Working in a sheet

The sheet, at a glance

A sheet is like one page of a register. Each line going across is a row, for example one guest. Each line going down is a column, for example the city. The box where they meet is a cell.

Where to find itTop bar›Sheets›choose a sheet from the list on the left

1. Search finds words anywhere in the sheet. See Sort, filter and search.
2. Grid shows the sheet as rows and columns. List shows each row as one simple line, which is easier to read.
3. Insert function works out a total, an average and more. See Formulas.
4. The cell with the green box round it is the one you have chosen. What you type goes here.
5. The Actions column at the right end holds the buttons for each row. They show when your pointer is on that row.
6. Add row adds a new empty row at the bottom.
7. A long sheet is shown 50 rows at a time. The arrows take you to the next page.

The two small buttons at the end of the top bar are for the sheet itself. The first opens the purpose and notes of the sheet. The second, Reload sheet, reads the sheet again.

Typing in a cell

You do not have to press any Save button for a cell. What you type is kept as soon as you leave the cell.

1. Click the cell once. A green box appears round it.
2. Start typing. What you type takes the place of what was there.
3. Press Enter to keep it and move to the cell below. Press Tab to keep it and move to the cell on the right.

• To change a few letters and keep the rest, click the chosen cell once more, or double-click it, or press F2. The old words stay and you can correct them.
• To give up a change you have not finished, press Esc. The cell goes back to what it was.
• Clicking anywhere else also keeps what you typed.
• A small turning circle in the cell means it is being saved. If it could not be saved, the cell turns light red, a message Cell not saved appears, and the old value comes back.

Some cells do not take typing, because their column holds something else. A date cell opens a small calendar with Now, Clear and Done. A place cell opens a search for the place. A to-do cell is a tick box: one click ticks it. The chapter Columns and what they hold explains each kind.

When the words are too long for the cell, the sheet shows only the beginning. Move your pointer to the cell and press the small Open this cell button at its end, or just open the cell for typing. A bigger box opens. Press Save when you finish, or hold Ctrl and press Enter. If you close the box with changes in it, the app asks Keep what you have written? and you choose Save or Discard.

TipIf a cell holds more than 50 words, a Convert to note button appears. It moves the text into a note and leaves a link to the note in the cell. See Notes.

Moving with the keyboard

Once a cell is chosen, you can work without the mouse. This is the quickest way to fill a long list.

On a Mac, use the Cmd key wherever this manual says Ctrl.

Picking many cells, and copying

Pick several cells when you want to add them up at a glance, copy them, or empty them together.

1. Click the first cell.
2. Hold the mouse button and drag to the last cell. Or hold Shift and click the last cell.
3. Look at the strip that appears beside Add row. It names the cells you picked, for example B1:B4, and shows Sum, Average, Count, Min and Max of the numbers in them.

• To pick a whole column, hold Ctrl and click the column name. Hold Ctrl and click another name to add that column too.
• To copy, press Ctrl and C. Then paste where you like, for example in a message or in another program.
• To empty the picked cells, press Delete. When there is more than one, the app first asks Clear 4 cells? Press Clear to go ahead.
• To let go of the cells, press Esc or the small cross at the end of the strip.

Please noteTo paste into a sheet, open one cell for typing and paste there. The pasted words go into that one cell. To bring a whole table from another place into a sheet, use Import and export.

Please noteThere is no undo button in a sheet. If you type over a cell by mistake, type the old value again. Deleting a row or a column always asks you first, because it cannot be brought back.

Adding, moving and deleting rows

Every new guest, item or student is one more row.

1. Open row shows the whole row as a form. See the row editor below.
2. Row options opens a small menu for this row.
3. Delete row removes the row.
4. The small box ticks the row, so that you can colour or delete several rows together.
5. The grip moves the row. Hold it and drag the row up or down. A green line shows where it will land.
6. The lower edge of the row, under its number, makes the row taller. Drag it down. Double-click it to let the row fit itself again.

To add a row at the bottom, press Add row under the sheet. An empty row appears and its first cell is chosen, ready for typing.

To add a row in the middle, open Row options on a row and choose Insert row above or Insert row below.

To delete a row, press Delete row on that row. The app asks Delete this row? and reminds you that this cannot be undone. Press Delete row to confirm.

To work on several rows together, tick the small box at the start of each one. A bar appears above the sheet saying how many rows are selected. In that bar you can press a colour to highlight those rows, press Remove highlight to take the colour away, press Delete 3 rows to remove them all, or press Clear selection to untick them. The box in the top left corner ticks every row on the page.

TipA taller row is useful when a cell holds a photo or a long remark. The height is remembered on the computer and browser you are using. It does not change the sheet for other people.

Please noteWhile the sheet is sorted by a column, rows cannot be dragged. Click the column name until the sort arrow goes away, then drag.

The pinned row, for totals

A total should stay at the bottom, whatever you sort or filter. Pin one row and it stays there, always in view.

1. Add a row and type a name in it, such as Total. Then open Row options on that row and choose Pin to the bottom. A small pin appears beside its number.
2. Move your pointer to the name of the column you want to total, and open its menu with the three dots. Under Pinned row shows, choose Sum.

The pinned cell now shows the sum of all the other rows in that column. It keeps itself right: when you change an amount or add a row, the total changes too, on every device.

