Google Sheets reveals another step toward dropping Excel for good
Keeping those essential business spreadsheet files safe when working across devices just got a whole lot easier thanks to a new Google Workspace update.
The company has revealed that users can now import and convert sensitive Microsoft Excel files into encrypted Google Sheets on the client side, allowing users on both platforms to easily browse the file.
The move should also mean users in teams and workspaces feel more comfortable sharing important files, adding an extra layer of security for those critical documents.
Google Sheets Excel Security
In a Google Workspace update blog post Announcing the news, the company noted that the conversion encrypts the new Google Sheets file on the client side.
“Your encrypted Excel file will not be modified even if you modify the encrypted Spreadsheets file,” he added.
Users can only import encrypted .xslx excel file types, as additional excel and table file types are not supported and will be ignored if the user tries to upload them. Files up to 20 MB are allowed, with support for up to five million cells.
The tool is currently in open beta and is available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers.
In its battle to beat its big rival Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets has seen a number of recent updates over the past few months to help users get more out of their data.
This includes so-called “smart chip” technology, which allows users to quickly access information or data from other Google Workspace files, bringing Slides, Docs, and Gmail, for example, even closer together.
Google Sheets users can currently quickly extract information from smart chips to add detail or analysis to their work, extract information from people, files, and event chips, and pull metadata associated with specific smart chips into its own chips. cell, all while maintaining a connection to the chip from which it was extracted.