Google Sheets

You can now add an emoji reaction to a comment in Google Sheets  to quickly and creatively express your opinions about spreadsheet content.  

In addition, the Rating smart chip allows you to add a rating via a number of stars - 1 to 5 - to indicate a preference towards an option. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Currently, Google timeout any queries that take longer than 5 minutes for Connected Sheets. This has been extended from 5 minutes to 10 minutes for BigQuery and Looker, which means Connected Sheets users will be able to analyse data from queries that scan even larger data sets in Sheets.  

You can now add emojis to a Google Sheet by typing @emoji and choosing the emoji you wish to add. 

You will now have the option to insert a link and press the tab key to convert the link into a smart chip in Google Sheets. Access this feature when you copy and paste email addresses or links to Google Drive files, Google Maps places, or Youtube videos into a Sheet.

You can now add YouTube vid@eo smart chips to show the title, description and a video preview when you hover over the link. 

You can also add multiple smart chips to a single cell by typing @ and choosing the type of smart chip you wish to insert. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

To make it easier to find commands in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, a new tool search will be available in the command bar of these apps. This can be used to find a specific tool, and will also show suggested actions while you are creating your document. 

When you apply a filter to a list of data, you will now see a summary of the filter in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This summary will show you how many rows are currently displayed of the total. You can also now apply filters by right-clicking over a range of cells, then choosing the required Filter command.

• Google have introduced three new smart canvas features in Google Sheets, 

• The Place chip lets you add a location to your sheet, and open the location directly in Google Maps to see a preview of the location and view directions. 

• Expanded date capabilities allow you to enter dates quickly using @ as the entry point. You can enter @today, @yesterday, @tomorrow and @date to choose a specific date from the date picker. 

• Finance chips allow you to add financial entities such as stocks, mutual funds and currencies. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

There is a new-look share button near the top-right corner of the screen, along with the Meet button, comments and last edit button. The activity dashboard can now be viewed via the Tools menu. Comments now show in a different shade to make them easier to view in a document, without disrupting document flow. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

With Connected Sheets, you can now explore with data from Looker - Google Cloud's modern business intelligence platform. This gives you access to 50+ data sources, including BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Snowflake, and Redshift.

Once connected to a Looker instance, you'll be able to analyse data using pivot tables, charts, formulas and more. Your data will be fully secure, and you will always have access to the latest version of your data.

Google Sheets has added some more functions to help with advanced analysis:

• EPOCHTODATE: Converts a Unix epoch timestamp in seconds, milliseconds, or microseconds to a datetime in UTC. 

• MARGINOFERROR: Calculates the amount of random sampling error given a range of values and a confidence level. 

• TOROW: Transforms an array or range of cells into a single row. 

• TOCOL: Transforms an array or range of cells into a single column. 

• CHOOSEROWS: Creates a new array from the selected rows in the existing range. 

• CHOOSECOLS: Creates a new array from the selected columns in the existing range. 

• WRAPROWS: Wraps the provided row or column of cells by rows after a specified number of elements to form a new array. 

• WRAPCOLS: Wraps the provided row or column of cells by columns after a specified number of elements to form a new array. 

• VSTACK: Appends ranges vertically and in sequence to return a larger array. 

• HSTACK: Appends ranges horizontally and in sequence to return a larger array. 

You can now add drop-down chips to your spreadsheets to allow editors to choose from a selection of values. In addition, all drop-downs and data validation rules are managed via a single pane in Sheets.

Find out more in our how-to video:

If you join a Google Meet meeting from a Google Doc, Sheet or Slide, you can now quickly share the current file with meeting attendees. A link will appear in the meeting chat, and you will be able to choose how meeting attendees will be able to access the file.

Find out more in our how-to video:

Timeline view allows you to track and visualise your tasks in Google Sheets. Once you have the correct information in your sheet - such as the task title, start date, end date and duration, you can show your list as a timeline.

Find out more in our how-to video:

Smart chips have been available in Google Docs for some time, and can now be used in Google Sheets to add links to people, files and events. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Named functions allow you to create custom functions to use in your Google Sheets. You can add arguments, help text and descriptions to ensure they are easy for colleagues to use too. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

As well as named functions, Google has announced 9 additional  new functions for Sheets. 

• LAMBDA Function

• MAP Function

• REDUCE Function

• MAKEARRAY Function

• SCAN Function

• BYROW Function

• BYCOL Function

• XLOOKUP Function

• XMATCH Function

XLOOKUP has been available in Microsoft Excel for some time, and makes the VLOOKUP function more powerful, providing similar capabilities to MATCH and INDEX.

The syntax for XLOOKUP is

=XLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_range, return_range, optional_if_not_found) 

The dialog box for sharing docs, sheets and slides has been improved to include all sharing options in a single screen. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

When you insert a formula that Google Sheets detects may be improved, a suggestion box will appear with details on a new formula that can replace the current one. You can accept or reject the new formula and learn more about why it was suggested.

