Google Sheet: How to use the App on a tablet or mobile phone

[@evang1895]

How to enlarge the size of the column or rows and freeze a panel ? Any function on IPhone or iPad ? Thanks

[@Helpful-Stuff]

On Android you can tap on the column letter or the row number. This will highlight the column or row and you should also see a circle with two arrows inside it to the bottom right of the column/row letter/number. Just drag this symbol to make a column or row bigger or smaller. I have no experience with Apple devices but my best guess is that it works in a similar way.

[@kennyborowy7806]

Looking how to select multiple rows to copy and paste on an iPhone. Currently can only do one row at a time

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I don't have an iPad or iPhone. I can explain how to do this on Android ... I think it will work the same way on your iPhone. Select a row by tapping on the row number at the far left of the screen. This will select a single row. I suspect from your question that you already know how to do this. The row number on the left will be highlighted. There is also a box around the row to show that the entire row has been selected. The border of this box will have two reasonably large dots towards the centre of the screen ... one on the upper line of the box ... the other on the lower line of the box. These dots are handles that can be dragged. - To select more rows below the currently selected row simply drag the lower dot down. - To select more rows above the currently selected row drag the upper dot up. Obviously it works in similar manner for columns. I wish I could paste a screenshot into KZbin comments and then this would be much quicker to explain!!! I hope it works the same way on your iPhone. 🤞

[@hotrodjunkie]

How can you move to the next field in the same row, on mobile, like the arrow or enter button does on a laptop?

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I have Gboard on my tablet. If I edit a cell in a Google Sheet and then tap the ENTER key it moves to the cell below the cell I was editing. Similarly ... the TAB key moves to the cell to the right of the cell I was editing ... SHIFT followed by the TAB key moves to the left of the cell I was editing. This is the way the Gboard works ... I am not sure if other keyboards will work the same.

[@hotrodjunkie]

@@Helpful-Stuff I will check out Gboard, thanks so much!

[@hotrodjunkie]

@@Helpful-Stuff YES!! That is exactly what I needed, thank you SO much! 🙏

[@Helpful-Stuff]

Glad I was able to help 😀

[@thelastsliceofpizza2291]

Great video! I have one question, how do I start a new line/paragraph within a cell on Google Sheets(mobile). I’ve tried the “”&CHAR(10)&”” function but that’s just a bit too tedious and frankly too error-prone, do let me know if you have the answer :)

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I use Gboard and I have just checked that this works on both my phone and my tablet. If you type a formula in a cell ="Line1Line2" This displays Line1 and Line2 on separate lines. However, if I then setup cell A1="Line1" and A2="Line2" I expected to be able to write a formula: =A1&""&A2 I thought this would work because I tap the Enter key between quotes however Sheet in this scenario takes the Enter key as the tick .. i.e. I have finished entering the cell. At this stage the cell =A1&" which gives an error because I have got an open quotes but no close quotes. Sheet seems to try to intelligently interpret whether the Enter key is a new line or an indication that editing the cell is complete ... unfortunately it is not that intelligent!!! So a partial answer to your question if all you want to do is have fixed text in a cell on multiple lines ... but I suspect that you want to have more complex formulas with the result of the formula on multiple lines. To be honest I always develop sheets on my desktop ... the sheets are then used on a phone or tablet. So all the editing formula is done with a full size keyboard to avoid this type of problem.

[@mdiqbal7168]

How to use Named Ranges in Google sheet mobile apps

[@christinegilligan1723]

I created a checkbook registry using google sheets on my galaxy tab7s. I have an adding column a subtracting column and a balance column. I set up months in advanced with my regular bills/payments and paychecks. When I need to add a row it and put in the credit or debit it doesn't put the total into the balance column. On my laptop you can go to the cell above the blank space in the balance column click on it and grab the tiny box that appears in the corner and drag down and the column will recalculate. I've tried so many different ways to go drag from the cell above the blank cell in the balance column but it's not working . Am I doing something wrong?

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I have just tried exactly what you describe on my desktop and tablet. On my desktop and your laptop when you drag the corner marker you copy the cell to adjacent cells. On my tablet doing the same just extends the range of selected cells ... but does not copy the cell. I don't believe that drag and copy has been implemented on the tablet app ... I think the only way of copying cells is to long tap on the relevant cell (or range of cells) and tap "Copy" in the menu that will pop up. Then select the destination cell and long tap the cell until the menu pops up and tap "Paste". So its a manual copy and paste rather than a quick and easy drag. For me the Sheet app on a tablet or phone is great because it means I can enter some data in a sheet or make a quick tweak to a sheet wherever I happen to be when I get the data or think about something ... but if I need to do anything complex to a sheet I will do it at home on my desktop.

[@christinegilligan1723]

@@Helpful-Stuff Thank you so much for you help. I never gave it a thought that it could be the app. Maybe one day they'll update it to do that function. I feel that's an important one. I would think it should have been easy enough to do right from the start. I have another question if you don't mind me picking you brain....Is there any way to get google sheet/my checkbook spread sheet to open up where I left off? I started my checkbook back in 2018 and when I open the sheet it's always back at that beginning date.

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I think you hit a similar problem to the situation above - it can be done on your laptop but its not possible on your tablet ... - on your laptop if you type CTRL+DOWN ARROW then you will go to the bottom row of the Sheet. - However, I cannot find any way of doing this if you are using the app on your tablet. I think that there may be a way around this by using a Macro. I have written loads of Macros in Excel but I have never written a macro in Sheets ... yet! If I do manage to get a Sheets macro working so that when you open a sheet on a tablet it automatically goes to the bottom row I will make a video and paste the link in this discussion.

