Google Sheets adds further enhanced tools for spreadsheet formatting

Google Docs continues to encroach upon Microsoft Excel territory with the addition of many stalwart Excel functions and features. Announced today, the update includes new tweaks to Google Sheets and enhanced formatting functions for images, charts, and Pivot tables.

Some of these new enhanced formatting options (via Android Police) being added to Google Sheets might not be necessary for all users, but are solid additions to arguably the best alternative to Excel.

What’s new

Guides

• You can use guides to help you align, size, and position various objects within your sheets. Guides are also helpful in making sure multiple objects within the same sheet are in proportion to one another.

Multi-selecting objects

• To select multiple charts, drawings, and images to move, resize, or delete in bulk, hold down the Control or Shift key and select.

Enhanced pivot table insertion

• When adding a new pivot table, you’ll now have the option to either place it in a new sheet or in a custom location on an existing sheet.
  • To create a new pivot table, go to Data > Pivot Table and select a data range.
  • In the dialogue box, under Insert to, select New sheet or Existing sheet, and click Create. Note that if you select existing sheet, you’ll have to select a specific cell location for the pivot table.

Copy and paste images into Sheets

• Recently, we made it easier to add images to your spreadsheet by inserting images into cells. Now, you can copy images from other websites and paste them directly into your sheet.
  • Simply right click on an image and hit copy, then in Sheets right click and hit Paste to insert the image over the grid.

Formula backed charts inserted from Answers

• Now, when you use Sheets Explore to create charts, the charts you insert from the Q&A feature (Answers) will be backed by formulas. This means that charts will automatically update if the underlying data changes, ensuring you always have a fresh chart with the latest information.

The new enhanced formatting tools for Google Sheets should be available to all users now. If you’re a daily user, be sure to check them out. They might even mean you won’t have to work in Excel quite so much in future.

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