Google Sheets

100 'Google Sheets' stories September 2011 - June 2015

Spreadsheets originated from a company bought by Google in June 2005. A year later Spreadsheets launched in Google Labs as a limited test.

In October of 2012, Spreadsheets was rebranded as Sheets and made a part of the Google Drive umbrella. Like Docs, Sheets has full offline support and allows users to work without a connection. Users can collaborate and share with many other people at the same time. Powerful Android and iOS apps allow users to access and work on files on the go.

Google Docs now supports more image types when converting Microsoft Office files

Stephen Hall Jun 22 2015 - 2:27 pm PT

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Google has announced today that it is expanding the types of images it supports when converting Microsoft Office files to Google Docs. Previously, supported image file types included JPEG, PNG, EMF, and WMF. Now, a greater number of less common image types are also supported. Google Docs can now convert larger images, more file formats (specifically including TIFF), and images with color profiles other than RGB.

Starting today, larger images, images in less common formats (like TIFF), and images with non-RGB color profiles (like CMYK), can also be imported to and exported from the Google Docs editors on the web successfully. Check out the Help Center for more information on converting files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

This is a useful update if you commonly find that your Microsoft Office documents aren’t being properly converted when moving them to Google Docs — or, likewise, when you’re exporting them to use in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. You can head over to the Google Apps blog to read the original post, and Google sends you to the Help Center if you need more information about importing and exporting documents.

Google Sheets web app updated with new features, filters, and more

Jordan Kahn Jun 15 2015 - 1:19 pm PT

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Google is updating its Google Sheets spreadsheet app on the web today with a few new features and improvements. First up, the updated app now includes new customization options for charts including the ability to add data labels as well as shapes to denote data points including stars, triangles, and pentagons.

Some of the other new features arriving today include a preview for formula results in real-time when typing, the ability to filter rows and columns by “greater than” and “text contains”, and an option to add calculated fields “to pivot tables when you want to apply formulas to pivot table data.”

Google adds that you’ll also now be able to “Use the GETPIVOTDATA function to more easily retrieve data from your pivot table.”

Lastly, Google has a new option to present a customized warning message to collaborators that attempt to edit something they shouldn’t (pictured below):

You can check out the updated Google Sheets web app now.

Google updates Google Docs Android apps with improved editing features, faster loading

Ben Lovejoy Apr 16 2015 - 5:40 am PT

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Google has updated its Android apps for editing Google documents on the move. Google Docs now allows you to accept, reject or comment on suggestions, as well as track changes and comments in Word files; Google Sheets lets you move, resize and delete spreadsheets; and Google Slides now offers you the ability to reorder objects on slides.

Google said that PowerPoint presentations will also be faster to load and scroll.

The company previously updated Google Docs with improvements to its Office Compatibility Mode. All three apps are a free download from the Google play store.

Update Wednesday roundup: Docs, Slides, Sheets, & more updated, Android for Work released for Jelly Bean

Chance Miller Apr 15 2015 - 3:26 pm PT

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Google’s Update Wednesday routine is in full swing today with a variety of updates rolling out to the company’s apps. Earlier today, Chrome 42 for Android made its was to the Play Store. Now, several other Google apps have been updated. Google has pushed updates to its Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Google My Business apps. The company also today released Android for Work app to the Play Store.

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App Roundup: Google updates Maps, YouTube, Inbox, Play Music, more

Stephen Hall Mar 19 2015 - 7:55 am PT

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Google tends to push several updates to its apps in the middle of the week, and this week has been a particularly eventful one. Updates have landed over the last 24 hours for several apps in Google’s Android inventory, including Inbox, Google Docs (Sheets and Slides, too), YouTube, Quickoffice, Google Maps, and Google Play Music.

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Google+ gets minor update for Android, Touch ID comes to Docs, Slides, and Sheets for iOS

Stephen Hall Jan 21 2015 - 11:49 am PT

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Google has—as it very often does on Wednesdays—released a slew of updates across many of its first-party apps. Today’s updates are hitting the official Google+ Android app as well as the Docs suite of Android and iOS apps.
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Google Sheets update lets you add images to header cells

Stephen Hall Jan 13 2015 - 8:54 am PT

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Adding images to cells in Google Sheets isn’t anything new, but a new update rolling out today allows you to add images to header cells as well. While you’ve normally been restricted to simple text in these cells, you can now spice things up a bit by adding branding or a logo. Here’s what it looks like:

In case you don’t know how to make a row a “header” row in the first place, it’s a simple as clicking on a cell in the top row, clicking “View”, hovering over “Freeze rows”, and selecting “Freeze 1 row”. To add an image, you need to head to the “Insert” menu, and after selecting the image you would like, you can resize it and move it around as you see fit.

It’s a pretty minor update, but you can’t complain about new features.

https://twitter.com/googledrive/status/555034160624975872/photo/1

Google adds Docs, Sheets, & Slides shortcuts to App Launcher

Jordan Kahn Dec 17 2014 - 1:01 pm PT

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Google today announced that it’s adding new shortcuts for its Google Drive web apps— Docs, Sheets, and Slides— to the App Launcher feature accessible from the upper right corner of most its web services (pictured right). The new shortcuts join services like Search, Mail, Calendar, and Drive that were previously accessible from the App Launcher.

