Google Sheets Rolls Out Update

Mountain View this week rolled out an updated version of Google Sheets with larger, more feature-robust spreadsheets. The update is geared for folks looking to do more on a familiar platform with a minimal learning curve.

Among the most notable changes are bigger spreadsheets, which the company says are also “faster,” as well support for offline use, which should please at least some of the anti-cloud advocates.

“Whether you’re crunching big data or tracking your family budget, you don’t want to waste time waiting for files to load or re-doing edits that were lost because your Internet connection dropped. You can now get more done by switching to the new version of Google Sheets. It’s faster, supports larger spreadsheets, has a number of new features, and works offline,” the company wrote in a Google Blog post. “The new Sheets supports millions of cells and kicks many of the old size and complexity limits to the curb. Scrolling, loading and calculation are all snappier, even in more complex spreadsheets.”

While the addition of “millions of cells” will likely mean little to casual users, the updates certainly make Google Sheets more of a viable option for spreadsheet aficionados, so long as you don’t mind storing your data in the cloud. Mountain View seems to be doing what it can to accommodate its cloud-wary user base as well—introducing an offline mode that works the same way as Google Docs and Slides. Any edits made to a spreadsheet without an Internet connection will simply be synced the next time you have a Wi-Fi connection.

Some of the other new features include Filter View, which does what it sounds like, allowing you to re-arrange your data based on several types of user-defined criteria. Google has also added Function Help, which helps users who aren’t especially versed in spreadsheet formulas accomplish calculations more easily.