40 Fun Facts About Google Sheets

In the Google Sheets function VLOOKUP, what does the letter V stand for?

Vertical is the word, because the search runs down a column, while the sister function HLOOKUP does the same job horizontally across the top row.

Google Sheets can open and edit .xlsx files, the native format of which rival spreadsheet program?

Microsoft Excel still treats 1900 as a leap year, a long-standing bug that Google Sheets quietly corrects in its own date system.

In the Google Sheets formula =GOOGLETRANSLATE(A2,"en","ko"), which language does the code "ko" request?

Korean is the target here, because the function reads its codes in order, source first and target second, and "auto" lets it detect the source language itself.

Google Sheets labels its first 26 columns A to Z, so which label does the very next column carry?

AA comes next, then AB, AC and onwards: once the single letters run out, spreadsheet column labels simply double up.

Which Google app for building surveys and quizzes can save every response to a linked Google Sheets file?

Forms can create a fresh response spreadsheet in one click, and Sheets automatically arranges the incoming answers in a table.

Which command in the Google Sheets View menu pins a header row so that it stays visible while scrolling?

Freeze works on columns as well as rows, so a first column of names can stay put while everything else slides sideways.

Typing which short web address into a browser instantly creates a blank Google spreadsheet?

Typing sheets.new works because Google runs the whole .new domain as a set of shortcuts, and meet.new starts a video meeting the same way.

Google Sheets can be automated with Apps Script, whose code is written in which programming language?

JavaScript powers Apps Script, which began as a side project by Mike Harm while he was working as a developer on Sheets itself.

Google Sheets can open .csv files, a plain-text table format whose three letters stand for which phrase?

Comma-separated values files are so plain that the IMPORTDATA function can pull one into a sheet straight from a web address.

A student types =SUM(2,3,4) into an empty Google Sheets cell; which number appears there?

9 is the total, because SUM adds up whatever sits inside its brackets, and it can take a whole block of cells at once, as in =SUM(A1:A7).

Which Google Sheets function, given the numbers 1, 2 and 9, returns 2 as the middle value?

MEDIAN lines the numbers up and takes the one in the centre, so one huge outlier barely moves it, whereas AVERAGE would return 4 for the same three numbers.

Which Google Sheets function counts only the cells that meet a condition, such as scores above 50?

COUNTIF takes a range and a test, and the test can use wildcards: a question mark stands for any single character and an asterisk for any run of them.

Which Google Sheets function, written with empty brackets, returns the current date and time?

NOW is a volatile function, meaning it updates on every edit made to the spreadsheet, while its calmer sibling TODAY returns the date alone.

Which Google Sheets function draws a miniature chart that fits entirely inside one cell?

SPARKLINE draws a line graph by default but can switch to bars, columns or a win-loss chart, which plots two outcomes like a run of coin tosses.

Which Google Sheets function runs SQL-like commands such as "select A where B > 5" over a table?

QUERY runs Google's Visualization API Query Language, which borrows clauses such as select, where, group by and order by, so one formula can filter, sort and total a table.

Which Google Sheets function strips stray spaces from the start and end of imported text?

TRIM matters because spaces in front of or after text are significant in formulas, so two entries that look identical can refuse to match until one is tidied.

Which Google Sheets function capitalises each word, turning "ada lovelace" into "Ada Lovelace"?

PROPER is the tidy-up for names typed in a hurry, whereas UPPER converts the whole string to capitals and LOWER does the reverse.

Which Google Sheets function shows "Pass" or "Fail" depending on a test such as A1>50?

IF takes a test followed by two results, the first shown when the test is true and the second when it is false, so =IF(A1>50,"Pass","Fail") grades a score in a single formula.

Which Google Sheets function pulls cells in from a separate spreadsheet, identified by its URL?

IMPORTRANGE must be granted permission before it works: the first time one spreadsheet pulls from another, the user is prompted to allow access.

Which Google Sheets tool, added from the Insert menu, summarises a large data set by grouping it?

A pivot table can reveal, for example, which salesperson produced the most revenue in a given month, without a single formula being typed.

