If you are new to the spreadsheet world or maybe moving from other spreadsheet programs to Google Sheets, it is important to know how you can make a spreadsheet on Google Sheets.
In this article, I will show you step by step process to create a Google Spreadsheet as well as explain all the important features & options needed to build a professional spreadsheet from scratch.
Let’s get started…
01. How to Make a Google Spreadsheet?
- Visit docs.google.com/spreadsheets and sign in with your Google account. Your Google account gives you free access to Google spreadsheet tool.
- Upon log in, you’ll be redirected to the main Google Sheets dashboard (or directory.) Here you’ll see all your existing Google Sheets (if you’ve previsously created some) as well as pre-made templates for different purposes.
- Since we have decided to create a Google Spreadsheet from scratch, we will click on Blank to create a new sheet from scratch.
- Finally, your new spreadsheet will appear in a new browser tab.
02. How to Create a Google Spreadsheet from Google Drive?
Google Drive is a cloud storage service from Google where all your Google Sheets or Docs pages get stored. You can also open a Google Spreadsheet directly from your Google Drive account too. Here is how:
- Visit drive.google.com and click on Go to Drive button.
- Log in to your Google account with your username and password.
- Upon log in, You will be broght to the Google Drive dashboard. Click on New button.
- Next, hover over Google Sheets and select Blank spreadsheet from drop down opttion.
- Finally, your new spreadsheet will appear in a new browser tab.
03. Get Familiar With Google Spreadsheet Interface
Now that you know how to create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets, it is important to get familiar with all the elements of Google Sheets in order to build a professional spreadsheet.
- Home – Clicking on this icon will take you back to the Google Sheets dashboard page.
- Name – By default any new sheet will be named “untitled spreadsheet,” You can click on it to rename it something else.
- ToolBar Menu – Here you’ll get various feature under each option to modify and build a professional spreadsheet. Just click on one of the option and choose desired option from the down list.
- History – You can check all the revision history of a sheet from here.
- Comment – You can add comment to a cell from here (mainly used when you are collabration on a sheet.)
- Share – Sare your spreadsheet with your colleagues, boss, audience, or public.
- Formatting Bar – Here you’ll find multiple options to format your spreadsheet. Like changing color of a text or changing alignmemnt of a cell, etc.
- Formula Bar – Any formula you enter into a cell will also appear here as well as anything you enter here will automtically get inserted in the selected cell.
- Column – A column is a group of cells that runs vertically from top to bottom. They are always identified by letters. For example; in the above screenshot i am referring to “Column F”
- Row – A row is a group of cells that runs horizontally from left to right. They are always identified by numbers. For example; in the above screenshot i am referring to “Row 9”
- Cells – Cells are the building block of a spreadsheet where you enter your content. They are identified by the column letter and row number that intersect at the cell’s location. For example; in the above screenshot i am referring to “Cell D12 “
- Multiple sheet: You can add multiple worksheet under one Google Sheets. Just click on “+” button to add a new worksheet.
04. How to Work with Google Spreadsheet?
Once you’re familiar with the interface, you are ready to start inputting data into your new spreadsheet.
One of the most simple tasks you can perform using Google Sheets is to build and manage a table of information.
Here is a simple table showing stationery items and their price:
| Items | Price |
|---|---|
| Notebook | $15 |
| Pen | $5 |
| Pencil Box | $11 |
| Sharpner | $4 |
| Eraser | $4 |
Now I am going to create a similar table in Google Sheets. This will give you a good idea of how you can work with a Google spreadsheet.
Makes sense? let’s get started…
- First of all, we need to select the cell where we want to enter our content. For example; I want to enter the heading “Items” and “Price” at the top of our table. So, I will select the cell A1 and type ‘Items’ and then select the cell A2 and type ‘Price’.
- Now come back to cell A2 and enter the first item.
Similarly, we can enter our other items in the below cells…
- Next, in the corrospoinding cells we will enter price of each items.
If you notice, the price of each item is appearing just as a number. Here we can format the plain numbers into currency to make them appear as a monetary amount.
- For this, we will need to select all the cells containg number and then choose currency formating option from the format bar menu.
That’s it… Our simple table is ready in Google Sheets…
HELPFUL RESOURCES
- How to Import Data to Google Sheets (Import data from websites and other sources into your spreadsheet)
- How to Insert special characters in Google Sheets (Insert copyright, trademark, tick or any other symbol in spreadsheet)
05. How to Style your Google Sheets Table?
When you work with a big set of tables in Google Sheets, simple raw data may look boring. This is where you can use styling options to format your spreadsheet and make the data interesting & appealing.
1 Making the Heading Bold
Select the cells containing headings (in our example A1 and B2) and then press CTRL + B on your keyboard.
2 Aligning all content to center
Select all the cells of your table >> click on the horizontal align button in the toolbar, then choose “center.”
3 Adding Background color to heading
Select the cells containing headings >> click on the ‘fill color‘ button in the toolbar, then choose your desired color.
4 Changing Font size of the text
Select the cells containing headings >> Click on the Font Size button in the toolbar, then choose the desired font size from the drop-down options.
06. Final Thought on Making a Google Spreadsheet:
So now you know how to make a Google Spreadsheet as well as how to create a simple table of data within that spreadsheet.
What’s next?
I’ll recommend you check out my ultimate guide on how to use Google Sheets. This guide will teach you everything you need to know about building a powerful Google spreadsheet.
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