Tag Archives: Google Sheets

Improved admin controls over offline access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on the web

Protecting proprietary and sensitive data is a top priority for many G Suite admins, just as is enabling their employees to work anywhere, anytime—with or without an internet connection. Today, we’re making it easier for admins to balance those interests by introducing settings in the Admin console for managing users’ access to Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files offline.

Going forward, admins will have the following options to control offline access on desktop computers (in the Admin console at Apps > G Suite > Drive and Docs > Data Access):

  1. Control offline access using device policies - If an admin selects this option, she will need to take additional steps to control offline access for her users. IMPORTANT:
    • If an admin does not want to enable offline access for ANY of her users, she should select this option and not take the extra steps to implement device policies on managed computers.
    • If offline access was previously enabled in an organization and an admin selects this option, her users will lose offline access until she takes the extra steps to implement device policies on managed computers.
  2. Allow users to enable offline access (recommended) - If an admin selects this option, his end users will be able to manually enable offline access from their Docs or Drive settings. Before doing so, the user will be asked if the computer is a trusted one and warned not to turn on the setting for any public or shared device.


If offline access is enabled for all or specific computers, recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on those computers will be automatically synced to the device and made available offline. This should improve the user experience on Docs, Sheets, and Slides, allowing employees to continue working, uninterrupted, even when their internet connection is poor or failing. Please note that these settings will not apply to non-Docs, non-Sheets, and non-Slides files in Drive.


If you previously allowed users to enable offline Docs, the second setting above (Allow users to enable offline access (recommended)) will be ON when these new settings launch, meaning your users will continue to have offline access.


If you previously didn’t allow users to enable offline Docs, the first setting above (Control offline access using device policies) will be ON when these new settings launch, meaning your users will not have offline access until you take the additional steps required to implement it.


Please note that these settings only apply to Docs, Sheets, and Slides in a Chrome browser on a desktop computer; they have no impact on automatic syncing to Android and iOS devices or on files synced using Google Drive for Mac/PC.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release 

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI


More Information



New Google Drive metrics now accessible from Reports API

Posted by Rio Akasaka, Product Manager, Google Drive and Wesley Chun (@wescpy), G Suite Developer Advocate

You might have read that we launched new metrics in the Admin SDK Reports API to help you gain reliable, easily-validated perspectives about users within your domain. Today, we're building on these features by giving administrators and developers even greater visibility into how files are shared both inside and outside of domain. These changes include:
  1. New metrics to supplement the set of metrics we launched last year 
  2. New visibility information for audit events 
  3. Deprecation of existing metrics from the Reports API

New Metrics

We’ve created a new set of metrics to complete the set we launched last year. With these new metrics you can:
  • Gain insight into the visibility of files and their sharing state, which is useful for security and reporting. This will replace these older metrics:
    num_docs_internally_visible, num_docs_externally_visible, num_docs_shared_outside_domain.
  • Report on product adoption within your domain with summary statistics about groups of users (collaborators, viewers, creators and sharers). Take advantage of key adoption metrics such as 1-, 7-, and 30-day active users for Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings and more. 
  • Simplify your calculation of “what has changed” in your domain using delta metrics which pre-calculate changes in visibility and items owned.

New Visibility Information 

Now, new visibility information is attached to every audit event which helps you quickly identify the permission change events that lead to files being shared differently both within and outside your domain. Learn more.

Deprecating Existing Metrics 

While we’re aware of the need to have reliable and timely data about your domain’s users and files on Google Drive, Drive’s data and infrastructure has grown considerably, requiring us to make some difficult technical tradeoffs regarding metrics. As a result, today marks the beginning of a 12-month deprecation timeline that will retire these existing metrics from the Reports API and eventually the Admin Console. These metrics will no longer be available starting May 14, 2018.

To get started using the Reports API and see all the different types of metrics you can report on for your domain, check out the official documentation. We hope you find these features useful in your reporting.

Sales Cloud integration with Google Sheets

Last fall, we announced efforts with Salesforce to build tighter integrations with G Suite apps, and as of last week, businesses can now use Edit Opportunities in Google Sheets to save time. Sales reps can simply sync a Salesforce Opportunity List View to Sheets to bulk edit data, and the changes are synced automatically to Salesforce, no upload required.

This integration supports business logic and validation rules and even lets sales reps use Explore in Sheets to help answer natural language questions.

Launch Details
Note: This is a Salesforce launch, available to all Sales Cloud customers who also use Google Sheets. 

More Information
Salesforce AppExchange


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Support for rotated text, accounting number formats, and more in Google Sheets

We’re working hard to ensure that Google Sheets meets your business needs. As part of that effort, today we’re introducing several enterprise-friendly features that you’ve been asking for in Sheets on the web, Android, and iOS:

Rotated text
You can now rotate the text in a cell in Sheets (Format > Text rotation). This is especially useful when you need to fit long header names into thin columns, or when you simply want to fit more text on a single screen.


Accounting number formats
We’re making it easier to read your budgets, expense reports, and other spreadsheets containing monetary amounts by aligning the currency symbols within them (Format > Number > Accounting). We’re also making improvements to the way numbers, decimal points, and repeated characters line up to make them simpler to scan and analyze.


More border styles
You can now choose from several new border styles in Sheets, including various thicknesses and double borders, which are commonly used in financial statements like balance sheets (Toolbar > Borders > Border styles).

