Organization tools are among the most popular on the internet, especially when they allow you to share and edit them with colleagues, as well as analyze the data you’ve entered.
That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about: Google Sheets. It may resemble Excel, but it can be considered more convenient in certain cases, even though it doesn’t have as many functions.
If you’re not familiar with this program yet, you still need to discover its features. You might be wondering, what is the green line? This article will give you the answer.
The Green Line
Why does a green line suddenly appear in your Google Sheets spreadsheet?
There may be several reasons for this.
1. You may have applied a filter
The first thing to check is if a filter has been applied in Google Sheets. If you have recently activated a filter, you may see a green line, which marks the end of the filtered range.
When you want to use a particular function on a set of data, you usually use filters to select the fields with the information you want to include. This is a great option if you don’t want to use all the data in the spreadsheet for your calculations, but only specific data.
The green line serves to show you where the filter ends.
If you want to remove the line, you also need to remove the filter. Here’s how to do it:
- Open Google Sheets and select the spreadsheet from which you want to remove the filter.
- Click on the range of cells where the filter is applied.
- Select “Data”.
- Choose the option “Turn off filter”.
Note that this menu allows you to create new filters when necessary. You will see the green line every time you apply one.
In most cases, the in-use filter is the reason why the green line appears. However, there may also be other reasons.
2. You might be searching for an item
You will easily recognize if this causes the green line. Not only will it appear around specific cells, but those cells will also be highlighted in green.
You may have used the Ctrl+F shortcut to find something easily in your document. Press those keys again to check if that’s the case, as you don’t always see the search bar.
3. You may have opened the file on another device
If you see a green border around a specific cell without it being filled with color, here’s why it’s happening. You may have opened that document on another device.
If you’re working on your laptop, also check your phone. You can even check the other tabs on the same device you’re working on. Once you identify where it is, close it, and you’ll find that the cell is no longer highlighted.
What if all the cells turn green?
That’s what happens when you use the search bar, but there are also other cases where specific cells on the sheet turn green.
Why does this happen?
You may have enabled conditional formatting, a formula that allows you to format one or more cells based on a formula you’ve set. For example, if a cell contains a value greater than or equal to 20, it turns green.
Follow these steps to check if this formula is causing the issue:
- Click on the cell where conditional formatting is applied.
- Go to the menu bar and select the “Format” tab.
- In the dropdown menu, choose “Conditional formatting”.
- In the popup window, check if there’s a formula that makes the cells green.
- There’s a small trash can icon next to the formatting rules. Click on it to delete the rules.
Take note of these steps as they can help you solve other unusual problems you might encounter with your spreadsheet. Conditional formatting can still be a possible solution.
Too much green on your screen
If a green line persists in your Google Sheets spreadsheet and you can’t seem to remove it, it’s probably the end of a filter. In 90% of cases, that’s the reason why you see this line, and good news, it’s quite easy to get rid of it. It only takes a few clicks to make it disappear.
If that doesn’t work, you can try the other solutions we’ve suggested. Some of them might also help you with other issues you might encounter with Google Sheets.
Have you tried other solutions? Share your ideas in the comments section below.
Source: Crawlan.com
