Spreadsheets (workbooks)

What it is

A spreadsheet is a file of one or more sheets, like in Google Sheets. The Spreadsheets section is in the top navigation: on the left, the list My spreadsheets; on the right, a page with all spreadsheets or the open spreadsheet. A spreadsheet created in a chat is visible both in the chat and in the Spreadsheets section. A spreadsheet created in the Spreadsheets section or from a file is separate: it is not in Chats.

How to use it

Create: New spreadsheet in the side panel, or Create spreadsheet on the Spreadsheets page (when the list is empty, Create the first spreadsheet). The new spreadsheet is called Spreadsheet, and it has one sheet, Sheet 1, with 300 rows and 30 columns. Both names are in your interface language. Repeated clicks while the spreadsheet is being created do not make a second one. Next to the button is From file, an import, which is a separate function. Both buttons create a separate spreadsheet: no chat is created for it.
The Spreadsheets page splits the list into Today, Yesterday, This week and Earlier. When sorted by name, there is one group, Alphabetical. Above the list: Owner: anyone / me / not me; sorting by By last modified date, By creation date or By name; the buttons Show grid / Show list; and Ascending / Descending. The choice is remembered on this device. The eye icon next to a name means View only; the people icon means Shared by link. You can drag a file straight onto the list, and the import opens.
Each spreadsheet in the list has a ⋮ menu: Open, Open chat “…” (only for a spreadsheet created in a chat), Copy link, Rename and Delete spreadsheet. Before deleting, the question Delete spreadsheet “…”? appears: all sheets, versions, comments and sharing links will disappear with it.
The name of the open spreadsheet is in the header. Click it, enter a new name in the Spreadsheet name window, and click Save or press Enter. Cancel and Escape close the window without changes.
Sheets are tabs at the bottom. + (Add sheet) creates “Sheet N”. The All sheets list, with search, also shows hidden sheets, marked (hidden): a hidden sheet chosen from the list becomes visible again. When the focus is on a tab, the sheets switch with the ← and → arrows, and with Home and End.
The sheet menu opens with the arrow next to the tab, or with a right-click: Rename, Duplicate (the copy is named “ copy”, or “ copy 2” if that name is taken), Copy to another book…, Label color…, Move left, Move right, Protect the sheet… (only where protection is available; see Working on a spreadsheet together), Hide sheet and Delete (with the confirmation Delete “…”?).
In the Copy to another book… window, set the Copy name, and find the workbook in the Book search field by its name. For a spreadsheet from a chat, you can also search by the chat name, which is shown under the name of such a workbook. Select the workbook and click Copy. When the message “Sheet “…” copied to book “…”” appears, click Done or Open book.
Everything is saved automatically. The status bar at the bottom right shows the state: Saving, Saved, Syncing or Not saved. The same bar shows the zoom, the sheet size (“rows×columns”) and the sum of the selection.
Version history: the button Changed … ago next to the spreadsheet name, or Spreadsheet menu → Version history. Details are in Spreadsheet version history.
In a chat, the spreadsheet opens on the right in read-only mode, with the label “N×M, filled K”. The buttons Open spreadsheet and Open full screen switch to the full mode.
On a phone, an open spreadsheet fills the whole screen: there is no app header and no bottom navigation. The spreadsheet header has two compact rows. The first has Back, the spreadsheet name across all the remaining width (a long name is cut with an ellipsis), Undo, Redo, Agent and More tools. The second has the address field with the Named ranges list arrow, f(x) and the formula field. Under More tools, the spreadsheet actions come first: Comments, Notifications, Version history, Access and Download spreadsheet. Below the line are the formatting and the tools. The menu scrolls, and each item has a label; the labels stand in a column from one edge. There are no People in this spreadsheet dots on the phone. If the spreadsheet is open for viewing only, or a summary sheet or a version is open, the first row has no Undo and Redo, and More tools contains only the spreadsheet actions. The More tools menu closes by itself as soon as the Access window or the Download spreadsheet menu closes; the Print window stays open. The sheet tabs and the bottom bar are also more compact.
Spreadsheet windows on a phone slide up from the bottom as a sheet, with a handle at the top edge. To close a window, swipe the handle down or tap the dimmed background. There is no × or Close button on the phone. A click on the dimmed background closes spreadsheet windows on a computer too. While a sheet is being copied or a print is being prepared, the Copy to another book… and Print windows do not close.
While a spreadsheet is opening, a spinning icon and Loading appear in the middle of the sheet area. If the spreadsheet opens quickly, this block does not flash.
To the right of the sheet, spreadsheet panels open: Comments, Version history, Notifications, Agent, the chart editor, and the tool panels Data validation, Conditional formatting, Named ranges and Protected sheets and ranges. Only one is open at a time: when you open any of them, by a button, a menu item or a keyboard shortcut, the others close. While you are looking at a version, opening another panel closes Version history and returns the workbook to its current view. Tool panels edit the sheet, so on a summary sheet, in a version view and in a spreadsheet opened for viewing only, they are not available. An open tool panel closes; the Named ranges list has no Named ranges…; and the sheet-tab menu has no Protect the sheet…. The width of a panel, except for the chart editor, can be changed by dragging its left edge. On a phone, comments, version history, notifications, the chart editor and the tool panels stand under the sheet at full width and take no more than 45% of the screen height. In a tool panel, the list and the fields scroll together, and Cancel and Save are always visible at the bottom.

