How to Use Google Sheets: The Ultimate Guide for Getting Started

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Smith. Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 165,471 times.

This wikiHow guide will show you how to use Google Spreadsheets on Windows or Mac.

• Open a new spreadsheet by going to https://sheets.google.com/ in your web browser.
• Edit an Excel .xlxs file by uploading it to your drive and opening it in Google Sheets.
• Enter data into cells. Then, adjust the formatting by using the toolbar or Format tab.
• Share your spreadsheet by clicking the blue Share button in the top-right of the Sheet.

Opening a Spreadsheet

• Or, go to https://www.google.com/sheets/about/ and click Go to Sheets.
• Or, click the 9-dot grid button in the upper-right corner of https://www.google.com/, Gmail, or any Google web app. Select Sheets from the menu.

• Create new spreadsheet opens a blank spreadsheet.
• Choose template opens the template gallery, where you can choose a premade layout that fits your spreadsheet needs.
• You can also open a new spreadsheet from Google Drive by clicking the New button and selecting Google Sheets.

Rename your spreadsheet. New spreadsheets will have “Untitled spreadsheet” in the upper-left title box. Click that text and type in the title you want for the spreadsheet.

Opening an Excel File in Sheets

• Alternatively, click New in Google Drive, then File upload.

• The .XLSX icon next to the title in the Google Sheets editor indicates that you’re working on an Excel file. If there’s a red dot notification on this icon, there may be a compatibility issue.

Using Google Sheets

• By default, there will be 26 columns (A to Z) and 1000 rows.
• Add more rows by scrolling to the bottom, entering in an amount next to “more rows at bottom,” and clicking Add.
• After adding in your data, you can search through the sheet if you’re looking for something specific.
• We'll also teach you some time-saving keyboard shortcuts for editing and managing data a little later in this article.

• You can add a new column or row to a specific location by selecting any cell in the row/column and clicking the Insert tab. You'll see options to insert rows or columns above or below and to the right or left of the selected cell.

• You can also use the toolbar above the formula box to make formatting changes to a range of cells.
• When selecting multiple cells (horizontally or vertically), you can merge them so that they span multiple rows or columns.
• To adjust the way numbers are formatted, go to the Number subsection in the Format tab. You can format numbers in a variety of ways. For example, selecting “Percent” will show numbers as percentages.

• If your data have column headers, go to Sort range > Advanced range sorting options. Check the “Data has header row” box. When you click the Sort by drop-down menu, you can select a column by its header name.
• The A to Z and Z to A options are ascending and descending respectively. This sorts numbers low-to-high or high-to-low.
• Filtering your data is a great way to see temporary views of the dataset without changing the spreadsheet.

• See our guide on creating graphs in Sheets for more detailed information!

• 1 row or 2 rows will freeze the first 1 or 2 rows.
• 1 column or 2 columns will freeze the first 1 or 2 columns.
• To freeze more rows and columns, select the cell that you want to freeze up to. Then, select Up to row NUMBER or Up to column LETTER.

• Google Sheets offers most of the same functions found in Microsoft Excel, so those experienced with Excel should find Sheets to be pretty familiar.
• Advanced users can create their own functions using Google Apps Script. For example, you could create a simple script to add the time and date automatically.
• Here are a few common Google Sheets functions:
  • IF lets you return a specified value by evaluating a logical expression. This works similarly to using If-Else in Excel.
  • VLOOKUP searches a column for a key value, then returns a cell value in a specific column to the right of the search range. (Check out our Excel guide for this function).
  • SUM adds multiple cell values together. (Same as SUM in Excel).
  • ABS will give you the absolute value of a number.
  • FLOOR rounds a number value down to the closest integer.
  • NPV returns the net present value for an investment given periodic cash flows.
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  Navigation Shortcuts

  

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  • Show common keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl + /
  • Select column — Ctrl + Space
  • Select row — Shift + Space
  • Fill down — Ctrl + d
  • Fill right — Ctrl + r
  • Copy, cut, and paste — Ctrl + c, Ctrl + x, and Ctrl + v
  • Move to beginning of sheet — Ctrl + Home
  • Move to beginning or end of a range — Ctrl + Up/Down/Left/Right Arrow

  

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  • Show common keyboard shortcuts — Cmd + /
  • Select column — Ctrl + Space
  • Select row — Shift + Space
  • Fill down — Cmd + d
  • Fill right — Cmd + r
  • Copy, cut, and paste — Cmd + c, Cmd + x, and Cmd + v
  • Move to beginning of sheet — Cmd + Fn + Left Arrow
  • Move to beginning or end of a range — Cmd + Up/Down/Left/Right Arrow
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  Saving & Sharing Spreadsheets

  

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  Finalize your spreadsheet. While Google Sheets automatically saves your drafts, you can rename your spreadsheet or make a copy of it before sharing with others. You can find additional options in the File tab.

  

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  • Sharing a sheet with some means that they can view, comment on, or edit the file directly.
  • There’s also an option to create a shareable link that you can send to people separately.

  

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  Download your spreadsheet. If you want a copy of your spreadsheet locally on your computer, select the "Download as" option under the File tab. There are several options, including downloading the document as an Excel (.xlsx) file, .csv, or PDF.

  

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  Email your spreadsheet. You'll find this option under the File tab. You can either email collaborators (the individuals you've already shared the spreadsheet with), or email the spreadsheet to others as an attachment.

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  Expert Q&A

  How do I maintain the data size on the spreadsheet without effecting the task bar at the bottom. I know I an zoom in size but this also reduces the size/image of the task bar

  Kyle Smith
  wikiHow Technology Writer

  Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

  wikiHow Technology Writer Expert Answer

  Using Google Sheet's zoom feature (found in the taskbar next to the formatting painting tool) will increase or decrease the cell sizes without changing the taskbar and menu sizes.

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  Thank you for your feedback.
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  I am new with spread sheets, so the publisher has set us up on a online spread sheet. In making chnges this morning i accidentally deleted 2 columns B & C . How do I bring them back to show on the spr

  Kyle Smith
  wikiHow Technology Writer

  Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

  wikiHow Technology Writer Expert Answer

  You can see and revert to previous versions of a Google Sheet by opening the file, going to File > Version history > See version history. Then, click the version that has the deleted data and press "Restore this version" at the top of the page.

  Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
  Thank you for your feedback.
  If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow

  How do you open a Google Sheet that has been sent to you in an email Kyle Smith
  wikiHow Technology Writer

  Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

  wikiHow Technology Writer Expert Answer

  You can click the link to the Google Sheet in the email. There might be a button that says "Open" in the email. Alternatively, you can go to your Google Drive, click Shared with me in the left menu, and open the shared Google Sheet file from there.

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  Ask a Question 200 characters left Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Advertisement wikiHow Video: Google Spreadsheets - Forms Tutorial

  You can create charts within a spreadsheet, but you can also create a gadget for a chart, pivot table. Gadgets can then be embedded in another web page such as Google Sites. Having gadgets from many spreadsheets embedded in a single page provides a dashboard type view of all the spreadsheets.

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  About This Article

  Written by: wikiHow Technology Writer

  This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Kyle Smith. Kyle Smith is a wikiHow Technology Writer, learning and sharing information about the latest technology. He has presented his research at multiple engineering conferences and is the writer and editor of hundreds of online electronics repair guides. Kyle received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. This article has been viewed 165,471 times.

  How helpful is this? Co-authors: 28 Updated: August 23, 2024 Views: 165,471 Categories: Featured Articles | Google Docs | Spreadsheets

  Anyone with a Google account can create and share a spreadsheet by using Google Sheets. To get started, open your web browser and go to Sheets.Google.com. If you're already signed in to your Google account, you'll see the main area of Google Sheets. If not, you'll be prompted to sign in with your Google Account. Once you are signed in, you can select a template from the template gallery, or click the plus sign to create a blank workbook. Type a name for your Google Sheets file into the top-left corner. As you work on your file, the changes you make will be saved automatically to your Google Drive. If you plan to collaborate on this sheet with others, or just want others to see what you've been working on, you can share your file by clicking the "Share" button at the top-right corner of your open Google Sheets file. If you just want to share a link to the file by pasting it into a message or post, click "Copy link" to copy the link to your clipboard, and then paste it wherever you'd like. If you want to share your file via email, type the email address of the person you want to share with into the top field, and then click the correct person in the search results. You can enter multiple addresses if you want to share with more than one person—you can even share with a group by typing the group's name and selecting it from the search results. Once you've added at least one person to share with, you'll see a permissions drop-down menu at the top-right corner. It's set to "Editor" by default, which means the person or people you're sharing with can make their own edits to the file. If you don't want others to make changes, click the drop-down menu and select "Viewer," or "Commenter" if you also want the viewer to be able to add comments. Next, click the gear icon to manage whether Editors can change permissions or invite others, and whether Viewers and Commenters can download, print, or copy the file. Before sending the invitation, type a message into the Message area that explains what the Google Sheets file is, or why you're sharing it. Then, click "Send" to share the file. When a recipient clicks the link in the email from Google Sheets, the file you shared will open for viewing or editing.