Have you ever used Google Sheets and noticed certain limitations? As a long-time Microsoft Excel user, I inevitably compare these two spreadsheet tools.
In this article, I’ll explore some limitations of Google Sheets. Understanding what it can and cannot do will help you make the most of this powerful spreadsheet tool.
Note: Many limitations of Google Sheets have been addressed by adding new features. Regular updates and added functionalities make Google Sheets an excellent choice for spreadsheet software.
Google Sheets Limitations
Apart from a native box plot chart (which I would love to have!), here are some limitations of Google Sheets:
Maximum of 5 Million Cells
A Google Sheets document can contain a maximum of 5 million cells, spread across one or multiple sheets.
If you’ve already reached the 5 million cell limit with fewer columns, you won’t be able to add more columns (and vice versa, if you reach the limit with a certain number of rows, you won’t be able to add more rows).
If you try to do so, you’ll receive a prompt like this:
Note that this limit applies to sheets created in Google Sheets or converted to Google Sheets.
Maximum of 18,278 Columns
You can have a maximum of 18,278 columns in a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
If you try to add more columns beyond this limit, you’ll see a prompt like this:
Additionally, if you already have a significant number of rows and exceed the 5 million cell limit, even if the number of columns is below 18,278, you won’t be able to insert more columns.
No Limit on Rows (But 5 Million Cell Limit)
Previously, Google Sheets had a limit of 40,000 rows, but as of now, I couldn’t find any limitation.
You can see in the image below that I already have 200,001 rows, and I can still add more rows.
However, if I add rows that exceed the 5 million cell limit, Google Sheets won’t allow me to add those rows.
Read More: Google Sheets vs Excel
Tab Limit (No Limit, But 5 Million Cell Maximum)
Similarly to the row limit, there’s no specific tab limit at the time of writing this tutorial.
However, there’s a limit of 5 million cells, which determines the number of tabs you can have in Google Sheets.
By default, a new spreadsheet has 26,000 cells (100 rows and 26 columns). If you adhere to this row and column limit on each sheet, you can insert a maximum of 192 spreadsheets.
Beyond that, you’ll see a dialog reminding you of the cell limit in Google Sheets.
File Size Limit – 100 MB
When you convert a file to Google Sheets, its maximum size can reach 100 MB.
For files created directly in Google Sheets, the limit is 5 million rows.
Maximum Value Allowed in a Google Sheets Cell – 1.79769E + 308
1.79769E + 308 is the maximum value allowed in a Google Sheets cell. I doubt you’ll ever need such an enormous number.
However, if you try to enter a number larger than this value (try 144*144), you’ll encounter an error (which reminds you once again that the maximum value you can enter in a Google Sheets cell is 1.79769E + 308).
Limitations Related to Formulas:
- GoogleFinance formulas: Maximum of 1,000 GoogleFinance formulas.
- ImportRange formulas: Maximum of 50 cross-reference formulas between workbooks.
- CONCAT: You can concatenate a maximum of 50,000 characters.
- ImportHtml, ImportFeed, ImportData, or ImportXml formulas: Maximum of 50 functions for external data.
You might also be interested in the following Google Sheets tutorials:
- How to zoom in and out in Google Sheets
- How to delete empty rows in Google Sheets
- How to indent text in Google Sheets
- How to insert bullet points in Google Sheets
- How to insert multiple rows in Google Sheets
- How to adjust row height in Google Sheets
- How to color alternate rows in Google Sheets
- How to automatically adjust column width in Google Sheets
- Having speed issues with Google Sheets? Here are some tips to speed things up.
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Let’s make the most of Google Sheets together!