Limits

A workbook can have up to 50 sheets. A sheet name can be up to 100 characters, cannot repeat the name of another sheet, and letter case does not matter. A spreadsheet name can be up to 100 characters.
A sheet is enlarged with the buttons below the last row: Add rows (100 by default) and Add columns (5 by default). The limit is 99 999 rows and 999 columns.
The last regular sheet cannot be deleted. Any sheet can be hidden, as long as at least one other sheet stays visible. A summary sheet cannot be duplicated or copied to another workbook.
A sheet can be copied only to a workbook where you have the right to edit. Sheet protection and the hidden flag do not carry over into the copy. If the name is taken, “ (copy)” is added, then “ (copy 2)”, and so on, in the language of your interface.
If the spreadsheet is open for viewing only, there is no Spreadsheet menu, no sheet copying, no editing and no version history.
Whoever can write in the spreadsheet’s chat can delete it. A separate spreadsheet can be deleted by whoever created it. A spreadsheet you were invited to as a member cannot be deleted. Deletion cannot be undone.
The number of spreadsheets in an organization is limited by its plan.
A separate spreadsheet does not create its own chat. A conversation about it appears in Chats only when you start one with the New dialogue button in the Agent panel of this spreadsheet; Temporary dialogue does not appear there. Ask an agent in a separate spreadsheet works only through the Agent panel. If there is no panel (a spreadsheet opened for viewing only), the item is absent.

If something goes wrong

What you see on the screen	Why	What to do
Not saved, Could not save	No connection, or the server did not respond	Wait. The edits stay in the queue and are sent again every 2.5 seconds. Do not close the tab
A bar with Cell changed by another editor, The spreadsheet structure changed or The sheet was changed or deleted	A co-author changed the same place at the same time as you	Choose Save my edits, Accept server version or Retry
A message with a Got it button, for example The edit doesn’t fit the sheet: not enough rows or columns	The server cannot apply such an edit	The edit is already cancelled. Click Got it and change the action
The name is already in use	A sheet with this name already exists	Choose another name
Remove references to this sheet first, or Remove the pivot table first	Formulas or a pivot table refer to the sheet	Remove the references or the pivot table, then delete the sheet
At least one regular sheet is required, or At least one visible sheet is required	This is the last regular or the last visible sheet	Add or show another sheet
Spreadsheet limit on your plan: N. Delete unneeded spreadsheets or change your plan. at the top of the screen	The organization already has as many spreadsheets as its plan allows	Delete unneeded spreadsheets, or change the plan. Close the bar with the Close (×) button
Could not create the spreadsheet. Try again.	No connection, or the server did not respond	Click the create button again
The operation is unavailable after Add sheet or Duplicate	The workbook already has 50 sheets	Delete an extra sheet
This book already has 50 sheets, or The book has changed, try again	There is no room in the chosen workbook, or it has just been changed	Choose another workbook, or try again
No books available	There are no other workbooks you can edit	Create a spreadsheet and try again
Failed to load part of the sheet	A fragment of the sheet did not come from the server	Click Retry
The sheet is protected or The range is protected, sometimes with a description of the protection after a colon	The edit touches a protected area	Ask the owner of the protection for access
No access to this spreadsheet, Spreadsheet unavailable or Session expired	You have no rights, the spreadsheet was deleted, or the session has ended	Click Back; sign in again, or request access
Could not rename the spreadsheet… or Could not delete the spreadsheet…	The spreadsheet was changed or deleted in the meantime	Refresh the list and try again