Google has announced it is expanding the skillset of its spreadsheet software in order to make your documents smarter and more intuitive than ever.
The company introduced "smart chips" to Google Sheets back in February 2023, giving users a more interactive and informative experience with the software - but now this is getting an upgrade.
In a Google Workspace update blog post announcing the news, the company says that the new additions will help users "access and include rich, context-setting information directly in Sheets."
Google Sheets smart chips
Along with the initial place chips, finance chips, and expanded date capabilities already announced, Google Sheets is now getting even richer experiences, including extra functionality when posting YouTube clips in a spreadsheet.
When copying and pasting a YouTube link into a spreadsheet cell, users can now add extra information such as the title and description, and even a short video preview. Users just need to hover over the link and click the "Chip" option included in the “Replace URL” hovercard.
Just how useful this addition will be remains to be seen (we certainly don't post a lot of YouTube links in our spreadsheets) but Google Sheets will also now allow users to insert multiple smart chips and text into a single cell using the @ menu.
The company says this change will "enhance your ability to quickly preview and interact with even more context-setting information in Sheets", as you could, for example, tag multiple contacts or co-workers, include a date, and add in links to other files, all in a single cell.
The new additions are available now, and will be rolling out over the next few weeks, with no special admin control required.
Both will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers, as well as users with personal Google Accounts.
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