Additional improvements on mobile
In addition to the features described above, we’re also launching the following improvements to our mobile apps:
  • Support for using a mouse with the Sheets Android app
  • Ability to view and select existing custom colors in the Sheets Android app
  • Ability to drag and drop rows and columns in the Sheets Android and iOS apps
  • Formatting suggestions in Explore in the Sheets iOS app


For more details, check out the Help Center articles below.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

  • All mobile features
  • Additional border styles on the web

Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming on March 6, 2017

  • Rotated text on the web
  • Accounting number formats on the web

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Edit and format a spreadsheet
Help Center: Format numbers in a spreadsheet
Help Center: Edit rows, columns & cells in a spreadsheet
Help Center: See and use suggested charts and analysis in a spreadsheet


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A new admin privilege for managing custom templates in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms

In November 2016, we introduced custom templates in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms, allowing teams to spend less time formatting and more time brainstorming, collaborating, and sharing their ideas. We also gave G Suite Business, Education, and Enterprise customers the following optional controls in the Admin console:

  • Moderated - require that user-submitted templates be approved by admins with the Drive and Docs admin privilege
  • Restricted - restrict template submission to admins with the Drive and Docs admin privilege
With this launch, it’s no longer necessary to provision the full Drive and Docs privilege to admins who want the ability to moderate and manage templates. Instead, you can grant those admins a new Docs Templates privilege, which gives them the ability to approve templates and modify template settings in the Admin console, but not the authority to change other Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms settings. Admins who retain the full Drive and Docs privilege will continue to be able to manage templates.



This change will allow your organization to manage custom templates in a scalable way, without relinquishing control over sensitive admin settings. For more details on the Docs Templates privilege and for instructions on managing templates, check out the Help Center articles below.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Editions:
Available to G Suite Business, Education, and Enterprise editions only

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Administrator privilege definitions - Docs Templates
Help Center: Enable custom templates for Docs, Sheets, and Slides


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Link to cell ranges in Google Sheets

Because it can be difficult to navigate large and complex spreadsheets, we’re introducing the ability to link to specific cell ranges in Google Sheets on the web.

With this new functionality, you can create a “table of contents” for your spreadsheet, direct others to specific content within your spreadsheet, and retain links to cells when you import spreadsheets from other applications.

To link to cells in your spreadsheet, simply go to "Insert link" > "Select a range of cells to link" and type or highlight the desired range. For more details, visit the Help Center.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming on February 21st, 2017

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Add, edit, or remove a link, bookmark, or page break


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Creating files from templates now easier in Google Drive

Since 2015, we’ve been making it easier to focus on your content—not your formatting—with templates in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms. We’ve introduced templates for invoices, pitch decks, and cases studies, as well as templates designed by experts and developed specifically for your organization.

Today, we’re making it easier for users to create files from templates by granting access to templates directly from Drive. Instead of navigating to the Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Forms home pages, you can simply go to Drive > New > Google Docs/Sheets/Slides/Forms > From a template. From there, you’ll be directed to the applicable template gallery, where you can select the template of your choice.


For more details on templates, visit the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in three weeks

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Create a file from a template


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New features for your Google Docs and Sheets mobile apps

Today’s updates to the Google Docs and Sheets mobile apps bring several new and useful features to your Android and iOS devices. Read on for more information.

On your Android phone or tablet, you can now:



    On your iPhone or iPad, you can now:


    Download the latest versions of these apps from Google Play or the App Store.

    Launch Details
    Release track:
    Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

    Editions:
    Available to all G Suite editions

    Rollout pace:
    Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

    Impact:
    All end users

    Action:
    Change management suggested/FYI

    More Information
    Help Center: Add headers, footers & page numbers
    Help Center: Crop and adjust images
    Help Center: Print or change the page setup
    Help Center: Edit and format a spreadsheet


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    Legacy versions of Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides mobile apps shutting down on April 3, 2017

    On April 3, 2017, we will shut down older versions of the following Android and iOS applications: 

    • Google Drive for Android (prior to version 2.4.311)
    • Google Docs for Android (prior to version 1.6.292)
    • Google Sheets for Android (prior to version 1.6.292)
    • Google Slides for Android (prior to version 1.6.292)


    • Google Drive for iOS (prior to version 4.16)
    • Google Docs for iOS (prior to version 1.2016.12204)
    • Google Sheets for iOS (prior to version 1.2016.12208)
    • Google Slides for iOS (prior to version 1.2016.12203)

    This month, users of these legacy versions will begin seeing the below prompts to upgrade. Please note that after March 1, some users with very old versions will be forced to upgrade when they receive the prompt.


    If you are using any of these unsupported versions, we encourage you to download and install the latest version of that mobile application. Note that corresponding web and desktop applications will not be affected by this change. On most devices, you can find an app’s version type in its settings menu.


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    Insert and delete groups of cells in Google Sheets

    We know that data in spreadsheets isn’t always neatly distributed across entire rows and columns; oftentimes, for instance, sheets contain multiple tables and regions of data that can’t be separated. With this launch, we’re making it easier to insert cells into these sheets without disturbing that content. Going forward, you can add a rectangular block of cells to any spreadsheet on the web, and it will simply shift the surrounding cells down or to the right. You can delete chunks of cells in the same way.



    You can insert cells from Insert menu and delete cells from the Edit menu. Both features are also accessible when you right-click on a cell. For more information, check out the Help Center.

    Launch Details
    Release track:
    Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in two weeks

    Editions:
    Available to all G Suite editions

    Rollout pace:
    Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

    Impact:
    All end users

    Action:
    Change management suggested/FYI

    More Information
    Help Center: Edit rows and columns in a spreadsheet


    Launch release calendar
    Launch detail categories
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