Tag Archives: Google Sheets

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

What’s changing 
Google Drive stores your most important files, whether they are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, images or the hundreds of other file types we support today. Today, we are announcing more ways to make sure you can make them all accessible to you even when your internet connection is unavailable. 

In 2019, we launched a beta which enabled you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. Now, we’re making this functionality generally available. When you mark these files available offline, you can easily open these files from your browser even when you aren’t connected to the internet.

Easily find files offline


 

ChromeOS users can now also use the easily accessible Files app on their Chromebook to select Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files to be available when offline. This streamlined access eliminates the need to open Google Drive or Google Docs to select files to make them available offline. 

Find files offline
 

Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 
 
Why you’d use it 
Users can access all of their important Drive files while offline such as when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity. 

Additional details 
Non-Google files such as PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files will need to be opened using apps installed on your computer through Google Drive Web when offline. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium, G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available on personal accounts as well. 

Resources 

Roadmap 

Easily make all files types available offline in Google Drive

What’s changing 
Google Drive stores your most important files, whether they are Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, images or the hundreds of other file types we support today. Today, we are announcing more ways to make sure you can make them all accessible to you even when your internet connection is unavailable. 

In 2019, we launched a beta which enabled you to mark non-Google file types, like PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files, available offline when using Google Drive on the web. Now, we’re making this functionality generally available. When you mark these files available offline, you can easily open these files from your browser even when you aren’t connected to the internet.

Easily find files offline


 

ChromeOS users can now also use the easily accessible Files app on their Chromebook to select Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files to be available when offline. This streamlined access eliminates the need to open Google Drive or Google Docs to select files to make them available offline. 

Find files offline
 

Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 
 
Why you’d use it 
Users can access all of their important Drive files while offline such as when they’re traveling or when there’s poor internet connectivity. 

Additional details 
Non-Google files such as PDFs, images and Microsoft Office files will need to be opened using apps installed on your computer through Google Drive Web when offline. This feature is already available for Google Drive for desktop users. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 
Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium, G Suite Basic and Business customers. Available on personal accounts as well. 

Resources 

Roadmap 

View embedded Office files in your documents

What’s changing 

You can now view embedded Microsoft Office files in your documents when you’re working with Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.. This feature allows you to:  
  • View the files in preview mode, Copy an embedded file directly to Drive, or download it. 
  • View your embedded files from Office in your documents 

View your embedded files from Office in your documents
 View your embedded files from Office in your documents
Who’s impacted 
Admins and end users 

Why it matters 
We’ve heard your feedback that it’s important to be able to access embedded files within your Microsoft Office files. This feature enables you to access embedded Office files within your existing Office files from Docs, Sheets, and Slides for a seamless work experience. 

Getting started 

Rollout pace 

Availability 
Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers. Also available to users with personal Google Accounts 

Resources

New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets

Quick summary 

You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets. 

Formula suggestions will make it easier to write new formulas accurately and help make data analysis quicker and easier.

Simply begin inserting a formula in Sheets—suggestions will be automatically displayed and as you continue to type. You can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu.

Google Sheets will intelligently suggest formulas and functions as you work with data in Sheets.


We hope these formula suggestions make it easier and faster for you to work with and analyze your data.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be available  by default and can be disabled by going to Tools > Enable formula suggestions or from the three-dot menu of the suggestion dialog box. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using formulas and functions in Google Sheets. 

Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources


New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets

Quick summary 

You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets. 

Formula suggestions will make it easier to write new formulas accurately and help make data analysis quicker and easier.

Simply begin inserting a formula in Sheets—suggestions will be automatically displayed and as you continue to type. You can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu.

Google Sheets will intelligently suggest formulas and functions as you work with data in Sheets.


We hope these formula suggestions make it easier and faster for you to work with and analyze your data.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be available  by default and can be disabled by going to Tools > Enable formula suggestions or from the three-dot menu of the suggestion dialog box. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using formulas and functions in Google Sheets. 

Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources


New intelligent suggestions for formulas and functions in Google Sheets

Quick summary 

You’ll now see in-line, sequential, context-aware suggestions for formulas and functions when working with data in Google Sheets. 

Formula suggestions will make it easier to write new formulas accurately and help make data analysis quicker and easier.