For regular users, Google is adding Docs to the main section of the App Launcher and making Sheets and Slides shortcuts available by opting in when visiting the apps:

And the next time you visit sheets.google.com or slides.google.com, you’ll see the option to add Sheets and Slides to the launcher as well. Remember that you can always rearrange the icons to your liking by just clicking and dragging them around… One note–if you’ve already customized the arrangement of your icons, you’ll need to visit docs.google.com and click “Add a shortcut” in the App Launcher to get the Docs icon to appear.

For Google Apps users, Google will put Docs, Slides, and Sheets shortcuts in the App Launcher by default and bump Groups and Contacts into the “More” section of the launcher.

Apps users can expect the change to kick in early next month.

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for Android get updated with a slew of new features

Stephen Hall Dec 15 2014 - 1:19 pm PT

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Google has announced today that, following a slew of updates that came to the Google Drive collection of iOS apps last week, the company’s Android apps for Drive are also receiving a few updates today:

Docs has some new, handy line spacing controls that let you choose single, double or fractional line spacing, Sheets has scrollbars for faster navigation, and you can now insert, move, resize and rotate text boxes, shapes and lines in the updated Slides app.

All three apps are now even friendlier with Office files with easier file creation and other updates, and we’ve added better accessibility options and squashed some bugs.

The updates coming to this set of apps may seem minor, but there are a few notable additions here. Scrollbars in sheets is going to make that app much more usable, and the ability to create and edit graphics within Slides is going to make it much easier to make presentations that are closer to what you’d be able to do on the desktop.

Google says that the updates should be rolling out today. If you don’t already have them, you can get the Docs, Sheets, and Slides Google Drive apps over on the Play Store for free.

Google Drive adds ability to convert Office file attachments from Gmail

Chance Miller Dec 2 2014 - 1:06 pm PT

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In a post on the official Drive Google+ account, Google today announced that Gmail web users can now easily open and edit Microsoft Office attachments. Google previously introduced the ability to edit Office files in Drive, but today’s update makes the process considerably easier for Gmail users. Now when a user receives a Microsoft Office file in an attachment, they can simply click the “edit with Google Docs” pencil icon to instantly open and edit the file.

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Google Docs updated w/ new image editing options, ability to merge cells

Chance Miller Dec 1 2014 - 3:01 pm PT

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Google this evening has announced a trio of updates to its Drive suite of apps. First off, Google Docs has been updated to add the ability to merge the cells of a table. In order to merge cells in Docs, simply highlight the cells to be merged, then right-click and choose the “Merge cells” option from the pop-up menu.

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Google to begin spreadsheet migration to new Sheets app starting next month

9to5 Staff Oct 30 2014 - 9:03 am PT

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Google announced on Thursday that, starting next week, it will begin notifying users of Google Apps domains on the Rapid release track about the upcoming migration of old spreadsheets to the new version of Google Sheets. Any spreadsheets created before December 2013, including subsequent changes, will be migrated to the new service.

Google claims that the migration process will begin in the next two to three weeks, with no action required by users. While no spreadsheet data is expected to be affected by this transition, Google notes that some formulas and features may be different in rare cases and advises users to read this Help Center article to understand the changes.
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Google Drive and related apps experiencing outage for some users (update)

Zac Hall Oct 27 2014 - 9:03 am PT

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Google Drive and some related services are currently experiencing issues for some users, according to Google.

We’re investigating reports of an issue with Google Drive. We will provide more information shortly.
Affected users will notice 500 errors and latency.

The same service issues apply to Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, which each have the same error message from Google. The notice was first posted at 8:20 AM PST.

Update 9:20 AM PST: We are continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 10/27/14 1:30 PM detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.

Update 11:18 AM PST: Our team is continuing to investigate this issue. We will provide an update by 10/27/14 3:30 PM with more information about this problem. Thank you for your patience.

Update: Google says the issue has been resolved and has released the following statement on the matter:

The problem with Google Drive should be resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.

Google Sheet’s new Smart Autofill Add-on can be used to predict missing spreadsheet values

Mark Hearn Oct 13 2014 - 1:15 pm PT

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Google Sheets received a bit of an IQ boost today, with the release of a new Smart Autofill Add-on that predicts missing values for empty columns in a spreadsheet. Not to be confused with the application’s stock feature that fills in simple information such as dates and days of the weeks — Smart Autofill uses Google’s Prediction API tool to analyze existing spreadsheet data.

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Google Sheets gets copy & paste charts and trendlines

Jordan Kahn Aug 14 2014 - 7:20 am PT

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A couple nice new features for Google Sheets users are rolling out today including the ability to copy and paste charts and a new trendlines feature.

Sometimes it’s helpful to recognize and track patterns of data in your spreadsheets, so that’s why today we’re launching trendlines to scatter plot, bar, column, and line graphs in Google Sheets. Trendlines are commonly used to analyze financial and scientific data, but they can even be useful in the classroom or for personal needs like budgeting.

