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Google Sheets

Google Sheets is the equivalent of Microsoft’s Excel with a lot of common functionality but also some notable differences.

Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet that is part of the free Google Docs Editors suite, which also includes other programs such as Google Forms, Slides, Drawings, Docs and Sites.

Best Feature of Google Sheets: Collaboration

One of the most notable features of Google Sheets compared to Microsoft Excel was the ability to share, collaborate and work on a spreadsheet with others in a live spreadsheet document. If you’re working on a spreadsheet with others and want to stay in touch with them, you can set up chat windows with them and send them messages directly within the sheet.

When collaborating with others, you can assign different levels of permission to each collaborator. Some collaborators have the right to make changes to the spreadsheet, while others will only be able to view it. To set the level of access, click on the Share button, enter the email address of those you wish to share the spreadsheet with, and then select their editing type by choosing either: Editor, Viewer or Commentor. Finally, you can add a message or choose not even to let them know before clicking Send (or Share).

You can also make the spreadsheet available to anybody who has a link or just to those you have specifically shared the spreadsheet with.

What About Google Sheets Offline?

One initial disadvantage of Google Sheets compared to Microsoft Excel is that Excel spreadsheets can be worked on offline. While it is rare to be in an area where there is no internet connectivity, it still may be necessary to work on a spreadsheet offline.

Thankfully, Google Sheets has enabled the use of being able to work on a Sheet offline. If you think there may be a time when you will need to work on a Google Sheet offline, install the offline extension here.

Extending Google Sheets With Code

One other powerful element of the whole Google Docs Suite is the ability to write specific code to help supplement some of the functionality you may need to get a spreadsheet to work the way you want.

With Microsoft Excel, you have the Visual Basic Editor to write Visual Basic code, but with Google Sheets, you have the ability to write Javascript code using the Google App Script library.

One other final benefit of Google Sheets is that it is constantly evolving and improving over time. There are no versions of Google Sheets that you need to worry about when sharing the document with others as Google Sheets apply any updates automatically to its application.

Overall, Google Sheets is an impressive application to help make spreadsheet work more enjoyable.