Simply begin inserting a formula in Sheets—suggestions will be automatically displayed and as you continue to type. You can view additional incremental suggestions in the drop-down menu.

Google Sheets will intelligently suggest formulas and functions as you work with data in Sheets.


We hope these formula suggestions make it easier and faster for you to work with and analyze your data.

Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be available  by default and can be disabled by going to Tools > Enable formula suggestions or from the three-dot menu of the suggestion dialog box. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using formulas and functions in Google Sheets. 

Rollout pace


Availability

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

Resources


Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – August 20, 2021

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.


Block shares option added to Google Drive sharing emails
Last month, we announced that you could now block shares from another user in Google Drive. es from another user in Google Drive. Now, we're also adding the option to block a user from the sharing notification emails sent from Google Drive. With this addition, you'll be able to start the workflow directly from the email. | 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.

View more insights and take quick action on the Users, Domain, and Billing home cards in the Admin console
You’ll notice important notifications and improved guidance within the cards to help you easily take action on user, billing, and domain management activities on the Admin console homepage. | Learn more. 


Upload customized audio prompts and greetings to Google Voice automated attendant
You can now upload your own pre-recorded prompts and greetings when setting up an automated attendant at Google Voice, in addition to the standard text-to-speech voice ability you currently have. | Available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers with Google Voice standard and premier licenses. | Learn more.


Easily customize theme colors in Sheets and Slides
Now it’s easier to find and select theme colors in Sheets and Slides. | Learn more.


Share where you’re working from in Google Calendar
Starting August 30, 2021, you’ll be able to indicate where you’re working from directly on your calendar. You can add a weekly working location routine and update your location as plans change. Starting August 18, admins will be able to control how the feature is used in their organization. | Learn more.


Limit external messaging to trusted domains in Google Chat
Now, you may choose to limit external chat to people in trusted domains for your entire organization, or set different policies for different OUs. | Learn more.


Dark mode for Google Chat on web
You can now enable dark mode for Google Chat on the web (chat.google.com) and the Google Chat Progressive Web App (PWA). | Learn more.


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

Easily customize theme colors in Sheets and Slides

Quick launch summary

Now it’s easier to find and select theme colors in Sheets and Slides, the two Google Editors that support themes.


The theme colors section is now at the top color picker, and the “theme” placeholder has now been enhanced to show the name of the theme. Now you can easily identify your company brand and use the theme colors of the brand.


To select theme colors, go to any color picker dropdown and click the edit button for your theme color palette. In the theme color sidebar, select a color from the dropdown to begin editing. Note that color changes apply only to the current theme you selected and will not create a new theme.


Example of selecting customized theme colors. In this case the theme is named “Simple Light.”


We hope this new feature will help you customize your presentations in Sheets and Slides and enable you to incorporate your company’s brand colors.


Getting started

  • Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
  • End users: This feature will be ON by default. There is no end user setting for this feature.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 17, 2021


Availability

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

Resources

Directly open Office editing from shared links

 

Quick launch summary 

Now, when you create links to shared Microsoft Office files stored in Drive, they will open directly in Google Docs, Sheets or Slides. Previously, Office files would open in a preview mode first — this streamlined experience allows you to begin editing and collaborating on these files faster. 

This change also updates the alternateLink and webViewLink fields for shared links in the Google Drive API. 


               Office files opening without preview                                                 
Getting started 


Rollout pace 

Availability 
  • Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers 
Resources 

Smart Compose now available in comments for Google Slides, Sheets, and Drawings

Quick launch summary

Last year, we announced Smart Compose in Google Docs, a feature that helps you compose high-quality content faster and more easily. Smart Compose saves you time by cutting back on repetitive writing, reducing the chance of spelling and grammatical errors, and suggesting relevant contextual phrases.

Now, Smart Compose is available in comments for Google Slides, Sheets, and Drawings.

Image of Smart Compose offering a suggestion in a comment
Smart Compose offering a suggestion in a comment.



Getting started

  • End users: This feature will be ON by default and can be disabled by going to Tools > Preferences and unchecking “Show Smart Compose Suggestions.” When enabled, you’ll automatically see Smart Compose suggestions. To accept a suggestion you like, press “tab” or press the right arrow key. Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Smart Compose in Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings.

Rollout pace

  • This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

  • Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, Cloud Identity Free, Cloud Identity Premium

Resources