Claude.ai Has Built-In Superpowers (And You Probably Didn't Know)

TL;DR: Claude.ai comes with 5 hidden "skills" that let it create Word docs, PowerPoint slides, Excel spreadsheets, and manipulate PDFs. Here's what Claude can actually do for you.

Wait, Claude Has Skills?

Yeah! If you're using Claude.ai (the web or desktop version), you might've noticed it can do some pretty fancy document work. That's because Claude has these built-in "skills" - basically specialized knowledge for working with office documents.

Most people just use Claude for chat and coding. But if you know how to ask, Claude can literally create a formatted Excel spreadsheet with formulas, build a PowerPoint deck, or edit a Word doc with tracked changes.

Let me show you what's under the hood.

The 5 Built-In Skills

1. DOCX Skill - Word Document Master

What it does:

• Creates professional Word documents from scratch
• Edits existing docs
• Handles tracked changes (redlining)
• Adds comments
• Preserves formatting

Real-world uses:

You: "Create a business proposal document with sections for Executive Summary, Problem Statement, and Solution"

Claude: *generates a properly formatted .docx with headings, formatting, and structure*

Pro tip: If you need Claude to edit someone else's document (like legal or business docs), ask for "tracked changes" - Claude will mark every edit so reviewers can see what changed.

2. PPTX Skill - Presentation Builder

What it does:

• Creates PowerPoint presentations
• Edits existing slides
• Works with layouts and templates
• Adds speaker notes
• Handles comments

Real-world uses:

You: "Create a 5-slide pitch deck about our new product"

Claude: *builds a presentation with title slide, problem, solution, market, and call-to-action slides*

Cool feature: Claude can even work from templates - give it your company's branded PowerPoint template, and it'll create slides matching your style.

3. XLSX Skill - Spreadsheet Wizard

What it does:

• Creates Excel files with formulas (not just data!)
• Formats cells (colors, fonts, number formats)
• Builds financial models
• Analyzes existing spreadsheets
• Calculates everything properly

Real-world uses:

You: "Create a monthly budget tracker with categories for rent, food, utilities, and entertainment. Add formulas to calculate totals."

Claude: *generates an Excel file with proper formulas, formatting, and even color-coding*

Key point: Claude uses ACTUAL Excel formulas (like =SUM(A1:A10)), not hardcoded values. Your spreadsheet will recalculate if you change inputs.

Finance nerds: Claude follows financial modeling standards:

• Blue text = inputs
• Black text = formulas
• Green text = links from other sheets
• Red text = external links
• Yellow background = key assumptions

4. PDF Skill - PDF Surgeon

What it does:

• Extracts text and tables from PDFs
• Merges multiple PDFs
• Splits PDFs into separate pages
• Creates new PDFs
• Fills PDF forms

Real-world uses:

You: "Extract all the tables from this financial report PDF"

Claude: *pulls out tables as structured data you can work with*

Handy trick: Need to combine 5 different PDFs into one? Or split a 50-page PDF into individual files? Claude's got you.

5. Product Self-Knowledge Skill

What it does:

• Answers questions about Claude products (API, Claude.ai, Claude Code)
• Provides accurate documentation links
• Distinguishes between different Claude products
• Prevents hallucinations about capabilities

Real-world uses:

You: "Can Claude.ai access the internet?"

Claude: *gives accurate answer with source documentation link*

Why this matters: This skill helps Claude give you accurate info about what it can and can't do, rather than making stuff up.

How To Use These Skills

Here's the thing - you don't need to do anything special. Just ask Claude naturally:

Examples that work:

"Create a Word document with..."
"Build me an Excel budget tracker..."
"Make a PowerPoint about..."
"Extract text from this PDF..."
"Merge these 3 PDFs together..."

Claude will automatically activate the right skill for the job.

What Claude Actually Does Behind The Scenes

When you ask for a Word doc, Claude:

1. Uses a library called docx-js to build the document structure
2. Adds your content with proper formatting
3. Exports as a real .docx file
4. Gives you a download

For Excel, Claude:

1. Uses openpyxl (Python library)
2. Writes actual Excel formulas (not calculated values)
3. Applies formatting and colors
4. Recalculates everything to make sure formulas work

Pretty neat, right?

Real Examples I've Seen People Use

Business use:

• "Create a project status report with RAG status indicators"
• "Build a quarterly budget spreadsheet with formulas"
• "Make a 10-slide training deck about security policies"

Personal use:

• "Create a budget tracker for my expenses"
• "Build a presentation about my vacation photos"
• "Extract text from these scanned receipts"

Academic use:

• "Create a formatted research paper template"
• "Build a data analysis spreadsheet with charts"
• "Merge all my assignment PDFs into one document"

Limitations To Know

What Claude CAN'T do:

• Open existing files you haven't uploaded
• Edit files on your computer directly
• Access your Google Drive or OneDrive
• Send files to other services
• Create files larger than a few MB

What Claude CAN do:

• Work with files you upload in the chat
• Create new files from scratch
• Process and analyze documents
• Generate properly formatted office documents

Pro Tips

Tip 1: Be Specific About Formatting

Instead of: "Create a spreadsheet"

Try: "Create an Excel spreadsheet with blue headers, bold column names, and formulas to calculate totals"

Tip 2: Ask For Examples First

You: "Show me what the Excel file will look like before creating it"

Claude: *describes structure, then creates it*

Tip 3: Iterate

Don't expect perfection on first try. You can say:

• "Add a new column for..."
• "Change the formatting to..."
• "Add speaker notes to each slide..."

Tip 4: Upload Templates

Have a company template? Upload it and say:
"Use this template and create a presentation about [topic]"

How This Compares To Other Tools

vs Microsoft Copilot:

• Claude: Better at understanding complex requests
• Copilot: Better at integrating with your existing Office files

vs ChatGPT:

• Claude: Built-in office document skills
• ChatGPT: Requires plugins or third-party tools

vs Google Docs AI:

• Claude: Creates downloadable files
• Google Docs: Works directly in your docs

Why This Matters

This isn't just "cool AI tricks" - it's genuinely useful:

Scenario 1: Quick Mockups
Need a financial model for a pitch tomorrow? Claude can build the skeleton in minutes.

Scenario 2: Document Processing
Got 50 PDFs to extract data from? Claude can automate it.

Scenario 3: Template Creation
Need a standard report format? Create it once with Claude, then reuse.

Try It Now

Pick one and paste it into Claude.ai:

Create a personal budget Excel spreadsheet with:
- Monthly income section
- Expense categories (rent, food, transport, entertainment)
- Formulas to calculate totals and remaining balance
- Color coding (expenses in red, income in green)

Or:

Create a 3-slide PowerPoint about time management with:
- Slide 1: Title "Productivity Tips"
- Slide 2: 5 bullet points with tips
- Slide 3: Call to action
- Add speaker notes to each slide

The Bottom Line

Claude.ai is more than a chatbot - it's a document creation powerhouse. These 5 built-in skills mean you can go from "I need a spreadsheet" to having an actual, working Excel file in minutes.

No plugins. No third-party tools. No copy-paste. Just ask.

Next time you're about to spend 30 minutes formatting a Word doc or building a spreadsheet, try asking Claude first. You might be surprised.

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Have you used Claude to create documents? What worked well? What didn't? Drop your experiences in the comments! 💬

P.S. - These skills are built into Claude.ai and Claude for Desktop. If you're using the API, you'd need to implement document handling yourself.