Spreadsheets are powerful. But learning to leverage them takes time. What if you could use a second brain to make the most of your spreadsheet? With AI for Google Sheets, you can do exactly that.
With AI for Google Sheets, you'll get insights from data that you already have. Think of it as an AI spreadsheet assistant. It saves loads of time. How? Because of the worksheets AI can suggest - and build - tables, charts, and more. Let's learn how to use AI Google Sheets features.
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How to Use Artificial Intelligence in Google Sheets
How to Use AI in Google Sheets
AI Google Sheets is incredibly easy to use. The best part is that AI spreadsheet assistant features are built into Google Sheets. You won’t have to exit Google Sheets, or rely on any other apps. All of the powerful AI Google Sheets insights and features that you need are included.
Another advantage: remember that Google Sheets is a fully online platform. You can work with it from anywhere with an internet connection. And you can use Sheets to collaborate with your team around the globe. That means that Google spreadsheet AI is both easy to use and readily accessible.
Before getting started, don’t forget to take a look at Envato Elements. Elements offers many stylish Excel spreadsheet templates. These are fully compatible with Google Sheets! Upload them and you can edit them online with Sheets. Use AI Google Sheets features to unlock new insights as you use them.
Now, let’s dive in and explore the full power of Google Sheets AI. I find that it really helps to think of how you’d use these tools in the real world. Imagine that you’ve been handed a dataset at work. It may have many columns, hundreds of rows, and countless variables.
At first glance, data like this becomes overwhelming. Indeed, at first glance it’s almost meaningless. Sure, it has stories to tell and insights inside, but what are they? And how can you find them?
That’s where an AI spreadsheet assistant comes in. Fortunately, Google Sheets has exactly that. It’s called Explore. Explore is a powerful tool that automatically unlocks insights about a given set of data. Even better: it’s built into Google Sheets. You won’t have to pay for any features, or install special add-ins. It’s right there in every sheet you work with, ready to use.
Autofill Features With AI for Google Sheets
Before looking at Explore, let’s consider a quick and simple way to use worksheets AI. Google Sheets autocomplete has long been a key feature, and it saves you time.
When you learn how to autofill in Google Sheets, you’ll find yourself spending less time keyboarding in data.
Let’s look at a simple example. Imagine that you want twelve columns of data: one for each month of the year. You could type them in manually. But there’s a faster way. Rather than typing all twelve, type January in one cell and then February in the next.
Then, click and drag with your cursor to select both cells. When you do, you’ll see a blue circle in the lower right corner. Click and drag this across other cells. When you release your cursor, you’ll see Google Sheets autocomplete at work.
If you drag across ten cells to the right of February, the full year will be populated. These AI for Google Sheets features work in an array of cases. Now that you know how to autofill in Google Sheets, you'll save time.
Using Explore in Google Sheets AI
As mentioned, the Explore feature is by far the best way to leverage worksheets AI in Google.
To demonstrate, let’s use an example dataset. AI Google Sheets is perfect for this one. As you can see, it’s a list of sales agents. For each, their global accounts are listed, along with the associated revenue. Clearly, there’s valuable data here. But at first glance, it seems like an endless list of names, numbers and locations.
That’s where the Explore AI spreadsheet assistant comes in. Instead of navigating through data yourself, you can use worksheets AI. With Explore, you can build tables and visuals in seconds. And you can even ask questions about the data to have it analyzed.
1. Select Your Data
Let’s demonstrate. To begin using Explore AI for Google Sheets, you’ll first want to select the full range of data that you want to work with.
To do this, click and drag to select cells A1:A3. Then, on your keyboard, press Ctrl + Shift + Down Arrow. The full range of data will be selected, with all other cells omitted.
2. Open Explore
With your data selected, find the Explore button in Google Sheets. It’s located in the lower right corner of your Google Sheets window, labeled in green. Go ahead and click on Explore. When you do, the Explore sidebar launches. It’s on the right side of Google Sheets.
At the top, notice how AI Google Sheets delivers some quick, smart insights about your data.
In this example, you’ll see a sum of all the revenue earned. Below, you’ll find the average, minimum, and maximum values. The results returned here vary based on your given dataset.
Again, this shows the power of AI for Google Sheets. Insights are provided automatically.
This is a great feature to help you understand your data. If you're looking for insight without knowing where to start, spend time studying the results on the Explore panel.
