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About this lesson
How to create a new Google spreadsheet and introduction to ‘file, edit, view’ options.
Exercise files
The exercises below will open in a new tab. When signed in to your Google account, go to File --> Make a copy to get an editable copy of the file.
Google Sheets Basic Controls Solution TemplateLink Google Sheets Basic Controls Solution
Link Google Sheets Basic Controls
Link
Quick reference
Creating sheets and basic controls
Google Sheets is a spreadsheet editor app for organizing information.
When to use
Google Sheets has many uses, including organizing finances, scientific data, lists, and calendars.
Instructions
Creating a spreadsheet with a template
- Create a new Google Sheets file
- Click the green symbol in the top left corner to open “Sheets Home”
- Click “more” in the dark area at the top of the screen
- Scroll down to see all the templates and click on the template you want to use
Cells, Rows, and Columns
- A box is called a “cell”
- A horizontal line of cells is called a “row”
- A vertical line of cells is called a “column”
- Rows have numbers and columns have letters
Selecting cells
- Click and drag cells to select them
Changing the sizes of cells
- Click the line between two rows or columns where it displays the column letters or row numbers
- Drag the line to change the size of the row or column
- Double click the line to resize the row or column to fit the cell with the most text
“File” options
- Share - Share the file
- New - Create a new file
- Open - Open a file from Google Drive
- Rename - Change the file name
- Make a copy - Make a copy of the file
- Move to - Move the file to a different folder
- Move to trash - Remove the file from Drive
- Import - Add data from another spreadsheet
- See revision history - See all changes made to the file over time
- Spreadsheet settings
- Locale: Changes format of functions, dates, currency, etc.
- Time zone: Changes time zone for all time-related functions
- Recalculation: Changes when the NOW, TODAY, RAND, and RANDBETWEEN functions are updated.
- Download as - Download the file as various file types
- Publish to the web - Make the file available to view publicly online
- Email collaborators - Email the people the file has been shared with
- Email as attachment - Send the file as an attachment to an email
- Document details - See where a file is located in Drive, who created the file, when, and when it was last edited
- Print - Print the presentation
“Edit” options
- Undo - Undo the last action
- Redo - Undo an undo
- Cut - Cut text
- Copy - Copy text
- Paste - Paste text
- Paste special
- Paste values only: Paste text and numbers in the format of the destination cell
- Paste format only: Apply the format of the copied cell to the destination cell
- Paste all except borders: Paste text and numbers and format, but keep the borders of the destination cell
- Paste column widths only: Apply the width of the copied cell to the destination cell
- Paste formula only: Paste the formula of the copied cell to the destination cell
- Paste data validation only: Paste the data validation rules of the copied cell to the destination cell
- Paste conditional formatting only: Paste the conditional formatting rules of the copied cell to the destination cell
- Paste transpose: Paste the copied cells, but make rows into columns and columns into rows
- Find and Replace - Find text and replace it with different text
- Delete values - Delete the contents of the selected cell, but not the formatting or borders
- Delete rows - Delete selected rows
- Delete columns - Delete selected columns
- Clear notes - Delete notes made on the selected cells
- 00:05 Google Sheets is the spreadsheet application within Google Drive.
- 00:09 Spreadsheets are ideal for
- 00:11 managing quantitative information such as dates, numbers or money.
- 00:17 But spreadsheets can be used for many, many different purposes.
- 00:21 For example, if you would like to manage a large quantity of information,
- 00:25 perhaps a long list of names.
- 00:28 Spreadsheets can be an excellent way to manage, filter, and
- 00:32 sort those pieces of information.
- 00:35 Now when we are dealing with a spreadsheet,
- 00:38 we wanna become familiar with some particular terminology.
- 00:42 Each and every square within a spreadsheet is referred to as a cell,
- 00:49 and a cell intersects a column and a row.
- 00:53 Columns are vertical and
- 00:55 are identified by the letter of the alphabet at the top of the screen.
- 01:00 Rows are horizontal and
- 01:03 are identified by numbers on the left hand side of the screen.
- 01:07 So when I select this particular cell
- 01:10 I can reference it by saying I have selected cell C4.
- 01:15 And that's gonna become very helpful,
- 01:18 very handy as we start to look at the relationships between cells, and
- 01:23 as we create formulas within a combination of cells.
- 01:28 Now you can start a spreadsheet from scratch or you can start with a template.
- 01:35 To select a template,
- 01:36 select the Sheets home icon in the top left hand corner of your screen.
- 01:43 Here we can preview some of the templates within the Template Gallery.
- 01:48 Let's say, for example, I would like to create an expense report,
- 01:53 here's an Expense report template that we can use.
- 01:56 By selecting it, it will open up a new sheet here within Google Drive.
- 02:03 And at first glance, this may look a little bit like a Google Document.
- 02:08 Something that is ready to be printed on a regular piece of paper.
- 02:13 It's important to note that you can edit information within Google Sheets so
- 02:17 that it can be print ready just like we see here.
- 02:21 But even though this may look much more like a word processor document,
- 02:26 it is actually made up of individual cells as you see here.
- 02:31 And right away, I can start entering pieces of information or
- 02:35 editing this sample information that we see here.
- 02:40 Although most of the options within the file and
- 02:43 edit menus are the same as we've seen in other Google Drive applications.
- 02:48 I would encourage you to review the reference guide as a part of this lesson.
- 02:52 So now that you know a little bit more about spreadsheets Let's take
- 02:57 a deeper dive on how we can use and maximize the use of Google Sheets.
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