There are a bunch of ways to customize trendlines in Sheets, like:
-Choose between exponential or linear trendlines
-Add a variety of labeling options
-Customize your trendline

Today’s update also brings the ability to copy and paste charts in Sheets between other sheets or spreadsheets.

Google has more info on adding trendlines to charts here.

Google Drive updated with Filter Views for spreadsheets and more

9to5 Staff Jul 22 2014 - 11:59 am PT

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Google Drive has been updated with a new Filter Views feature that makes it easier to sort and filter data on view-only spreadsheets. Google Sheets users can now turn on a “temporary filter view” from the toolbar or Data menu to make adjustments that appear on their screen, but do not permanently apply to the shared spreadsheet.
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Google starts incorporating ‘Material Design’ on Docs web pages

Stephen Hall Jul 11 2014 - 1:51 pm PT

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Google showed off its new “Material” design language alongside Android “L” at Google I/O 2014. And while you can follow our guide to get a glimpse at Android L in its full glory on your Nexus device, you can also simply load up a few new web pages that Google has redesigned in Google Docs.

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Google Sheets receives massive update w/ formula support, auto-fill, Excel compatibility, more

Chance Miller Jul 1 2014 - 7:37 pm PT

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Hot on the heels of updating the Docs app for Android, Google has just started rolling out an update to Sheets on Android, as well. The update is packed full of changes, both feature-wise and in terms of design. The update comes just days after Google announced it was shutting down Quickoffice on iOS and Android and introduces several features formerly available in the mobile editing app.

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Google Drive Docs, Sheets, and Slides apps now let you delete files right from the editor

Jordan Kahn Jun 19 2014 - 8:44 am PT

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A nice little enhancement for Google Drive users started rolling out last night with the ability to delete files directly from within any given app’s editor. For instance, if you’re editing a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, you will no longer have to return to your main list of files in Drive to delete it.

The new option is located under File > Move to Trash as pictured below:

Google Drive to drop document editing in favor of standalone apps

Mark Hearn May 4 2014 - 12:08 am PT

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Google’s new take on Docs and Sheets might be the first of many changes for the company’s Drive platform. The folks at Android Police managed to get their hands on a new, unreleased version of Drive and it appears to be missing editing functionality for sheets and documents. If you attempt to open a document while in Drive, it’ll display a view-only version of the item and will prompt you to install Google’s new standalone word processing app. We understand that this change might be frustrating for some users, but unbundling these apps lets people pick and choose the software that they want to use. It also gives Google a chance to focus on each app individually, which will hopefully result in a better user experience for each platform. Our fingers are crossed.

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Google announces Docs, Sheets and Slides mobile apps

Mark Hearn Apr 30 2014 - 10:37 am PT

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Google’s mobile office suite isn’t the most refined experience, but it’s there if you need to compose a document or edit a spreadsheet while on the go. Aware of its shortcomings (and competition), the company has released three new mobile apps today that aim to improve the way you handle projects when out and about. First up is Docs, a full-blown word processing application that lets users compose, edit and share documents directly from their mobile devices. The second new piece of software in Google’s big release is Sheets, which focuses specifically on spreadsheets. With similar functionality to Docs, this app lets you edit and manage rows and columns on a spreadsheet from the comfort of your smartphone or tablet.

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Google introduces add-on features for Google Docs & Sheets

Zac Hall Mar 11 2014 - 10:33 am PT

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Announced today, Google is introducing a new layer of features to its Google Docs and Google Sheets productivity web apps. The word processor and spreadsheet editor will now support additional features through user-installed add-ons developed by select partners.

The add-ons are accessible through a menu in the tool bar when editing a document or spreadsheet and include a number of partners like Mail Chimp and Avery. Once prompted from the tool bar, Docs and Sheets will present a store-like interface laying out the various supported add-ons allowing you to install them to your apps.

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Google testing new attachment experience for Gmail

Jordan Kahn Nov 12 2013 - 7:49 am PT

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Google Operating System blog, which has a good track record for leaking upcoming features for Google products, today posted a screenshot that shows a redesigned attachments UI for Gmail being tested internally. In the image above we can see the text “Dogfood confidential – submit feedback on the new attachments experience,” along with what looks to be a simplified interface for attachments in emails.

This is what attachments currently look like in emails:

And this is the new attachment interface:

The report speculates that Google could be dropping the “View” and “Download” options and instead just sending users to Google Drive when clicking an attachment.

Google rolling out colorful, streamlined design for Docs, Sheets, Slides & more in Google Drive

Jordan Kahn Sep 30 2013 - 2:14 pm PT

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We already got a new Google Analytics app for Android today and the launch of its new Web Designer HTML5 design tool, and now Google has announced that it’s rolling out a new, cleaner look for Docs, Sheets, Slides and more in Google Drive on the web. Google explained that the new look brings a new streamlined header and more colorful and compact design for its online productivity suite:

First, you’ll notice each editor’s product icon displayed in the header, which doubles as a quick link back to all your files in Drive. Next, you’ll see that the header is more streamlined and compact, helping you to focus on what matters most—your content.

You’ll notice the changes in Docs, Sheets, and Slides (as pictured above), but also in Drawings, Forms and Apps Script.