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Google Sheets adds themes, other tools to make more interactive reports

Beyond data entry and formulas, Google Sheets has long featured graphing capabilities. Earlier this year, the G Suite app added more tools for “enhanced reporting,” and today Google announced Themes, Slicers, and Scorecard charts to make Sheets more interactive.

With Themes, you can customize the look and feel of spreadsheets. This includes inserted charts, pivot tables, and cells to help with consistency. They differ from templates that allow for pre-made spreadsheets catered for creating and entering data for budgets or schedules.

Google has several presets to choose from, but custom themes are also available. A right-hand panel slides out, with users able to see previews for each design and quickly edit.

To apply a preset theme, select Format > Theme and choose an option, or to create a custom theme, select Customize in the top right.

Slicers are essentially dropdown fields that you can insert to filter reports and dashboards by specified conditions and values.

Lastly, Scorecard charts can display key metrics within your spreadsheet. KPIs or a key stat are touted as examples, with all these tools “making it easier and faster to generate more engaging and informative reports.” It speaks to G Suite’s broader vision to increase productivity with smarts that handle the hard work and save time.

You’ll have the option to show your stat in comparison to another number, for instance illustrating percentage increase or decrease over time.

They join Guides, the ability to copy and paste images into Sheets, and formula-backed charts inserted from Answers announced in April. Themes in Google Sheets and today’s other tools are rolling out today and will be available for all G Suite editions in the coming weeks.

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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com