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<\/p>\nThe first step in learning how to use Google Sheets is creating a spreadsheet. There are a few ways to do this, but the most convenient one is directly through the Google Sheets website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once there, you may have to log into your Google account if you’re not already logged in. Once you do that, all you need to do is click one of the templates at the top of the page in the Start a new spreadsheet<\/strong> section.<\/p>\n Most often you’ll want to select Blank<\/strong>, but there’s also a variety of templates that might save you some time. You can see the full list of templates by clicking Template Gallery<\/strong> in the upper right.<\/p>\n Regardless of which one you choose, the new spreadsheet will automatically open. Before you start entering or importing data, you should give the spreadsheet a name in the text field at the top left of the screen. Here are those steps again in brief:<\/p>\n How to create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets<\/strong><\/p>\n As mentioned before, this is only one of many ways to create a new spreadsheet. You can also create them in Google Drive via the menu in the top right (New <\/strong>-> Google Sheets<\/strong>) or in the Google Drive app by tapping the plus icon<\/strong> in the bottom right, then selecting Google Sheets<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Note that each spreadsheet can contain multiple pages, or Sheets. At the bottom of the page you’ll see a tab for each sheet in your spreadsheet, as well as a plus button to add a new sheet.<\/p>\n Now that you’ve created a spreadsheet, it’s time to truly learn how to use Google Sheets. Before we get into entering and manipulating data with formula, take a moment to get familiar with the interface.<\/p>\n When you first open a blank document, you’ll see something that looks like the image below. Here’s a brief description of what each element does to help you get more comfortable.<\/p>\n Most of the interface is self-explanatory, but we’ll get more into the individual controls later in the guide. For now, it’s critical to understand how cell numbering works. This is the backbone of everything that a spreadsheet can do.<\/p>\n Each column is labeled across the stop with a letter, and each row is labeled on the left with a number. A single cell is named by a combination of the two. For example, the active cell above is A1. A range including the first three cells on the left would be A1-A3.<\/p>\n Note that while the active cell above is blue, the color may be different when multiple people are editing the same document. You will be able to see what every editor’s active cell is, which can help prevent mistakes caused by two people editing the same cell at once.<\/p>\n It’s also worth mentioning that you can resize any row or column by clicking and dragging the border between it and an adjacent row. You can also add or delete entire rows or columns by right clicking and selecting the appropriate option from the drop-down menu.<\/p>\n The first real step to creating a functional spreadsheet is adding data. The easiest way to do this is simply click in a cell and type in the data directly. You can press the Enter<\/strong> key<\/strong> to move down to the next row, or Tab key<\/strong> to move right to the next column.<\/p>\n However, this is far from convenient for large data sets. It can take hours to manually enter data (and will take hours to clean up for certain data sets), but you can save that time by importing entire tables at once.<\/p>\n There are several ways to do this. The first is to simply select a table, copy it, and paste it directly into your document. You can use this method to copy lists and other data from websites or other sources with ease.<\/p>\n The other method is to import an existing spreadsheet or supported file type. Virtually all popular spreadsheet file types are supported, and you can find the full list below.<\/p>\n Supported file types in Google Sheets:<\/strong><\/p>\n To import a file into Google Sheets, click File<\/strong> in the upper right, then Import<\/strong>. Next, you need to find or upload your document and click Select<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Now you can select the import options for your file. Not all of the options seen above may be available depending on the file type. Once you’ve made your decision, click Import data<\/strong> and you’re good to go. Here are those steps again in brief:<\/p>\n How to import data to Google Sheets<\/strong><\/p>\n Now that you’ve got data in your spreadsheet, you might need to adjust the formatting before you start working with it. Often Google Sheets will automatically format your data correctly, but sometimes it needs to be fixed manually. Much of this can be done directly from the toolbar, but there are advanced options in the Format<\/strong> tab, as well.<\/p>\n For numbers, you can select between a simple decimal, percent, dates, currencies, and many others. You can also increase or decrease the number of decimal places displayed using the main toolbar. Note that this doesn’t change or round the real value, just the number displayed.