Google Sheets - Basics of Data Entry

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(Part of my administrative assistant series on Google Sheets.)

There are several tips that can help when doing data entry on Google Sheets.

General Terminology:

CELL - an individual location for data

ROW - line of cells across the spreadsheet; denoted by a number

COLUMN - line of cells down the spreadsheet; denoted by a letter

CELL NAME - denoted by the column name and row name of the cell; example - the cell found by the intersection of row 4 and column b has a name of B4.


Using your Keyboard:
You can ditch the mouse/trackpad while doing quick data entry by keeping your fingers on the keyboard.  Use:

  • TAB - to move across a row
  • RETURN/ENTER - to move down a column
You can also use the arrow keys if you have them on your keyboard. 

Keep a leading ZERO:
You can keep a leading ZERO (0) in a cell by first inserting an apostrophe -

When you click on ENTER/RETURN/TAB, the apostrophe will not show but the ZERO will remain-


Enter Line Breaks inside a Cell:
If you want data on multiple lines within a call, you need to hold the COMMAND (on a MAC) or the CONTROL (on a PC) key when hitting ENTER/RETURN. 


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