Tag Archives: Google Sheets

Google Sheets adds powerful new functions for advanced analysis

What’s changing

Last year, we launched Named functions, along with several powerful functions in Google Sheets, including LAMBDA and XLOOKUP. 

Today, we’re excited to announce 11 additional functions that will introduce new concepts, provide you with more efficient functions, and help with more advanced analysis: 
  • EPOCHTODATE: Converts a Unix epoch timestamp in seconds, milliseconds, or microseconds to a datetime in UTC. 
  • MARGINOFERROR: Calculates the amount of random sampling error given a range of values and a confidence level. 
  • TOROW: Transforms an array or range of cells into a single row. 
  • TOCOL: Transforms an array or range of cells into a single column. 
  • CHOOSEROWS: Creates a new array from the selected rows in the existing range. 
  • CHOOSECOLS: Creates a new array from the selected columns in the existing range. 
  • WRAPROWS: Wraps the provided row or column of cells by rows after a specified number of elements to form a new array. 
  • WRAPCOLS: Wraps the provided row or column of cells by columns after a specified number of elements to form a new array. 
  • VSTACK: Appends ranges vertically and in sequence to return a larger array. 
  • HSTACK: Appends ranges horizontally and in sequence to return a larger array. 
  • LET: Assigns name with the value_expression results and returns the result of the formula_expression. The formula_expression can use the names defined in the scope of the LET function. The value_expressions are evaluated only once in the LET function even if the following value_expressions or the formula_expression use them multiple times. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

In addition to providing advanced statistical calculations like margin of error, these functions provide new functionality in the form of: 
  • Powerful new ways to manipulate and work with arrays using TOROW, TOCOL, WRAPROWS, WRAPCOLS, CHOOSEROWS, CHOOSECOLS, VSTACK, and HSTACK. 
  • Converting Unix EPOCH dates to readable formats without the need for manual calculations using EPOCHTODATE. 
  • More efficient and simpler to read complex formulas that use LET to assign names to calculation results.

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: In Google Sheets, all functions can be inserted using the function autocomplete after pressing the equal symbol, using the insert menu, or the function dropdown in the toolbar. 

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – January 6, 2023

There are no new updates or previous announcements this week. Please see below for rollout progress for previously announced features. 


Completed rollouts 

The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both. Please refer to the original blog posts for additional details. 


Rapid Release Domains: 

Scheduled Release Domains: 

Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains: 


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – December 9, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 




See collaborator avatars in the toolbar of apps on Android devices 
In continuation of our efforts to improve the Google Workspace experience on large screen Android devices, we’re moving collaborator avatars from the overflow menu into the app toolbar at the top of your Android tablets and mobile devices. 
widgets on android
Pin table headers when using pageless format on Google Docs 
When your Google Doc is set to the pageless format, you can now pin one or more table rows as header rows. When you scroll vertically past the top of the table, the headers will remain visible at the top of the window until you scroll to the bottom of the table. | Learn more. 
pinned headers
Easily share files in Google Meet chat on web 
Currently, when you share the link to a Google Drive file in Meet chat, you have to ensure the document is shared with those on the call, either proactively or reactively, on a separate screen. Starting this week, when sharing a file in Meet chat, you will now be prompted to update the file sharing permissions to reflect which meeting attendees you’d like to have access to a particular file, all within Meet. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 5, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). | Learn more. 


Warning banners for external email recipients on iOS devices
Beginning today, you'll see a warning banner when adding external recipients to an email on iOS. These warnings are already available for Gmail on the web and Android devices. Note that admins can turn these specific warning labels on or off for their organization. | Roll out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains began December 9, 2022 at an extended pace (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility). 


Improvements for using Miro in Google Meet
We've made two enhancements for the Miro experience within Google Meet:
  • Meeting participants will see a dialog invite instead of a chat message asking them to join a whiteboarding session.
  • Meeting hosts now have the option to end collaboration for the group as a whole. Alternatively, meeting participants will have the ability to leave the session individually.
We hope these improvements create a smoother collaborative experience when using Miro within Google Meet. | Learn more here and here.






Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



More ways to prevent data exfiltration on iOS devices 
In 2020, we released several data exfiltration protections for iOS devices. Today, we’re announcing the next set of enhancements for data exfiltration protections for iOS. We’re expanding these security controls to give admins more ways to protect sensitive company data on iOS devices. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise for Education, and Cloud Identity Premium customers only. | Learn more. 


