How does the new "Convert to Table" feature help Tiller?

Spreadsheets Google Sheets
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So I just noticed there’s a new option in the “Format” menu: “Convert to Table”. Apparently it has little more than an esthetic role. One nice thing is that it makes multiple filters easy to switch around.

Are there any other interesting tidbits that I’m missing?

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:wave: @andrei !

@randy just shared about this the other day in one of our Slack channels. It’s a feature that Excel has had for a while, which allowed us to improve the performance of our template formulas for the Foundation Template.

This is an excerpt from @benlcollins’ weekly newsletter, which I highly recommend for more great and informative content about Google Sheets.

Why should you use Tables?

There are many benefits to using Tables, including:

  1. Quick and easy to apply formatting
  2. Header row is automatically locked at the top of the Table
  3. Nice selection of pre-built Table templates
  4. Nice selection of pre-built styles
  5. Super easy to add dropdowns or smart chips to columns
  6. Formulas automatically applied down whole column
  7. Formatting and calculations are applied automatically to new rows
  8. Super easy access to filter and group by views
  9. Some folks will love the Structured Table formula referencing
  10. Built-in data validation with the column datatypes

When should you not use Tables?

Like any spreadsheet technique, Tables won’t be the best choice for every situation:

  1. Tables might be confusing to people who are unfamiliar with them
  2. They introduce additional complexity and clutter to Sheets that you might not want
  3. The structured Table reference formulas can be confusing to the uninitiated
  4. They work best with uniform underlying data. If your data has blank rows, subtotals, etc. then Tables may not interpret it correctly
  5. It’s sometimes not possible to convert large, complex datasets into Tables
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That link was really insightful! Do you know if he has released the other 2 parts he mentions yet?

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Ben Collins has a weekly free newsletter that has Google Sheets tips. The New Tables subject in the current newsleetter is part one of 3. His newsletter comes on Monday. You can sign up for the newsletter here https://www.benlcollins.com/

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Has anyone converted their transactions or category sheets to a Google Sheet Table?

I’m considering it. I especially like the tables formula reference feature.

I wonder if there are any downsides?

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I converted Transactions and Accounts (only columns A-D) to tables about a week ago, didn’t notice any issue.

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So I know its been a whle on this topic, but the only issue I have run into is when i convert the Categories sheet. I think this is because the DAte Headers are formatted as Dates while he data below are currency. I havent solved this, I just reverted it. Anybody else make progress with CAtegories?