<\/p>\n Read also:<\/strong> How to wrap text in Google Sheets<\/a><\/p>\n For normal text, you have the standard options for bold, italic, underline, and strikethrough, as well as font types, font sizes, and alignment. Cells themselves can be formatted as well. You can change the background color, merge or unmerge cells, or add borders.<\/p>\n To speed up your formatting, you can also select an entire column or row by clicking on the letter or number at the top or left of the screen.<\/p>\n Merging cells is one of the most basic ways to format your spreadsheets, and it should be one of the first things you learn how to do. Thankfully, it’s also one of the easiest things you can do in the program.<\/p>\n All you need to do is select more than one cell<\/strong> and click the merge icon<\/strong> in the upper middle of the toolbar. The icon has two arrows pointing together, and it’s greyed out unless you have more than one cell selected.<\/p>\n Learn more<\/strong>: How to merge cells in Google Sheets<\/a><\/p>\n One of the scariest things about switching to a cloud-based application is the thought of losing your internet connection. Thankfully, Google Sheets makes it easy to access and edit your spreadsheets, even if you’re temporarily offline.<\/p>\n This only works in the Chrome browser, and you will need to sync your Google account to Chrome. To do this, click the People<\/strong> icon in the top right, then Sign in to Chrome<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Read also:<\/strong> 20 Chrome tips and tricks you should know about<\/a><\/p>\n Once you’re signed in, head over to the Google Sheets website<\/a>. Click the menu icon<\/strong> in the upper left, then Settings<\/strong>. In the middle of the window, you’ll see a toggle for Offline<\/strong>. Flip it and you’re good to go! Here are those steps again in brief:<\/p>\n How to use Google Sheets offline<\/strong><\/p>\n Formulas and functions are a hugely powerful part of any spreadsheet software, and Google Sheets supports both. But before we get into some of the advanced tasks, let’s talk about the difference between a formula and a function.<\/p>\n A formula performs simple arithmetic on values or cells that you specify. A function performs a more complex tasks ranging from simple sums to payments on annuity investments or even pulling data from the web.<\/p>\n The main thing to know as a beginner is that all formulas and functions start with =<\/strong>. This signals to Google Sheets that what you’re entering is a not simply text or a number.<\/p>\n All formulas and functions start with the = symbol.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Formulas are the easiest to use. Once you’ve typed =, you can enter specific numbers or refer to values in other cells by typing A1, A2, etc. You can then manipulate these values with +, -, *, and \/ symbols to perform basic arithmetic.<\/p>\n Functions work similarly, but require more specific input. We won’t explain every function in this Google Sheets tutorial (there are hundreds of them), but you can see the full list by clicking on the ∑ symbol<\/strong> in the upper right. You can also search for them by beginning to type the function name after the = symbol in any cell.<\/p>\n To give you some idea of how these work, let’s have a look at the SUM function. This function simply adds up all of the values in a given range. It looks like this: =SUM(values or range)<\/strong>. Those values can be specific cells or numbers such as =SUM(10, A2, A3, 15)<\/strong> or a range =SUM(A1:A10)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You can select a range with your mouse once you type =SUM(<\/strong>, then hit Enter<\/strong> when you’re finished and watch the program do the work for you!<\/p>\n Check out a full list of Google Sheets functions here<\/a>, or learn how specific functions work by clicking the ∑ symbol<\/strong>, selecting the function, then clicking Learn more<\/strong> at the bottom.<\/p>\n One of the best and worst things about spreadsheets is just how much you can do with them. There are far too many possibilities to cover in this basic guide to how to use Google Sheets, but we wanted to include a few more things that even beginners may want to do.<\/p>\n Although we’re including it as an advanced tip, it’s actually very easy to create charts in Google Sheets. There’s also a wide variety of chart types to choose from, each of which is completely customizable.<\/p>\n Once you have your data, select the cells you want to include in the graph, including headers if possible. Then, you can either click the Insert chart<\/strong> button in the top right or click Insert<\/strong> at the top of the page, then select Chart<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n
How to use Google Sheets: Basic tutorial<\/h2>\n
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How to add data to Google Sheets<\/h3>\n
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How to format data in Google Sheets<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nHow to merge cells in Google Sheets<\/h3>\n
How to use Google Sheets offline<\/h3>\n
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How to use Google Sheets formulas and functions<\/h3>\n
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How to use the SUM function<\/h3>\n
How to use Google sheets: Advanced tutorial and tips<\/h2>\n
How to make charts in Google Sheets<\/h3>\n
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