• Choose the same item again to turn it off. The cell becomes an ordinary cell again.
• The pinned row is not counted with the other rows. Under the sheet you will read, for example, 5 rows + 1 pinned.
• A sheet has one pinned row. To let it go, open Row options on it and choose Unpin from the bottom.

The right-click menu of a cell

Right-click any cell to see what you can put in it or do with it. The top line of the menu tells you which cell it is, for example B3 and the column name.

1. Flicx Companion, with a plus sign, hands this cell to the helper so that you can ask about it. If you picked many cells first, it hands over all of them and shows how many.
2. Clear cell empties the cell. If you picked many cells first, it reads Clear 6 cells and empties them all.
3. The middle part puts something into the cell: a link, a place, a photo or a file.
4. Notes sticks a note on the cell. A cell with a note has a small folded corner.
5. To-do makes a task out of the cell.

Please noteA to-do column holds only a tick. In its cells the lines for links, places, photos and files are greyed out.

If you have only been given permission to look at a sheet, you can still open the menu and read notes, but the lines that change the cell are greyed out or not shown.

Putting a photo or a file in a cell

A bill, a photo of an item, an ID proof, a certificate: keep it in the row it belongs to, so that you never have to search for it.

In any cell, right-click and choose Add an image…, Upload a document… or Pick from the library…. This works in every column except a to-do column.

In an Image or Document column, the cell itself has the buttons. Double-click the cell and they appear.

1. Link to an image asks for the web address of a picture.
2. Upload an image lets you choose a photo from your computer.
3. Choose from the library lets you pick one that is already in your Library.

• A Document cell has the same three buttons, for files.
• A cell that holds a photo shows a View button. Press it to see the photo large.
• A cell that holds a file shows the file's name. Press it to open the file.
• To take the photo or file out of the cell, open the cell and press the small cross, Remove. Or right-click and choose Clear cell.

TipIf a Document column was set to take only one kind of file, for example PDF, other kinds are refused. See Columns and what they hold.

The row editor: one row as a form

When a sheet has many columns, it is easier to see one row as a form, with every column as a field one below the other.

1. Move your pointer to the row and press Open row in the Actions column.
2. Change any field. A Yes / No column shows Yes and No buttons. A date column shows Pick a date. An Image or Document column shows a place to upload or drop the file.
3. Press Save changes. Nothing is kept until you press it.

A small edited label appears beside every field you have changed, so you can check before saving. Cancel closes the panel and keeps the row as it was.

Long sheets: pages and zoom

A sheet with hundreds of rows is shown 50 rows at a time, so that it stays quick.

• Under the sheet, at the right, you will see Page 1 of 3 with an arrow on each side. Press the arrows to go to the next or the previous page.
• The sheet stays on the page you are on. When you change a cell or add a row on page 3, you are still on page 3 afterwards. If you open another sheet and come back, you return to the page you left, for as long as the app stays open.
• The sheet goes back to the first page only when you search or change a filter, because the rows on show have changed.
• Moving with the arrow keys past the last row of a page takes you to the next page by itself.

To make the sheet bigger or smaller, hold Ctrl and turn the mouse wheel, or pinch with two fingers on a laptop touchpad. A small pill appears at the bottom right showing the size, such as 110%, with a minus, a plus and Reset. The size is remembered for each sheet on the computer you are using.

A sheet on your phone

A phone screen is too narrow for a wide sheet. So on a phone the same sheet can be seen in two ways, and you switch between them with one button in the bar at the top.

Records shows one card for each row. This is how a sheet first opens on a phone.

1. Tap a card to open that row as a form. Change what you like and save.
2. Tap the round + button to add a record.

• If the sheet has a to-do column, each card has a tick box. Tap it to mark the row done.
• To pick cards, press and hold one. After that, a tap on any other card picks it too. A bar shows how many are selected, with a cross to let go and a bin to delete them.

Grid shows rows and columns. Slide the sheet sideways with one finger to see more columns.

• Tap a cell to choose it. The bar above the grid (3) shows which cell it is and what it holds.
• Tap the same cell again (4), or tap that bar, to change it. A panel slides up from the bottom with the right kind of box for that cell, and Cancel and Save.
• Press and hold a cell to open the same cell menu that a right-click opens on a computer.
• Tap a row's number to open the whole row as a form. Press and hold the number to pick the row.
• Tap a column name to sort by it, or to pin the first column so that it stays in view while you slide sideways.
• The View options button has Size with a minus and a plus, Refresh the sheet, and Pin the first column. You can also pinch the grid with two fingers to change its size.

TipThe phone remembers, for each sheet, whether you last looked at it as records or as a grid.

Common questions

Do I have to save? No. A cell is kept as soon as you press Enter or click somewhere else. Only the row editor and the big box for long text have a save button.

Can I undo a mistake? There is no undo in a sheet. Type the old value again. Before anything is deleted, the app asks you.

Why is a row faded? The sheet has a to-do column and that row is ticked as done. Untick it and it becomes bright again.

What is the small folded corner on a cell? A note is stuck on that cell. Right-click the cell to open it.

I see someone's name on a cell. What is it? Another person is working in the same sheet. A coloured box shows the cell they are on, and their name shows while they type. See Sharing.

Why can I not type in a cell? You may have been given permission only to look at the sheet. Or the cell is a kind that is chosen, not typed, such as a date, a place or a photo.

My row became short again on another computer. Why? Row heights are remembered only on the computer and browser where you set them.