Google SheetsHow to use this site
Know the function? Type its name in the box above or pick it from the list.
Know only the job? Type that: "split", "import", "lookup", "count", "translate". The box searches the descriptions too.
New to formulas? Start with How formulas work in Google Sheets.
Seeing an error? Go to Errors in Google Sheets.
Start with what only Sheets has
Most spreadsheet help treats Google Sheets as a copy of Excel. It is not. A handful of functions exist only here, and they change how you build a sheet.
- QUERY picks columns, filters rows, sorts and totals in one formula. The QUERY language guide goes through it clause by clause.
- ARRAYFORMULA lets one formula fill a whole column, including rows added later.
- IMPORTRANGE reads data from another spreadsheet file.
- SPLIT and the three REGEX functions, REGEXMATCH, REGEXEXTRACT and REGEXREPLACE, take text apart and clean it.
- GOOGLEFINANCE, GOOGLETRANSLATE, IMPORTHTML and IMAGE bring in live data from the web.
If you learn QUERY and ARRAYFORMULA, you will write a tenth as many formulas.
What is on each page
- One sentence saying what the function does.
- The syntax, with each argument in plain words.
- A small sample sheet and several formulas, each with its result and a Copy button.
- How it works, including the points the short description leaves out.
- Common mistakes.
- How the same job is done in Excel, for anyone who moves between the two.
About the results shown
The results in the examples were worked out by us from the sample sheets. Our build cannot run Google Sheets itself, so they did not come out of Sheets. Where a function behaves the same in Excel, the figure was compared with Excel's. Functions that fetch live data, such as share prices and translations, show no fixed result. If Sheets gives you something different from what a page says, please tell us through the contact page.
Questions people ask
Do Excel formulas work in Google Sheets?
Most do. SUM, IF, VLOOKUP, COUNTIFS and the text and date functions are shared. The guide Google Sheets and Excel: where formulas differ lists what is different.
Why does my formula use semicolons?
The character between arguments follows the spreadsheet's locale, under File, Settings. Where a comma is the decimal mark, Sheets uses a semicolon. Replace the commas in our formulas with semicolons.
Why do I get #REF! from a formula that looks right?
Usually because a formula that returns many cells, such as FILTER or ARRAYFORMULA, has something in its way. Clear the cells below and beside it. More in the errors guide.
Is Google Sheets free?
It is free to use with a personal Google account. Organisations may use it through a paid Google Workspace plan. For current plans and limits, see Google's own pages.
This is an independent help site. It is not connected with or approved by Google. Google Sheets is a trademark of Google LLC, named here only to say which program a formula is for. The people and figures in the sample sheets are made up.