Going Chromebook: Learn to Master Google Sheets

Brian Schell

GOING CHROMEBOOK: LEARN TO MASTER GOOGLE SHEETS

Copyright 2020 by Brian Schell.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means – by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without prior written permission.

Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, G Suite, Gmail, Google Calendar, and other products mentioned within are trademarks owned by Google, Inc. This book is not affiliated in any way with Google LLC.

Written and designed by: Brian Schell

brian@brianschell.com

ISBN: 9781654143923

Version Date: January 1, 2020.

Contents

Introduction

Quick Overview of Google Drive and File Handling

I. Google Sheets Commands and Menus

The Top Section of the Google Sheets Interface

The Menus

Google Sheets Toolbar

II. Google Sheets Tips and Workflows

Tips and Workflows

Top Ten Add-ons for Google Sheets

Keyboard Shortcuts

Can You Do It?

About the Author

Also by Brian Schell

Introduction

Google Apps was the first successful Office in the cloud. It’s not the only online office suite, but it was the first, and in many ways, still the best. Google Apps (or G Suite) is the inclusive name for all Google’s online office apps, which includes Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Sites, and a handful of other apps. With roots as far back as 2005, it’s an evolved and mature product today, with both free and paid levels of service.

The Google Suite is, without question, the most popular office product in schools today, surpassing the Apple products that had been the de facto computer system in schools for so many decades. More and more offices are switching to G Suite as their office solution. It’s maintained for them, updated automatically, backed up instantly, and is far more secure than storing files locally.

In this book, we’re going to be focusing on Google Sheets, the spreadsheet solution that Google includes in G Suite. The closest competitor to Sheets is Microsoft Excel; how do they compare? Can you switch from Excel to Sheets? For most people, the answer is yes.

Why Do This?

There are numerous benefits to choosing Google Sheets over other spreadsheet systems. First, it’s part of the Google ecosystem, and if you’re a heavy user of other Google Apps, then you already know how to use many parts of it.

It’s easily the best system in the world in the area of collaboration features. Two or more people on opposite parts of the globe can type and edit each other’s work at the same time, while watching each other do it. Although other competing products now have this, everyone else is still playing catch-up in this area.

It’s free! There are paid options to get more document storage, but that’s usually not necessary unless you get really heavily invested in storing your documents in the cloud.

It’s expandable. You can start with the free version of Google Drive, add additional storage space if or when needed, and even upgrade to G Suite, the professional level of the Apps. Many people choose to stay on the free tier forever; it’s up to you.

It runs almost everywhere. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone, tablets, and most other Internet-enabled devices can either run Google Sheets in a browser window or in a dedicated app.

It’s powerful and easy to learn. Used in schools, businesses, and homes around the world, Google Sheets is reliable enough for offices, hobbyists, and professionals.

An entire class of computer, the Chromebook, has been developed around it. You don’t have to use a Chromebook to use Google Sheets, and you don’t have to use Google Sheets on a Chromebook, but they do go together exceptionally well.

It really just works without issues. My own personal finances and record keeping for my business is all done using Sheets. I gather my records together at tax time, I outline my books with it, and I even have a list of my comic book collection on Sheets— It does it all.

It’s available everywhere. You can use it on your desktop computer, your laptop, tablet, and even carry it with you on your phone.

You’re probably familiar with some other office products that are on the market, so let’s compare a few facts about those:

Various services compared

The only point at which Google Docs/Sheets doesn’t win is in the Features category. Microsoft Office does have features that Apple and Google haven’t implemented yet, and these really could be deal-breakers if you truly need those things. Still, these extra features are very specific and aren’t needed by most people, so unless you specifically know of some way that your work depends on it, you can most likely get by just fine with Google Sheets. Even then, the extra features Microsoft offers are only available in their desktop software; their cloud-based web apps are far more limited than Google’s.

If you are using some kind of free office solution, such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice, then your features and benefits are very similar to Microsoft Office, just without the purchase price. The real choice in that case is whether you want to install office software on your computer that needs updates, or if you want to use cloud-based apps which update behind the scenes. Another thing to consider is safety. Installed software can be affected by failing hardware and computer viruses and malware, while cloud-based apps are immune to all that.

Cloud or Desktop?

The biggest question that usually comes up when deciding to use Google Apps or not is whether you want to use cloud software or desktop software. Apple and Microsoft offer excellent office suites that run on their companies’ respective computers. They also both offer cloud-based versions of those same suites but, in both cases, are very feature-limited compared to what you can do on the desktops. Google offers no desktop version of their apps; everything is, and always has been, cloud-based. This shows where their priorities are– cloud first.

There are people out there with privacy concerns about the cloud, and those concerns can be very real. Google is in the advertising business. It probably should just be assumed that Google’s algorithms will scan whatever material you store in the free version of Google Drive and possibly use that information to serve you personalized advertising. It has often been