New default setting for content managers to modify shared drives coming in February 2023 
Starting this week, admins will see a new shared drive setting that can be enabled or disabled to give content managers the ability to share folders in shared drives. In February 2023, all content managers will have the ability to share folders by default. If you’d like this feature to remain off for end users, disable the setting now. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more. 


Create drop-down chips in Google Sheets 
We’ve added dropdown chips in Google Sheets, a custom formatting feature that is already available in Docs. They also enable you to easily indicate statuses or various project milestones outlined in your Sheet. | Learn more. 


Collaborate with colleagues in Google Slides through a new ‘Follow’ feature
We’re introducing a new ‘Follow’ feature that allows you to collaborate with colleagues in real-time on Google Slides. Simply, click on a collaborator’s avatar in the Slides toolbar to jump to whatever slide they are on, and continue to move with them as they navigate and make changes to a presentation. | Learn more.



Completed feature rollouts


The features below completed their rollouts to Rapid Release domains, Scheduled Release domains, or both in the past week. Please refer to the original blog post for additional details.


Rapid Release Domains:


Rapid and Scheduled Release Domains:




For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Create drop-down chips in Google Sheets

What’s changing 

Today we’re adding dropdown chips in Google Sheets. This is the latest smart canvas feature highlighting the next evolution of collaboration for Google Workspace. Dropdown chips are a custom formatting feature that is already available in Docs, and they enable you to easily indicate statuses or various project milestones outlined in your Sheet. 

Additionally, we’ve modified the workflow for creating and managing all data validation rules, including dropdown chips and checkboxes. You can now view and edit all existing rules that have been created in a specific Sheets tab and create additional rules from a new sidebar view. This update improves the consistency of your overall Sheets experience as this now mirrors the workflows for creating conditional formatting, protected ranges, and named ranges rules. 

Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default. You can insert a dropdown chip by selecting Insert > Dropdown or by typing “@” followed by “dropdown”.Visit the Help Center to learn more about inserting smart chips in your Google Sheets.

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 25, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 



Resizing Pivot Tables in Sheets
We’re excited to announce a requested feature that allows you to resize the pivot table editor side panel when creating or editing a pivot table. This functionality is especially useful when the names of columns or fields are too long and you want to see the text in its entirety. | Learn more.

Improved search results based on recent search activity in Gmail
In July, we announced better search and suggestion options in Gmail. Now, when using Gmail on the web, this also includes better search results based on your recent search activity in Gmail. This enhancement to Gmail search makes results more relevant and contextual. | Learn more. 


Share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files in Google Meet chat 
Earlier this year, we announced the ability to join or present to a Google Meet call from Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides. Now, if you are presenting or joining a meeting from a file, you can easily share that file with meeting attendees through in-meeting chat. With this update you’re able to grant access to a document, spreadsheet, or presentation to all or select meeting attendees, allowing everyone in the meeting to collaborate while having a conversation. | Learn more. 

Previous announcements


There are no previous announcements to share this week. For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).



Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 18, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 



Drag content from Google Slides into other apps on Android
Over the last several months, we’ve added numerous new features and functionality to products like Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Keep on Android devices. This week, we’ve launched the ability to easily drag text and image content from Google Slides into other apps on Android. | Learn more.

Improving drag & drop on the Google Drive Android app
Earlier this year, we launched drag & drop in Drive, allowing you to quickly upload files by dragging and dropping them into the app. This week, we’re improving this feature by enabling you to also drag & drop files and folders around in your Drive to move their location as you see fit. This can be done either in the two-window view or in the single app view. | Learn more. 


Full mouse support now available on Google Docs Android App
Expect full mouse support while using Google Docs on Android that will mirror mouse behavior on the web. For example, clicking and dragging across text will now select that specific text instead of panning the entire document. 


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Concentrate or disconnect with scheduled Do Not Disturb on Google Chat
You can now set a recurring schedule so you are not disturbed by Chat notifications on web, Android, and iOS. | Learn more. 


Use Access Approvals to control data access during support or maintenance 
This week, we introduced Access Approvals, which builds on Access Transparency and Access Management. Access Approvals allows customers to explicitly approve or deny Google employees access to data during support and general maintenance. Access approvals will be rolling out over the course of the next several weeks. | Access Approvals is part of Google Workspace Assured Controls, which is available as an add-on for Google Workspace Enterprise Plus customers only. For more information, contact your Google account representative. | Learn more.