Which Google Sheets feature recolours a cell whose value meets a rule, such as falling below zero?

Conditional formatting can also shade a whole column as a colour scale, tinting each cell according to where it falls between a minimum and a maximum.

Which Google Sheets feature lets editors browse a file's earlier states, name them and restore one?

Version history comes with a catch in Sheets: restoring an earlier version clears the cell-by-cell edit history for changes made before the restore.

What does Google Sheets call a recorded series of actions that a keyboard shortcut can replay?

A macro saves time on repetitive tasks, and behind the scenes Google Sheets stores each one as an Apps Script that can be edited by hand.

Which Google Sheets sharing role lets a person leave remarks on cells but not change the data?

Commenter access can be tightened further still: a file's owner can stop commenters and viewers from downloading, printing or copying it.

Strangers who open a Google Sheets file through a public link are shown as anonymous what?

Animals stand in for every viewer who was not invited individually, while people who were invited by name show up under their own names.

Which Google Sheets toolbar tool copies one cell's fonts and colours onto other cells?

Paint format normally switches off after one use, but double-clicking the button keeps it on so the same look can be pasted in several places.

What does Google Sheets call a function placed inside another, as SUM is in =ABS(SUM(A1:A7))?

Nested is Google's term, and the innermost function is always calculated first, with its result handed to the function that surrounds it.

On a PC, the Google Sheets shortcut Ctrl+Shift+V pastes which part of whatever cells were copied?

Values only pastes just the text from the original cells, so the result of a calculation arrives as a plain number, without the formula behind it.

Which Google Sheets screen offers ready-made budgets and other Google-made files to start from?

The template gallery never hands over the original: choosing a design opens a copy, so the master stays untouched for the next person.

Which symbol, typed before a column letter or row number, locks a Google Sheets cell reference?

The dollar sign makes a reference absolute, so $A$1 always points at the same cell, while a plain A1 shifts along as the formula is copied elsewhere.

Which symbol joins text in a Google Sheets formula, doing the same job as the CONCAT function?

The ampersand glues values together, so =A2&" "&B2 turns a first name and a surname held in separate cells into one full name.

Typing which symbol in a Google Sheets cell opens a list of smart chips for people, files and dates?

The at sign is the gateway to smart chips, though tagging a person this way does not automatically give them access to the spreadsheet.

On a PC, which function key switches a Google Sheets reference between relative and absolute?

F4 saves typing the lock symbols by hand, while the F2 key does a different job, toggling range-selection mode as a formula is edited.

Google Sheets grew out of a web spreadsheet built by which startup that Google went on to buy?

2Web Technologies, founded by Jonathan Rochelle and Farzad "Fuzzy" Khosrowshahi, called its product XL2Web before Google turned it into a test open to a limited number of users.

The first limited test of what became Google Sheets ran under which Google programme?

Google Labs hosted the test under the name Google Labs Spreadsheets, offering it to a limited number of users on a first-come, first-served basis.

Google Sheets is part of Google Workspace, a business bundle known by which name from 2016 to 2020?

G Suite even had its own hardware, the Jamboard, a 55-inch digital whiteboard connected to the cloud that Google unveiled in October 2016.

Connected Sheets lets Google Sheets analyse billions of rows held in which Google data warehouse?

BigQuery does the heavy lifting: Connected Sheets sends the work there on the user's behalf and saves the results in the spreadsheet for analysis and sharing.

Which error does a Google Sheets VLOOKUP formula display when its search key cannot be found?

#N/A is short for "value not available", and wrapping the lookup in the IFNA function swaps the error for a friendlier message.

Which Google Sheets function flips a table on its side, so that its rows become columns?

TRANSPOSE has a twin in the paste special menu: "Paste transposed" drops a copied column of cells into a row, and vice versa.

Which relative of the doughnut chart does Google Sheets suggest for showing proportions of a whole?

A pie chart suits shares of a total, whereas Google's own guide points to a line chart for trends over time and a bar chart for comparing categories.