Gone are the days when you’d need to shell out hundreds of dollars for Microsoft Office to have access to a solid spreadsheet program. Today a great program is as close as your local Google account. Simply log on to Google Docs, create a new spreadsheet and you’re good to go. If you’re new to Google Spreadsheets, here are 7 features you should be using.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Memorizing a few keyboard shortcuts will allow you to be more efficient while working with Google Spreadsheets. There are shortcuts to move within a worksheet, within a selected range, and to enter and edit data. Do you want to quickly move to the next worksheet? Simply press Ctrl+Page Down and you’re done. Learn more: Keyboard Shortcuts for Google Spreadsheets.
Forms
Do you want to poll your staff to get ideas on a new service upgrade? Google Spreadsheets can help. Do you want your customers to complete a survey on their customer service experiences? Google Spreadsheets can help. Learn more by watching this video on Google Forms.
Revert to an Older Version
Did you make a bunch of changes to a spreadsheet then realize it was the wrong one? Don’t fret, you can easily access a previous version by clicking on File > See Revision history. Click Older until you find the version you want and select Revert to this version. Your old spreadsheet is back.
Chat While Editing
The ability to collaborate with colleagues is a major benefit of Google Spreadsheets. While viewing a document look at the upper right corner to view a list of other team members viewing the same document. Click the arrow to the right of their name and a chat window will open allowing for real time discussion.
Formulas
Microsoft Excel aficionados will recognize many of the formulas used in Google Spreadsheets. Make your life easier by getting to know what formulas you can use and how they work. The following video will give you an introduction to basic Google functions but more advanced features are explained in the rest of the video series.
Gadgets
Google Spreadsheets Gadgets allow you to enhance the data in your document by making it more visually appealing, allowing you to incorporate the data into web pages and more. There are dozens of different gadgets available in the Google Visualization API Gadget Gallery. Learn how to use this tool by reading Getting Started with Spreadsheets Gadgets.
Google Finance
Are you an aspiring day trader or investment banker? Google Finance can help you with your stock market research. You can track your current investments and even review the stock’s historical data. Google even has a template to help you get started.
What is your recommendation for a must-use Google Spreadsheet feature?
*Bonus* In case you missed it, we did a post on using Google Spreadsheets for data collection a few months back.
