Switch from Excel to Sheets

6. Collaborate in Sheets

In this section:

6.1 Share spreadsheets
6.2 Add comments and assign tasks
6.3 Email collaborators
6.4 Switch to an earlier version or name a version
6.5 Create filters and filter views
6.6 Protect content
6.7 Limit sharing, downloading, printing or copying
6.8 Set an expiry date for sharing
6.9 See who’s viewed a spreadsheet

6.1 Share spreadsheets

Excel: 
Share workbook

Sheets: 
Share with specific people or using a link

 

Excel 2013
 

Excel 2010

Share with specific people:

  1. Open the file that you want to share (that you own or have edit access to).
  2. Click Share.
  3. Enter the email addresses or groups with which you want to share.
  4. Choose what kind of access you want to give people: Can edit, Can comment or Can view.
  5. Click Send.


Share using a link:

  1. Open the file and click Share.
  2. At the top right, click Get shareable link.
  3. Next to Anyone with the link, click the Down arrow  and choose the level of access that you want to give people.
  4. Copy and paste the link in an email or wherever you want to share it.

For more details, see Share files from Google Drive.

6.2 Add comments and assign tasks

Excel:
Comment

Sheets:
Add comments and assign tasks

Excel 2013
 

Excel 2010
 
  1. In Docs, Sheets or Slides, select the text that you'd like to comment on.
  2. Click Add comment .
  3. Enter your comment in the box.
  4. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file.
  5. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, tick the Assign to box.
  6. Click Comment or Assign.
 

6.3 Email collaborators

Excel:
Send as attachment

Sheets:
Email collaborators

Excel 2013


Excel 2010

To follow up on a conversation that’s too long for comments, email collaborators directly from Sheets.

  1. Click Fileand thenEmail collaborators.
  2. (Optional) To remove a collaborator from the email, untick the box next to their name.
  3. Add a subject and message.
  4. (Optional) To send a copy of the email to yourself, check the Send a copy box.
  5. Click Send.

 

6.4 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:

  1. Select Fileand thenVersion historyand thenSee version history.
  2. (Optional) To see only named versions in the list, click Only show named versions.
  3. Click a time stamp to see a previous version of the file.

    Below the time stamp, you’ll see:
    • The names of anyone who edited the document.
    • A colour next to each person’s name. The edits that they made appear in that colour.
  4. (Optional) To make the version the active version, click Restore this version.


Name a version:

  1. Select Fileand thenVersion historyand thenName current version.
  2. Enter a name and click Save.

6.5 Create filters and filter views

Excel:
Filters data

Sheets:
Filters and filter views

 

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:

  1. Select a range of cells.
  2. Click Dataand thenCreate a filter.
  3. Go to the top of the range and click Filter  to see the filter options.

Create a filter view:

  1. Click a cell that has data.
  2. Click Dataand thenFilter viewsand thenCreate a new filter view.
  3. In a column header, click a list and select the data that you want to filter. Or, in the search box, enter text to search for the data that you want to filter.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In the Name box, enter a name for your filter view.
  6. Click Dataand thenFilter views to open your filter view anytime.

 For more information, see Sort and filter your data and Create, name and save a filter view. 

6.6 Protect content

Excel:
Protect a sheet or workbook

Sheets:
Protected sheets and ranges

Excel 2013
 

Excel 2010

If you have sensitive content in a spreadsheet, you can restrict people from updating it.

  1. Open the sheet and click Data > Protected sheets and ranges.
  2. Click +Add a sheet or range.
  3. Click Range to protect a range of content or Sheet to protect a whole sheet.
  4. Click Set permissions and choose whether to show a warning or restrict who can edit the content.
  5. Click Done.

For details, see Protect content in a spreadsheet.

6.7 Limit sharing, downloading, printing or copying

Excel:
Encrypt with password

Sheets:
Limit sharing options

 

Excel 2013
 

Excel 2010

If you have sensitive content in a spreadsheet, you can prevent people from downloading, printing or copying it.

  1. At the top of the spreadsheet, click Share.
  2. At the bottom, click Advanced.
  3. Tick the Disable options to download, print and copy for commenters and viewers box.
  4. Click Done.

6.8 Set an expiry date for sharing

Sheets: set sharing expirations

When you’re working with people outside of your organisation, such as clients or agencies, you might want to restrict their access to certain files when your projects are complete.

Set an expiry date:

  1. At the top of the spreadsheet, click Share.
  2. If the file isn’t already shared, share it.
  3. Click Advanced.
  4. Hover over a person’s name and click Set expiry .
  5. Change the access expiry date.

    Note: You can’t set the expiry for the current day. If you need to restrict access immediately, just unshare the file.

  6. Click Save changesand thenDone.

6.9 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, click Activity dashboard at the top right .

If you don’t want your view history to appear in the activity dashboard, you can change the privacy settings.

Need more help?

Try these next steps:

Post to the Help Community Get answers from community members
true
Visit the Learning Center

Using Google products, like Google Docs, at work or school? Try powerful tips, tutorials, and templates. Learn to work on Office files without installing Office, create dynamic project plans and team calendars, auto-organize your inbox, and more.

Search
Clear search
Close search
Google apps
Main menu
169456310420129097
true
Search Help Centre
true
true
true
true
true
35
false
false