Google Sheets for beginners

Google Sheets is slowly becoming the main tool for electronic calculations and spreadsheets, leaving Microsoft Excel behind.

This is precisely due to the simple ability to organize the exchange, free of charge and without the need to download anything to your computer. The principle of interaction with this online service is similar to any spreadsheet program, but it has its own characteristics, which we will discuss later.

Below we will explain how Google Sheets works for beginners, as well as the main functions of the service. This will help you understand what advantages this tool has over desktop programs and if it is worth paying attention to specifically in your case.

But before we start, we would like to highlight some advantages of ‘Online Work’. The biggest advantage is that you can easily share links to tables, provide editing access, protect certain ranges, trace tools and do everything to make teamwork with documents as comfortable as possible.

Access to unique features

Almost all the functions in Google Spreadsheets have their counterparts in Excel, however, some are special and are designed to interact with online tools with real-time updates.

Cloud storage

You don’t need to download sheets and tables to your computer, everything will be stored on your cloud drive and available to edit or export as a file at any time.

In a word, Google Sheets is an extremely convenient online tool that mimics the functionality of spreadsheet programs and can replace them, providing access to unique features. Now we will analyze in more detail each of the main aspects of working with this service.

Google Sheets for beginners: tools and features of the service

How to create a Google spreadsheet

If you’ve never worked in Google Spreadsheets before, your first task is to open the site and create a blank workbook. Let’s see how to create a Google Spreadsheet step by step. There is nothing difficult about this task as you only need one account to authorize and sync documents.

Go to the official Google Sheets website and click the button to go directly to the sheets. Go to the record when getting familiar with Google Sheets. If you do not have your Google profile yet, the developers will offer to create one, because without this you will not be able to work with all the tools and save changes in the cloud.

To do this, click on the specially designated button on the page and follow the instructions of the developers. Create a new document. After authorization, you are greeted by the main document management window, which already shows the created tables, templates, and a button to add an empty file.

You’ll even find a sorting tool to see when and which sheets you’ve interacted with on that account. You can create a blank book or read the full list of templates, which will also help you study the functionality of the site in more detail and find out how the developers approached the implementation of certain tasks, both technically and visually.

Import of files and data

Let’s take a quick look at compatible spreadsheets created in other programs and stored as files on your computer. Directly on the page for creating a new file, you can click the button with the folder to proceed with uploading an existing document.

If you’ve already opened a blank Google Sheet, expand the “File” menu and select “Import.” You can add XLSX and ODS files. Import documents when you get familiar with Google Sheets. They will be loaded with all features and visual formatting preserved, allowing you to start working with the spreadsheet the way the creator intended.

As for importing other data, the web tool allows you to aggregate entire web pages, updating their content in real time without having to keep track of innovations. This uses a unique feature that is not available in desktop programs.