[@christinegilligan1723]

@@Helpful-Stuff I just opened my tablet and my checkbook spreadsheet does open where I left off I'm so happy about that. It's on my laptop that it opens at the date I started,sorry I should have said it was my laptop. I'll try what you said for laptop thank you so much.

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I have just published this video which shows how to use a macro to get a Google Sheet on your laptop to select the correct cell when you open a Sheet. I hope it is useful: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zmimc2uEh7mrqNE

[@neroetal]

Can one perform functions like lock cells on a tablet?

[@Helpful-Stuff]

Lock or "Protect cells" isn't available on a tablet but is available on a Windows computer. I guess Google may add Protect Cells at some stage in the future to a tablet but no idea when or even if they will do this! It would be useful if there was a list of functionality that is available on a computer, on an Android Tablet and on an iPad. I don't believe there is such a list ... all you can do is look in the Google Help ... e.g this page about "Protect" support.google.com/docs/answer/1218656 Click on the "Android" or "iPhone & iPad" tabs and it says "To protect a sheet or range, use Google Sheets on a computer." which confirms my above statement that "Protect" is not available on a tablet.

[@Kiki-oj2uj]

How do I find a word through numerous sheets? I've tried it on my tablet by pressing ctrl+h but it only find words in the sheet I'm currently in.

[@Helpful-Stuff]

AFAIK there is no simple way to search for some text in multiple sheets unless all those sheets are in the same file. If it is a one off search then you could could copy all the individual sheets to a temporary file. When all the sheets are in the temp file then hit ctrl+h and this will then search all the sheets in your temporary file. Obviously if there are a lot of sheets or if you want to do this on a very frequent basis then this isn't really a practical solution. If I think of any better solutions I will leave another comment ...

[@Kiki-oj2uj]

@@Helpful-Stuff I did mean that all the sheets are in 1 spreadsheet, but I just realized that it's actually not doable for mobile version. I really hope they'll do something about this as it will be very helpful. Thank you for your answer anyways :)

[@abbottkatz8830]

Can you see the menu rows on top on a tablet?

[@Helpful-Stuff]

The File, Edit, View, etc menu bar that is Google Sheet displays at the top of the screen in a desktop of laptop browser is not displayed by the App on a phone or tablet. I guess that this is because there is less space on a smaller phone or tablet screen.

[@abbottkatz8830]

@@Helpful-Stuff Thanks for your reply. The absence of the full-fledged menu is a real shortcoming.

[@Helpful-Stuff]

@@abbottkatz8830 For me the App on a phone/tablet and "full feature" access using a browser on a laptop/desktop are different tools for different jobs. I am a member of a local club and have setup a sheet that allows members to book items. I developed this sheet on my desktop with a full size monitor and keyboard/mouse using "full feature" Google Sheets in Chrome browser. However, the users can access the sheet using a mobile phone wherever they are to book items since all they need to do is change an entry in a cell for a particular timeslot to book the item. I would never have considered developing the Google Sheet on the small screen with no physical keyboard of a phone or tablet. However, a phone or tablet is perfect for all the users so that they can easily book items wherever they are without needing to be near a "proper" computer.

[@abbottkatz2535]

@@Helpful-Stuff You're right. I don't think you can develop a spreadsheet from inception via the app, but it's a useful adjunct to the original, based on the desktop versions. But I do use a keyboard and mouse with my tablet.

[@neroetal]

@@abbottkatz2535 that's sad ... Exactly why I wanted to buy a tablet coz my laptop is quite heavy being a gaming PC

[@mdiqbal7168]

How to use Named Ranges option in Google sheet Android apps

[@Helpful-Stuff]

Thanks for watching the video and your suggestion - I will cover named ranges on Android in a future video.

[@ivylynmontemayor0630]

How to change the currency

[@Helpful-Stuff]

This is one of the things that cannot be done in the App ... you have to open the sheet on a laptop or desktop computer. (1) On a laptop open the sheet and click "File" then "Settings" and change the "Locale" to a location with the currency that you require and click "Save settings". (2) Open the sheet in the app on a phone or tablet. Select the cell where you want to change the formatting to currency. Tap the format button which is probably at the far right of the menu bar. It looks like the letter A with four lines to the right of the A. You should see the currency symbol for the locale towards the bottom left just above the Conditional formatting button. Tap this and the cell formatting of the selected cell will be changed to the currency format for your locale.

[@mistyplascencia1076]

Was trying to just spell check and cant on my Tablet

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I have just had a look at a Google Sheet on my tablet and I can't find spell check either ... so it looks like spell check is not available on a tablet 😢 The Android/iOS apps are absolutely fantastic because it means I can enter data or make minor modifications to a sheet wherever I am on my phone or tablet. However, to do serious spreadsheet development I always use a W10 desktop or laptop and I can then do a spell check and a lot of other stuff ... and a big screen and a full size keyboard & mouse are much easier and faster to use 😀

[@mine-gv9vo]

How to freeze on tablet?

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I think freeze rows or columns is one of those features that you cannot setup in the app on a tablet. But if you set up freeze rows or columns on a Windows laptop or desktop then the app will freeze the required rows and/or columns.

[@Shivsharansingh99421]

Useless

[@Helpful-Stuff]

I am sorry the video did not help you. If you can let me know the specific issue that you are having with Google Sheet on a tablet or phone I may be able to either help as a comment or produce another video that helps.

[@neroetal]

Lol I'll try see if a Chromebook will help