New Consolidated Controls Page for Google Takeout
Beginning November 15, 2022, admins can manage Takeout settings from a new consolidated controls page, located at Admin console > Account > Google Takeout > User access to Takeout for Google services. We anticipate the new page to be fully rolled out within the next few weeks. | Learn more. 


Sharing suggestions in Google Drive make collaborating easier
We've made it easier to share files with the people you typically share with in Google Drive. With this feature, suggested recipients will appear in the sharing dialog to speed up collaboration across your organization. | Learn more. 



For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Use Key Migration to change or add key services for Client-side encryption

What’s changing 

As we continue to expand Client-side encryption (CSE) across Google Workspace products, we’re introducing Key Migration which allows admins to enable additional key services or change their existing key service. In both cases, built-in controls ensure key migrations are performed safely, with support for backup key services and potential roll backs. These ensure encrypted data remains inaccessible to Google and fidelity is maintained through the migration process. 




Who’s impacted 

Admins 


Why it’s important 

Client-side encryption gives admins direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. Google never has access to the keys, rendering the data indecipherable, which may help organizations meet regulatory compliance in many regions. 


This update gives admins the flexibility to perform key rotations that best suit their organizational policies—including having different key services —or resolve key service availability issues. Customers can add a new key, assign it to an organizational unit or group and migrate any content encrypted by the previous key to be encrypted by the new key. During this migration process the new key is backed up by an existing key as a safeguard mechanism. Once customers are confident in their new key and have completed any migrations they can remove the backup key. 


Additionally, this release provides more granular control for our customers in maintaining their encryption keys by accommodating situations where they may choose to switch key service providers, move from on-premise to a managed service, and migrate encrypted content. 


Getting started 


Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers 

Resources

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – November 4, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 


Use smart chips in Google Sheets as links on mobile 
With smart canvas, you’re currently able quickly add people and files into Google Sheets with smart chips on the web. Starting this week on mobile, these chips are treated like linked text and will show relevant hovercards and context menu items. 

Offline printing now available for Google Sheets 
We’ve launched offline printing to support users working in a Sheet with offline access. In addition, emojis and system fonts are now included in offline printing. This feature is only available to those using Google Chrome. As a reminder, your organization can encrypt Sheets files with Workspace Client-side encryption, an additional feature supported by offline printing. | Learn more. 


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.



Improved flow for expiring access controls in Google Drive 
You can now set expiring access when sharing files in My Drive. This update improves the existing expiring access capabilities by allowing you to add an expiration when sharing, as opposed to after a person already has access to the file. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 

Reminder to migrate your classic Google Sites before January 30, 2023 
We’re extending the previously announced timeline to give Google Workspace customers more time to migrate from classic Google Sites to new Google Sites: 
  • On January 30, 2023 (previously December 1, 2022): We will begin to turn off the ability to edit any remaining classic Sites in your domain. Your classic Sites will remain viewable until the automatic conversion.
  • After January 30, 2023 (previously January 1, 2023): We will begin to automatically convert all remaining classic Sites to new Sites drafts for site owners to review and publish, and export static archives to Google Takeout. Your classic Sites will be deleted after they are converted to new Sites. Note: Refer to the CSV file included with the export generated after your domain’s autoconversion completes for any classic Sites we were unable to convert. | Learn more.
Google for Education transformation reports window open for customers worldwide 
Google for Education transformation reports are available for K-12 Google Workspace for Education customers worldwide, at no cost. Note: transformation reports are only available in English at this time. | Available to K-12 Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade customers only. | Learn more. 

Manage projects & tasks with a new timeline view on Google Sheets 
We’ve introduced an interactive timeline view that allows you to track projects in Google Sheets. This new visual layer displays project information stored in Sheets, such as the task start and end date, description, and owner. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 


For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).

Manage projects & tasks with a new timeline view on Google Sheets

This announcement was made at Google Cloud Next ‘22. Visit the Cloud Blog to learn more about the latest Google Workspace innovations for the ever-changing world of work. 

What’s changing

To extend the power of smart canvas, we’re introducing an interactive timeline view that allows you to track projects in Google Sheets. This new visual layer displays project information stored in Sheets, such as the task start and end date, description, and owner.
timeline view

Who’s impacted 

End users 


Why you’d use it 

The timeline view enables you to easily interact with project information and can help you manage things like marketing campaigns, project milestones, schedules, cross-team collaboration, and more. 


Additional details 

By clicking on a card within the timeline, you can view more information about the project in the sidebar. You can also view your timeline at various time intervals (day, week, month, quarters, year, and multiyear). 


