notes are sent again.
• Sign out deletes your notes and instructions on this computer, with your Excel chats, as the line under Account in Settings says. When a different DataMind account signs in to the pane on this computer, the notes and instructions of the previous account are deleted first. See Sign in to Oda in Excel.

For administrators: the company Memory switch

In Admin > Oda > General, the Oda in Excel card has a Memory switch. It is on until you change it, and it only allows memory: each person still turns Memory on for themselves. With it off, the pane shows the Memory row as Set by your company, Oda saves no notes, and new chats receive none. At its next step, an open chat tells the model that every note it saw is gone, but a chat that already received a person's notes keeps them in its earlier messages, which go with each later message of that chat, until the person starts a New chat. See Turn Oda in Excel features on or off.

Questions, answered

Is Memory on when I start using Oda in Excel?

No. Memory and Instructions are both off until you turn them on in Settings > Personal. Until then, Oda saves no notes and receives no instructions of yours.

I asked Oda to remember something, but no note was saved. Why?

Memory is off for you, or your company turned memory off, in which case the row shows Set by your company. Turn on Memory in Settings > Personal, then ask again.

Why did Oda ask before saving a note?

Earlier in the chat, Oda received content from outside your workbook and your words, such as a web page, a file or image, a result from a connector, a Mind or your company knowledge. Oda then asks before every memory change in that chat, so text from those sources never becomes a note without your say. A change to a note you wrote asks too.

Can I undo a note Oda saved?

Yes. Click Undo on the notice, or on the line under the answer, as long as the note still holds what Oda saved. You can also edit or delete it in Settings > Personal > Memory.

What does Written by Oda mean?

Oda saved the note, or was the last to change it. When you edit the note in Settings, it becomes yours, and Oda asks before it changes or deletes it.

Does Oda use notes from my other workbooks?

Only the notes for Every workbook. Notes for This workbook go only with messages in the workbook they belong to, and in copies of that file, such as one made with Save As, which count as the same workbook.

Can Oda change my instructions without asking?

No. Every change Oda makes to your instructions asks with a card that shows the lines it changes, in every permission mode, and the card never offers Always allow in this chat.

Do my notes follow me to another computer?

No. Notes and instructions are stored on this computer only, for your account. On another computer you start with none.

What happens to my notes when I sign out?

Sign out deletes your notes and instructions on this computer, along with your Excel chats. They are also deleted when a different DataMind account signs in to the pane on this computer.

How long can my instructions be?

Up to 4,000 characters. The counter in the Instructions sheet counts them, and Save stays unavailable over the limit. Your instructions are never shortened on their own.