Almost everyone uses Google Sheets for data organization and visualization. However, there is much more to Google Sheets than what you already know. Here are 10 little known tips as well as the latest features in Google Sheets that can potentially be a game-changer to your everyday work and business routine, helping you turn tedious tasks into a matter of a few clicks.
#1 New feature: Smart Compose
Smart Compose is a new feature Google rolled out at the end of 2021 which helps with high-quality contextual phrase suggestions while you type. Smart Compose allows you to leave professional comments on Google Sheets, Slides and Drawings with very little mental effort.
#2 New feature: Smart Suggestions for Formulas and Functions
Google has also recently introduced intelligent and context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets. As you insert your data in Google Sheets and start typing “=” in the cell, formula suggestions will be automatically displayed, and any additional suggestions will appear in a drop-down menu.
#3 Quick Calculations
Perform extremely quick calculations by highlighting a bunch of cells with numbers and look to the lower-right corner of your screen. You will immediately see the sum of the range of cells you have selected. By default, Google Sheets will show you the sum, but by clicking on the box with the sum it will also allow you to select the average, the minimum or maximum, or the total count of numbers involved. This feature is super handy when you are managing multiple data sets or spreadsheets.
#4 Quick Data Visualization
As business owners or employees managing huge data sets, we need to perform quick data visualization on a regular basis. To ease your job, you can view trends on a data set or quickly turn your sheet into a dashboard using Sparkline. The Sparkline feature on Google Sheets allows you to create a tiny chart in your desired format within a single cell. Simply type the command =Sparkline followed by the cells you want to include in the chart, and by default Sparkline will display a tiny line chart showing the trends of the data. For further customizability of the chart type, type the command =Sparkline followed by the cells you want to include in the chart, the word “charttype”, and the type of chart you want to create (e.g. line, bar or column).
For example, =SPARKLINE(E12:E23,{“charttype”,”column”}). And Sparkline will display the chart in your desired format. This feature is especially useful for people who spend a lot of time comparing and analysing data.
#5 Complex Data Analysis in One Click
Do you know you can analyse complex data with a single click on Google Sheets? Let Google’s Artificial Intelligence do the job for you. Simply hover your mouse over the starburst-shaped icon in the lower-right corner of your screen that says “Explore”, click on that button, and Google Sheets will pop up a panel of all info and charts related to the data range you selected.
#6 Protect Data and Restrict Editing Access Within a Google Sheet
The next tip is extremely helpful when you are collaborating with many people on a single sheet, and you want to prevent mistakes by your team members or colleagues. Most of us know how to restrict sharing access to a Google Sheet, but not many of us know that we can restrict editing access within a Google Sheet. You can lock individual cells within a Google Sheet to prevent accidental changes to important data. Simply go to data > protect sheets and ranges, and select the sheets or cell ranges you would like to restrict editing access to.
#7 Check for Valid Email Addresses
You want to avoid sending out “undelivered” emails to your business leads and potential buyers, and Google Sheets can help with that. While you can’t check if an email address is still in use, you can use Google Sheets to check if the email address provided is in a valid and correct structure, for instance, without the ‘@’ or has a repeating ‘com’. You can do so by typing the command =ISEMAIL(cell or cell range). Google Sheets will then help you to analyse and flag the email addresses displayed in the wrong structure.
#8 Quick Text Translation
If you work with an international or multilingual team, Google Sheets’ translation function is your saviour. You can translate the cells from one language to another by typing the command =GOOGLETRANSLATE, and the cell or cell range you would like to be translated, then type in the source language, and finally the target language you would like your text to be translated to. Google Sheets will then translate the text into your desired language.
#9 Change Capitalization
Rather than retyping texts manually (which most of us do), you can change the capitalization of texts using 2 simple commands in Google Sheets. You can capitalize or turn your text into lowercase using the following commands:
Capitalize the first letter in each word: =PROPER
Capitalize all letters: =UPPER
Make all letters lowercase: = LOWER
These functions are useful to add consistency to how your data is displayed.
#10 Some Useful Keyboard Shortcuts!
Finally, here is a list of useful keyboard shortcuts you must know to improve productivity of your work or business.
