On this page
- Share spreadsheets
- Add comments and assign tasks
- Email collaborators
- Switch to an earlier version or name a version
- Create filters and filter views
- Protect content
- Limit sharing, downloading, printing, or copying
- Set an expiration date for sharing
- See who’s viewed a spreadsheet
Share spreadsheets
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013
Excel 2010 |
Share with specific people:
For more details, see Share files from Google Drive.
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Add comments and assign tasks
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013
Excel 2010 |
Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.
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Email collaborators
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013 Excel 2010 |
To follow up on a conversation that’s too long for comments, email collaborators right from Sheets.
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Switch to an earlier version or name a version
If you own the spreadsheet or have edit access to it, you can see past versions and restore them.
Sheets: See versions or restore a version:
- Select FileVersion historySee version history.
- (Optional) To see only named versions in the list, click Only show named versions.
- Click a timestamp to see a previous version of the file.
Below the timestamp, you’ll see:- The names of anyone who edited the document.
- A color next to each person’s name. The edits they made appear in that color.
- (Optional) To make the version the active version, click Restore this version.
Name a version:
- Select FileVersion historyName current version.
- Enter a name and click Save.
Create filters and filter views
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013
Excel 2010 |
To filter out data in a spreadsheet, create a filter. If you want filters that don’t affect anyone else’s view, create filter views. Create a filter:
Create a filter view:
For more details, see Sort & filter your data. With Sheets, you can also turn your data into a table. For more details on converting data to a table, see Use tables in Google Sheets.
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Protect content
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013
Excel 2010 |
If you have sensitive content in a spreadsheet, you can restrict people from updating it.
For details, see Protect content in a spreadsheet.
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Limit sharing, downloading, printing, or copying
Excel:
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Sheets:
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Excel 2013
Excel 2010 |
If you have sensitive content in a spreadsheet, you can prevent people from downloading, printing, or copying it.
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Set an expiration date for sharing
Sheets: Set sharing expirations
When you’re working with people outside of your organization, such as clients or agencies, you might want to restrict their access to certain files when your projects are complete.
Set an expiration date:
- At the top of the spreadsheet, click Share.
- If the file isn’t already shared, share it.
- Click Advanced.
- Hover over a person’s name and click Set expiration .
- Change the access expiration date.
Note: You can’t set the expiration for the current day. If you need to restrict access immediately, just unshare the file.
- Click Save changesDone.
See who's viewed a spreadsheet
Sheets: See who's viewed a spreadsheet
In Sheets, if you have edit access to a spreadsheet, you can see:
- Who it’s shared with
- Who viewed it
- A chart of viewers over time
To see the Activity dashboard, at the top right, click Activity dashboard .
If you don’t want your view history to appear in the Activity dashboard, you can change the privacy settings.
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