How to Summarize Long Texts with ChatGPT

1. Go to https://chatgpt.com in your browser.
2. If you already have an account, click Log in and sign in with your email or with Google.
3. If you don’t have an account, click Sign up and follow the steps: you only need an email address.

The free plan is enough to start summarizing texts. If you use it frequently or need to upload PDF files, consider ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo; confirm the current price on the official page before paying).

You have two options depending on your text format:

Option A: paste the text directly (works with any plan)

1. Open a new chat with the “New chat” button in the left sidebar.
2. Click the message box.
3. Copy your text (Ctrl + C on Windows, Cmd + C on Mac) and paste it in the chat (Ctrl + V / Cmd + V).

Option B: upload a PDF or Word file

1. In the message box, look for the paperclip icon (attach file).
2. Select your PDF or document.
3. ChatGPT will read the file and you can ask questions about it.

If the text is very long and ChatGPT says it doesn’t fit, use the technique in Step 4 or the shortcut at the end of this tutorial.

After pasting the text (or attaching the file), write your instruction in the same message or the next one. The trick is to be specific: the more you tell ChatGPT about what you need, the better the result.

Here are prompts that work very well:

What you need	Prompt
Quick general summary	”Summarize this text in 5 key points.”
Very short summary	”Write a summary of no more than 100 words.”
Just the conclusions	”What are the main conclusions?”
Key points in table	”Create a table with the main ideas and their most important details.”
Executive summary	”Write an executive summary of this document to share with my team.”
Structured outline	”Organize the ideas into an outline with sections and sub-points.”

If you want to write better prompts for any task, check the tutorial How to Write Effective Prompts for Artificial Intelligence.

ChatGPT doesn’t always get it right on the first try, and that’s normal. You can ask it to adjust the summary in the same chat, without starting over:

• “Make it shorter, in 3 points.”
• “Add more detail about the results section.”
• “Translate it to Spanish.”
• “Write it in a more formal tone.”
• “Is there any relevant data you left out?”

If the original text was too long to process at once, use this technique:

1. Paste the first part of the text and write: “Summarize this first part.”
2. In a new message, paste the second part and write: “Summarize this second part.”
3. Finally write: “Using the two previous summaries, create a final coherent summary.”

Always compare the summary with the original text, especially if the data is important for a decision, academic work, or professional report.

If you work with long documents frequently, this workflow will save you time:

1. Attach the file directly (PDF, Word) instead of copying and pasting the text.
2. Write a complete prompt from the start, for example: “You are an expert synthesis assistant. Summarize this document in a maximum of 200 words, highlighting the 3 most important points and the conclusions.”
3. Save your best prompts in a notepad to reuse them.

For more ideas on using ChatGPT to write and edit texts, visit the tutorial How to Use ChatGPT to Write Texts.

Problem	Fix
”The text is too long”	Split the text into parts and summarize each one separately
The summary is too generic	Be more specific: “focus on the conclusions section”
ChatGPT makes up information	Ask it: “base the summary only on the text I gave you, without adding external information”
The attach icon doesn’t appear	Open a completely new chat from the “New chat” button
I reached the free message limit	Wait a few hours or consider the Plus plan