Getting started 

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. 
  • End users: To create a timeline, navigate to Insert > Timeline > select a data range > configure the attributes in the timeline settings sidebar. Once created, you can view the timeline at different time intervals, jump to the current date, change the visual appearance of the timeline by adjusting spacing or using colors, and more. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Timeline View.

Rollout pace 


Availability 

  • Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers 
  • Not available to legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers 
  • Not available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 21, 2022

New updates 

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time (if not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers. 

Initiate dialog workflows from the Chat app using message cards
Previously, the only way for developers and Chat app users to open dialogs was through slash commands. Now, we’re adding the ability to trigger the dialog by using buttons on an in-stream message card. This addition provides a much more convenient way to initiate workflows that involve dialog surfaces. | Learn more. 


Add shared drives to specific organizational units, now generally available 
Earlier this year, we launched a beta that allows admins to place shared drives into sub organizational units (OUs). Doing so enables admins to configure sharing policies, data regions, access management, and more at a granular level. We’re excited to announce this is now generally available. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Standard, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more. 


See when colleagues are out of the office on Android 
When viewing a person information card in Google Voice, Calendar, Gmail, and Chat on Android, you are now able to see your colleagues’ out-of-office status via an out-of-office banner. The banner also shows when the person is expected to return. 

More ways to work with, display, and organize your content across Google Workspace on Android
  • Link previews in Google Sheets: We’re improving the Android experience by adding link previews to Sheets. This feature is already available on the web and allows you to get context from linked content without bouncing between apps and screens. | Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 24, 2022. | Learn more. 
  • Google Sheets drag & drop improvements: We’ve enhanced drag & drop support for the Sheets Android app by adding the ability to drag, copy, and share charts and in-cell images.


Previous announcements


The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.


Workspace Admins are now notified when Label editing is restricted by set rules
We’ve added a new Label Manager UI feature showing which rules a label is used within. Specifically, a message identifying and linking the label to the exact rule(s) will now appear in the Label Manager to ensure admins understand why label modification is disabled. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard customers only. | Learn more.


Encouraging Working Location coverage across organizations 
Admins now have access to a new tool that aims to drive Working Location usage across their organizations. This setting adds a customizable banner to users’ Calendar either encouraging or requiring them to set up their working location. | Available to Google Workspace Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.


Enhanced menus in Google Slides and Drawings improves findability of key features 
We’re updating the menus in Google Slides and Google Drawings to make it easier to locate the most commonly-used features. | Learn more.


Preview or download client-side encrypted files with Google Drive on Android and iOS 
Admins for select Google Workspace editions can update their client-side encryption configurations to include Drive Android and iOS. When enabled, users can preview or download client-side encrypted files. | Learn more.


Split table cells in Google Docs to better organize information
You can now split table cells into a desired number of rows and columns in Google Docs. | Learn more.


Updates to storage management tools in the Admin console 
To further enhance the set of tools for managing storage, we’re rolling out a new Storage Admin role. The ability to apply storage limits to shared drives and a new column called Shared drive ID in the Manage Shared Drives page are coming soon. | Learn more.


Hold separate conversations in Google Chat spaces with in-line threading 
You can now reply directly to any message in new spaces and some existing spaces. This creates a separate in-line thread where smaller groups of people can continue a conversation on a specific topic. | Learn more.


Conversation summaries in Google Chat help you stay on top of messages in Spaces 
We've introduced conversation summaries in Google Chat on web, which provide a helpful digest of conversations in a space, allowing you to quickly catch-up on unread messages and navigate to the most relevant threads. | Available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.


Present Google Slides directly in Google Meet 
You will now be able to control your Slides and engage with your audience all in one screen by presenting Slides from Meet. This updated experience can help you present with greater confidence and ultimately make digital interactions feel more like when you’re physically together. | Available to Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits customers only. | Learn more.


Easily find Google Workspace Marketplace apps with enhanced search filters 
We’ve introduced enhanced search filters in the Google Workspace Marketplace to help you quickly find relevant apps. These new filters allow you to search by category, price, rating whether it’s a private app for the organization, if it works with other apps, and more. | Available to Google Workspace Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more.


Improving the Google Chat and Gmail search experience on web and mobile 
In order to help you find more accurate and customized search suggestions and results, we’ve introduced three features that improve the Google Chat and Gmail search experience on web and mobile: Search suggestions, Gmail labels, and Related results. | Learn more.