3. Open a Report
Now, it's time to refine our analysis. Below, look at the next section of Explore. This is the Answers section, and it fully shows off the power of Google Sheets AI. What Answers does is study your data and help you answer questions about it.
Here, you’ll see a few suggestions already displayed. For example, if you click “Lowest Revenue,” you’ll see Sheets return the lowest value from the list, $3,756.28.
In the search box, you can ask questions of your own. For example, type in “What is the total revenue for China?” When you hit Enter, the sum of China revenue displays.
Sure, you could perform this calculation yourself with filters and formulas. But why bother, when you can use AI Google Sheets and get your answer in an instant?
4. Add Formatting
The next section is Formatting. For this data, AI Google Sheets suggests an array of alternating colors for your data. You’ll see blue, green, orange, and more. You can click on any of the thumbnails and Google Sheets AI automatically applies the formatting!
Why would you add formatting? Well, long data tables often use two colors. They look a bit more stylish. More importantly, they become much easier to read. By using alternating colors, each row stands out from the ones above and below.
In the past, you might have skipped formatting due to a lack of time. But spreadsheet AI features handles it for you. It's truly a no-brainer to add style to your data, thanks to AI spreadsheet assistant features.
5. Create Pivot Tables
Below, let’s look at the Pivot Table section. By default, Google Sheets AI suggests a Pivot Table showing the average of revenue for each sales agent. At a glance, this helps you see who, on average, is earning your firm the most money.
Pivot tables are smart layouts that quickly distill huge blocks of data into something useful and insightful. To add this pivot table, click on it, then choose Insert. Or, explore more options by clicking MORE.
When you click MORE, Google Sheets AI displays other table options. Again, these are created based on your specific data. You may want to look at the number of account locations by sales agent.
Or - and this is a key one - you might want to see the total revenue for each sales agent. All of these options and more are offered up with the Explore worksheets AI dashboard.
Finally, take a look at the Analysis section. Here, Sheets offers up a few more insights. In this case, you’ll see the sales agents listed on a sleek bar chart.
The bars represent the total number of accounts that each one has. Once more, this Analysis section may return very different results. It’s all based on the specific dataset that you use to feed Google Sheets.
As you can see, Explore is an excellent AI spreadsheet assistant. What it does is offer up smart insights about the specific data that you select. You don’t need data analysis skills - or much time - to put it to work! AI Google Sheets offers up amazing ideas with your data in just seconds.
The Top Source for Stunning Google Sheets Templates (With Unlimited Downloads)
Spreadsheets are the best tools to study and analyze data. But they should look good, too! To ensure that they do, premium templates from Envato Elements are your best bet. With tons premium spreadsheet designs to choose from, you’re sure to find the perfect one for your next project. And each of these Excel templates is compatible with Google Sheets.
The Elements offer is powerful. For a flat monthly rate, you can download and use as many premium spreadsheet templates as you want. And that’s not all - in total, you’ll find 14+ million assets to choose from! Among these are fonts, stock photos, and more. All are crafted by creative experts with you in mind.
When you use a premium Envato Elements template, you’ll elevate the quality of your work. And you’ll enjoy:
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As you can see, Envato Elements is the best value for creatives in 2023 and beyond. Join today and start exploring the vast library of digital assets! You’ll be glad you did.
More Top Resources for Google Sheets
Spreadsheets are impossible to master, but infinitely powerful. The spreadsheet AI features you learned give you more capability. But there's always more to learn about how to work with data.
Check out more top tutorials we've created for Google Sheets. Many of these features power up with the help of the AI for Google Sheets features you learned!
How to Use (Timesaving) Google Sheets Keyboard Shortcuts
How to Make Professional Charts in Google Sheets
How to Quickly Insert Spreadsheets Into Google Slides
You Just Learned to Leverage Google Sheets AI
Google Sheets AI is an incredible new tool. You’ll find yourself using it every single day! In seconds, you can unlock compelling insights and understand your data better. Plus, you can create stunning data visuals in less time than ever.
So, what are you waiting for? Embrace spreadsheet AI today. Open your existing
data and try out these features. Your work will be elevated, and your audience will appreciate your new prowess in spreadsheet styling.
Editorial Note: This tutorial was originally published in September of 2017. The written tutorial has been completely rewritten by Andrew Childress to make it accurate and relevant.
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