Find out more in our how-to video:

You can now join a Google Meet call directly from Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. From the Google Meet icon, click on Join the call to quickly join and present a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation.

Find out more in our how-to video:

Google has recently increased the cell limit in a Google Sheet from up to 5 million to up to 10 million cells.  This limit applies to new, existing, and imported files. 

Find out more about size limits in Google Workspace 

Just like in Google Docs, people chips can now be added to Google Sheets to allow you to view more information about people from within the sheet, and take actions such as booking a meeting with them, starting a chat conversation or sending them an email message.

Find out more in our how-to video:

• The menu bar and right-click menus have been shortened to better fit your screen to prevent menus from being hidden

• Some features have been  reorganised and added to more intuitive locations e.g. you can now freeze a row or column from the right-click menu

• Some descriptions of items in the menu are shorter, enabling faster recognition 

• Icons have been added to help you locate features more easily 

• Changes are across all menus, including File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Date, Tools, Extensions, Help and Accessibility.

As you start to create a formula in Google Sheets by typing = you will receive suggestions on formulas to enter into the cell. As you build your formula, you can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu. 

You can now select multiple tabs in a Google Sheet and perform actions such as hiding, colour or duplicating the tabs. 

Note that unlike in Microsoft Excel, when multiple tabs are selected in a sheet, anything you enter in the current sheet will not be duplicated to the other selected sheets. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

Comments have been updated in Google Sheets to make it easier to navigate and act on comments in sheets that have lots of collaboration. Comments now show in a sidebar on the right-hand side of the screen, allowing you to quickly reply, resolve, or create new conversations from one place. You can apply filters to find the most relevant comments, such as threads that require your response, and you can quickly navigate between comments, regardless of where they are in the spreadsheet. 

Find out more in our how-to video:

You can now present content from Google Docs, Sheets and Slides directly into a Google Meet call. If you are not currently in a Google Meet call, you can choose to join a scheduled call or enter the code of the call you wish to join.

Find out more in our how-to video:

If you use Connected Sheets to view and analyse BigQuery data in your Google Sheets, you will see some new features to view column stats, filter by value, add slicers and add calculated fields and groups to pivot tables.

• Column stats allows you to see insights about all data in a particular column, including summary information such as sum, average and count. 

• Filter by value allows you to filter a column to show all data that matches a specific value.

• Calculated fields allow custom formulas in pivot tables

• Groups allow you to group numeric values in pivot tables

• Slicers can be used to filter your tables, charts and pivot tables

Find out more in our how-to video:

 The named range drop-down arrow can be used to view all named ranges in a Google Sheet, and to quickly select a named range from this list.  The list also provides a shortcut to manage named ranges.

Find out more in our how-to video:

If your Excel files contain macros, you can use the Macro Converter for Google Sheets to help to convert the macros from Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to Apps Script code so that you can run the macros in Google Sheets. Before converting your macros you can check the compatibility of the Excel file, then receive help on converting the macros in Sheets. 

Note that this tool is available as an add=on from the Google Workspace Marketplace but is only available to Google Workspace Enterprise customers. 

Find out more in the Google Workspace video overview of the Macro converter tool:

Smart Fill detects and learns patterns between the columns of you sheet, then look sat the way in which you enter data into other columns and suggests how it could complete the data entry for you.  

Find out more in our how-to video:

Cleanup suggestions in Google Sheets will help you to ensure your data is accurate by finding and suggesting fixes for common data errors such as extra spaces, duplicate rows and inconsistent number formatting. 

In addition, column stats will provide insights within a column so that you can see all values in a graphic format and spot any potential errors. 

Watch our How To video to find out more:

You can click on any chart text element to update both its content and style, including individual data labels and legend items. You can also set advanced number formatting options on both your data labels and axis labels, including the option to conditionally format by color. 

The sidebar is now contextual, showing relevant options when data labels, legend items and single data points are selected.

Watch our How To video to find out more:

New features have been introduced to customise chart axes in Google Sheets, including:

• Adding both major and minor tick marks to a chart

• Customising tick mark position and style

• Setting spacing between major and minor axis ticks or grid lines

• Display or hide axis lines in a chart

Find out more in our How To video:

Connected sheets can be used to link Google Sheets with BigQuery, so that you can analyse large datasets within your sheets. 

Connected Sheets includes all the capabilities of the legacy Sheets data connector with additional enhancements. Enhancements include the ability to analyze and visualize data in Sheets without needing to first extract the data, being able to see a preview of data through a Sheet, and scheduling data refreshes to avoid analysing data that is out of date.

Watch Google’s video to find out more about Connected Sheets: