Google Spreadsheets, as I mentioned in the previous article ” Working with Google Spreadsheets “, is a competitor to Microsoft Excel. Although many functionalities will be almost identical to us, let’s keep in mind that these are two completely different technologies. And as I mentioned in the previous article, each technology has its advantages and disadvantages that arise as a result of a compromise between developers and users.
Google Spreadsheets make it easy to view and edit data in Google Docs. Read this guide to learn all the basics of Google Spreadsheets, including how to enter and edit data, format cells, create formulas and functions, print multiple pages per sheet, copy and paste between sheets and workbooks, merge cells together, add comments to cells, freeze columns, create calendars in Google Spreadsheets, create custom header tables, and sort data for easy analysis.
Google Spreadsheets is part of Google Drive. Allows users to create, edit, and view tables online. Tables are used to organize information in tabular form. Google Spreadsheets have two main functions: preview and creation. The preview feature allows you to see other people’s tables, while its authoring capability provides a way to create, edit, and share your own tables with others. Google Spreadsheets is an online tool that allows you to create and edit spreadsheets and is available at the following link https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/
After launching, you get very recognizable content, which in addition to opening a new blank table and a handful of template templates that can be useful to you.
As Google has long offered this solution that easily loads original Excel files, Microsoft has given Office 365 and Excel 365 in its cloud solution. Recently, this was given as a free solution to counter the growing popularity of Google’s spreadsheet. The main problem is that in this free solution you cannot import any existing files, except to copy directly via OLE or enter data.
Google Spreadsheets allows you to load 10,000,000 cells. Take for example one table as in the following figure:
The generic table name is Untitled spreadsheet and is located at the top of the open page. Clicking on that name will give you the opportunity to change the name of the table, e.g. The first table.
Google Spreadsheets and Styles
When Sheets wants to visually edit the table, that means that e.g. let’s color the table header differently and the whole table in similar volumes, and Google has taken care to offer us ready-made solutions in the form of styles. The only problem is that you have to know how to get to them. In fact, the thing is completely intuitive, like most functionalities in programs, because they appear just when you need them.
If we want to color the cells and rows of this table by choosing a predefined style, we will do the following:
- Select a table by selecting at least one cell and press Ctrl+A.
- Find the color bucket symbol on the toolbar.
- By selecting Alternating colors, select one of the predefined styles in the right pane.
- The layout of the table is immediately changed according to the choice of style
- Of course, the user can also define his own style in the tool section.
How to enter data and format cells
Entering data into a table can be manual, but it is far wiser to import from one of the possible formats. The formats supported by google table are: CSV, txt, tsv, tab, htm, html, xls, xlsx, xlsm, xlt, xltm, xltx , and ods.
Use of formulas and functions
There is not much dilemma with Google, formulas and functions are entered in the cells in an identical way by selecting from the main menu, by entering the equal sign “=”. If you have a dilemma about the difference between a formula and a function, read our article ” The difference between a formula and a function in Excel “.
Enter a formula or function
Print multiple pages per sheet
Proper printing is a special challenge in cases where we have a large number of columns or rows that cannot fit on one A4 or A3 paper.
Connect the cells together
In principle, cell fusion can be counterproductive. The reason is usually the visual effect and to a lesser extent the grouping of columns or rows. Such tables often cannot be processed by pivoting.
When selecting cells, select Format and Merge cells from the drop-down menu, as shown in the following figure.
Add comments in cells
It is not uncommon for us to need to leave a comment on a value or cell, table, etc. We can do this after selecting a cell and selecting it from the Insert menu, as in the following image.
Column freezing
Viewing large tables that can’t fit on your device’s screen can be made easier by freezing or fixing columns and rows with the View.
Create calendars in Google Spreadsheets
When we use date fields in tables, google tables offer a calendar view of the date from which the date can be selected. To set this, we must first select the fields/cells of the table for which we want to define date fields by selecting from the Data / Data validation menu, as in the following example.
In the resulting window, select the Date data type, as shown.
Simply by selecting the field/cell of the table we get a calendar, as in the picture.
Finally, here is another useful link for google spreadsheet users.