Work with your files: PDFs, CSVs, images
Goal. Upload a paper or a data file and have ChatGPT summarize, extract, or analyze it — including running real Python on your data.
Here is a CSV of my qPCR results (columns: sample, condition, Ct). Compute mean and SD of Ct per condition, run a t-test between 'control' and 'treated', and plot Ct by condition as a box plot. Show me the numbers and the figure.
Click the paperclip / attach icon in the message box, upload your file, then send the prompt. For data files, ChatGPT writes and runs Python in the background (this is the Data analysis feature) and hands you the results and a plot.
- 1Attach the file. Use the attach (paperclip) control in the message box. PDFs, CSVs, spreadsheets, and images are all accepted.
- 2For a paper: ask for a structured summary — "give me the question, method, key result, and one limitation" — rather than just "summarize this".
- 3For data: describe the analysis in plain English. ChatGPT's data analysis writes and runs Python on the file, so you get real statistics and charts without coding. Always sanity-check the numbers it reports.
You'll see. Mean/SD per condition, a t-test result, and a box-plot figure generated from your own file — produced by Python that ChatGPT wrote and ran for you.
Cost. File uploads and data analysis are available on the free tier but limited (fewer uploads/analyses before you hit a cap). Plus and Pro give expanded file uploads and data-analysis usage. Keep unpublished or patient data off the free tier (see Lesson 5 on privacy).
Takeaway. ChatGPT can read your documents and run real Python on your data files — upload first, then ask in plain language, then verify the output.