Maximising Google Sheets with AI: tips for 2025

Google Sheets has evolved from a basic spreadsheet tool into an AI-driven powerhouse for data management. Whether for personal organization, business analytics, or growth marketing, its features save time and enhance productivity. This guide explores the latest AI tools and workflow automation to maximize its potential in 2025.

1. How AI is making Google Sheets smarter

The AI integration in Google Sheets turns it into a smart assistant for data organisation and analysis, combining familiar functionality with automation and machine learning. It bridges the gap between technical expertise and everyday users, making insights more accessible.

Why it stands out

1. Ease of use: AI features like “Help Me Organize” guide users step-by-step, simplifying spreadsheet creation and organisation.
2. Automation of complex tasks: AI handles tasks like data cleaning, predictive modeling, and trend analysis with minimal effort.
3. Time-saving: tools like Smart Fill automate repetitive tasks like filling in data or suggesting formulas.

When it started

AI in Google Sheets gained traction around 2020 with features like Smart Compose in Gmail, inspiring similar tools in Sheets. By 2022, features like Smart Fill and formula suggestions simplified complex operations.

Google Sheets has transformed into a powerful assistant, redefining how users manage and analyze data.

2. AI tools: automate and simplify tasks

Whether you’re a beginner or advanced user, integrating AI tools into Google Sheets can save time, boost efficiency, and revolutionise data management. Here’s how to make the most of AI tools in Google Sheets:

a. Simplify complex tasks with AI chatbots

AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini assist with:

• Formula assistance: chatbots can generate, suggest, and explain intricate formulas for easier data manipulation
• Data cleaning: automate tasks like removing duplicates and standardizing text
• Code generation: draft custom Google Apps Script snippets for automation

💡 Tip: chatbots are like personal assistants for troubleshooting and repetitive tasks

b. Enhance productivity with AI add-ons

Integrate advanced AI tools directly into Google Sheets with add-ons:

• GPT for Sheets and Docs: perform data analysis, summaries, and translations effortlessly
• Sheet Copilot: automates formulas, formatting, and visualizations using GPT-4

👉 Start: install these add-ons from the Google Workspace Marketplace to simplify workflows.

c. Scale with APIs and Apps Script

Advanced users can customize Sheets further:

• OpenAI API integration: add features like natural language processing and content generation.
• Apps Script Automation: build custom workflows, from automated reporting to predictive analytics

💡 Pro tip: combine APIs with dashboards for dynamic, AI-powered solutions.

d. Use “Help me organize” for instant templates

This Google Workspace Labs feature creates custom spreadsheets based on prompts.

• Example Prompt: “Create a budget planner for my trip.”
• Result: Generates columns like Date, Expense, Category, and Amount

💡 How to use:

1. Open a blank spreadsheet
2. Activate “Help Me Organize” from the AI tools menu
3. Enter your prompt to auto-generate a tailored spreadsheet

👉 Ideal for project planning, event schedules, or content calendars.

Video created by Champion Edtech

3. Data cleaning and Smart Fill

Data cleaning is a crucial part of data analysis, and Google Sheets offers tools to make it effortless.

Smart Fill

• Smart Fill predicts patterns in your data and fills in missing fields automatically
• Example: if you input a column of names and need corresponding emails, Smart Fill can predict the format (e.g., firstname.lastname@example.com)

Find & Replace (Ctrl + H)

• Use this to clean up datasets by replacing unwanted text or fixing errors across your sheet
• Example: replace all instances of “UTC” in a timestamp with blank spaces to make the data cleaner

💡 Pro tip: Combine Split Text to Columns and Conditional Formatting to standardise and highlight inconsistencies.

4. Automate repetitive tasks with Macros

A Macros is a tool in Google Sheets that records your actions, such as formatting, sorting, or applying formulas, and saves them as a script. When needed, you can replay this recorded sequence with a single click, automating repetitive tasks without writing code.

