Google Sheets has a powerful feature called Smart Chips that can help you work more efficiently and effectively with your data. Smart chips are a powerful and convenient feature in Google Sheets that can help you work more seamlessly and effectively with your data. They can help you access, extract, and use information from external sources without leaving your spreadsheet. They can also help you enhance, share, and communicate your data with your colleagues and students.
Smart chips can enrich your Google Sheets workflows by bringing relevant information to your fingertips, without leaving your Sheet. Whether you want to track financial data, manage projects, plan events, or create reports, smart chips can help you do more with less.
What are smart chips and why use them?
Smart chips are special cells that display extra information when you hover over them. They also let you extract this information into your spreadsheet or use it in your formulas.
There are 10 types of smart chips in Google Sheets, but only the first six are “smart” chips:
- People: show contact details and availability of people in your domain
- Files: show file metadata and preview of files in Google Drive
- Events: show event details and attendees of events in Google Calendar
- Places: show map preview and directions of places in Google Maps
- Finance: show financial information of stocks, mutual funds, or currencies in Google Finance
- YouTube: show video title, thumbnail, and description of videos in YouTube
- Rating: show a rating from 0 to 5 stars
- Dropdown: show a dropdown menu with predefined options
- Date: show a date picker with various options
- Emoji: show an emoji picker with various categories
Smart chips can help you work smarter and faster in Google Sheets by:
- Saving you time and clicks: you don’t have to switch between tabs or apps to access relevant information
- Reducing errors and typos: you don’t have to manually type or copy-paste information from other sources
- Enhancing your data: you can enrich your spreadsheet with more details and insights from external sources
- Improving your collaboration: you can easily share and communicate information with your colleagues and students
How to create and use smart chips?
To create a smart chip, you can either:
- Type “@” followed by a keyword or name in a cell, and choose from the suggestions that appear
- Select a cell that contains a valid name, email, file URL, event URL, place name, finance entity, or YouTube link, and click the “Convert to smart chip” button that appears
- Use the “Insert” menu and choose the type of smart chip you want to create
To use a smart chip, you can either:
- Hover over it to see the extra information in a pop-up window
- Click on it to see the action buttons, such as email, call, chat, open, edit, etc.
- Extract the information into your spreadsheet using the data extraction tool or formulas
- Use the information in your formulas as a cell reference with a dot notation
Examples of smart chips for Shenandoah University Faculty & Staff
- Suppose you have a list of student emails for a course you’re teaching and you want to find more information about them, such as their names, majors, and availability. You can convert the emails into people chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to email, call, or chat with them directly from your spreadsheet.
- Let’s say you have a list of files related to a research project you’re working on and you want to see the file details, such as the owner, size, type, and last modified date. You can convert the file URLs or names into file chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to open, preview, or edit the files directly from your spreadsheet.
- Perhaps you have a list of events related to a conference you’re organizing and you want to see the event details, such as the date, time, location, and attendees. You can convert the event URLs or names into event chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to open, edit, or join the events directly from your spreadsheet.
- Maybe you have a list of places related to a campus tour you’re planning and you want to see the map preview and directions of the places. You can convert the place names, addresses, or locations into place chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to open, share, or get directions to the places directly from your spreadsheet.
- Suppose you have a list of financial entities related to a budget report you’re preparing and you want to see the financial information of the entities, such as the price, change, volume, and market cap. You can convert the names of stocks, mutual funds, or currencies into finance chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to open, refresh, or chart the entities directly from your spreadsheet.
- Or you have a list of YouTube videos related to a presentation you’re creating and you want to see the video details, such as the title, thumbnail, and description. You can convert the YouTube links into YouTube chips and extract the data you need into your spreadsheet. You can also use the action buttons to open, play, or share the videos directly from your spreadsheet.
These are just some of the ways smart chips can help you in your daily tasks. You can also combine different types of smart chips in a single cell or use them in your formulas to create more complex and dynamic spreadsheets.