Turn a photo of receipts or a paper list into a spreadsheet

Snap a photo of receipts, a handwritten list or a printed table and get it back as rows you can paste into Google Sheets.

The problem

Paper piles up: receipts for taxes or reimbursement, a handwritten inventory, a printed price list, a sign-up sheet. Typing it into a spreadsheet by hand is slow and easy to get wrong, so it stays on paper.

Step by step

1. 1Lay the paper flat in good light and take a clear photo with your phone, straight on, with the whole page in the frame. For several receipts, photograph 3–5 at a time, side by side.
2. 2Open the ChatGPT or Gemini app on your phone (or chatgpt.com / gemini.google.com on a computer). Tap the + (attach) button in the message box and choose your photo.
3. 3Paste the prompt below and send it. You'll get back a table.
4. 4Check the table against the paper. AI can misread smudged numbers, handwriting and totals, so look at every amount.
5. 5Open Google Sheets (sheets.google.com), create a blank spreadsheet, click cell A1 and paste. If everything lands in one column, ask the AI to "give it to me as comma-separated values", then in Sheets use Data → "Split text to columns".
6. 6Keep the original receipts or photos if you need them for taxes or reimbursement; the spreadsheet is a summary, not a replacement.

Copy-paste prompt

Read the attached photo and turn it into a table. For receipts, use columns: date, store, what was bought (short), category (groceries, gas, household, medical, other), and total. For a list or printed table, keep the original columns. Rules: copy numbers exactly as written; if anything is blurry or unclear, put "CHECK" in that cell instead of guessing; add a total row at the bottom for any money column. Give me the table, then a one-line note listing anything you weren't sure about.

Tips and watch-outs

• Check every number. AI reads printed text well but can misread handwriting, faded receipts and decimal points.
• Don't upload anything with full card numbers, Social Security numbers or medical details; cover them before you take the photo.
• Your phone may already do part of this: on iPhone, the Notes app can scan documents, and the Google Drive app has a Scan button.

Review AI output before using it. Don’t paste confidential, customer or patient data into tools your company hasn’t approved.