How it works

1. Go to Extensions > Macros > Record Macro
2. Perform the actions you want to automate, such as applying filters or formatting
3. Save the Macro with a name and, if desired, assign it to a shortcut key
4. Replay the Macro whenever needed to instantly replicate your actions

Example use case: automating weekly reports

If you regularly generate weekly reports:

1. Open your report spreadsheet
2. Record actions like sorting, filtering, and applying specific formatting
3. Save the Macro and assign it a shortcut key for easy access
4. Replay the Macro each week to quickly process your reports, saving hours of manual work

5. Integrate Google Sheets with Make

Google Sheets becomes even more powerful when integrated with Make, a user-friendly automation platform that connects Sheets to tools like Slack, HubSpot, or CRMs. Make helps automate workflows, saving time and streamlining processes—all without writing a single line of code.

How it works with Google Sheets

Make integrates with Google Sheets to create workflows (called “scenarios“) that react to changes in your data:

1. Monitor changes: track updates in your Sheets, such as new rows or modified data
2. Trigger actions: perform tasks like sending emails, notifying teams in Slack, or updating CRM records automatically

Its drag-and-drop interface makes automation intuitive, turning your spreadsheets into smarter, more efficient tools.

Example workflow

• Scenario: automate lead management
• Action: a new lead entry in Sheets triggers Make to send a welcome email and update your CRM

💡 Pro tip: combine Make with Google Sheets’ QUERY function for advanced data segmentation before automating tasks.

Video created by Make

6. Build interactive dashboards

Interactive dashboards in Google Sheets transform raw data into clear, actionable insights. By leveraging features like Pivot tables, slicers, and charts, you can dynamically visualize and interact with your data, making it easier to identify trends and track performance.

Why it’s useful

Dashboards aren’t just about visuals—they organize data to answer key questions quickly:

• Who benefits? Marketers tracking campaigns, sales teams monitoring targets, and analysts evaluating KPIs
• What’s the impact? Dashboards simplify data interpretation, support better decision-making, and let teams focus on strategy instead of manual data analysis

How to build one

1. Create Pivot tables: summarise your data into totals, averages, or counts, such as grouping campaign performance by region
2. Add slicers: use interactive filters to refine results by date or product type
3. Visualize with charts: turn summarized data into graphs or bar charts for easy trend analysis

💡 Use case: a marketing team can track ad campaign results using:

• Pivot tables summarizing clicks, conversions, and ROI by channel
• Slicers to filter by date or region
• Charts to visualize trends over time, identifying successful strategies

7. Advanced features: query and importrange

When working with large datasets, advanced formulas like QUERY and IMPORTRANGE are invaluable. They simplify data management by enabling efficient filtering, analysis, and consolidation.

QUERY: filter and analyze data

The QUERY function works like a mini-database, letting you filter and manipulate data using SQL-like commands.

• Use case: Filter sales data by region or time period
• Formula: =QUERY(A1:D100, “SELECT A, B WHERE C > 1000”) This retrieves rows where column C exceeds 1000 and displays columns A and B

💡 Pro tip: Use QUERY to filter, summarize, or sort data without creating extra sheets

IMPORTRANGE: consolidate data

IMPORTRANGE allows you to pull data from different spreadsheets into one, creating a master sheet for streamlined analysis.

• Use case: consolidate data from multiple spreadsheets for unified reporting
• Formula: =IMPORTRANGE(“spreadsheet_url”, “Sheet1!A1:C10”) This imports data from “Sheet1” in another spreadsheet, identified by its URL

💡 Pro tip: combine IMPORTRANGE with QUERY to dynamically filter and analyze imported data, optimizing your workflow

Conclusion

Google Sheets in 2024 is more than just a spreadsheet—it’s your go-to tool for smarter data organisation, seamless collaboration, and powerful automation. With AI tools at your fingertips, you can save time, minimize errors, and make data-driven decisions with confidence.

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