Google Sheets is another Google App for Work which is used to create and manage spreadsheets. If you want to get updates from different team members on the same file, you have to send a copy to everyone so that they make the changes and send it back to you.
But with Google Sheets, you do not need to send big files and you will get the real time updates.
How to accomplish sharing using Google Sheets?
By default when you upload a file to Google Drive it will keep the source format and the user will not be able to edit the file (Viewing and downloading is possible).
You need to have the OCM extension enabled and should be using Google Chrome to edit the Office files without converting them to Google Drive format.
Most of the time you will have the Excel or the spreadsheet saved to your local computer drive. You will have to convert the Excel file first into Google sheets before sharing them with your team members. To do that follow the below steps:
- Log into the Google Drive with your credentials
- Click on the settings button on the top right corner and go to settings of the Google Drive.
- In the “General” tab select the checkbox that is right to the “Convert Uploads”. Click on “Done” and go to the main page.
- Click on “New” and select File Upload. Select and upload the Excel file you want to share with your team members. You can see the file is converted to Google Sheets.
- To share the file, open the sheet and click on “Share. Give the email addresses of your team members and click on invite them.
That is it; the Excel file is available to all your team members now. They can update the file which you can access at any time. You do not have to keep on sending the different versions of the file and most of the time the files will be big in size.
To access the sheets which are shared, your team members can go to https://sheets.google.com/ and log in using their email credentials. They can start making the changes, and all your team members will be able to view the changes made by other team members. Once the update is done, you can download them back to the Excel format using the “Download As” option in the File menu.