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Hi Reader,

Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #351, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form!

Thankfully, I'm fully recovered from the pneumonia I had last month. Sadly, we had to cancel our trip to Europe to see my family. But, the silver lining was an unexpected week at home with no agenda. So we stained the back deck, cleared out the garage, and built some raised beds in the garden.

My younger self would have spent the week wallowing, annoyed at the universe for the timing of the sickness. But now, middle-aged me is wise enough to accept that I don't control these things. All I can do is keep smiling through it all.

Summer is now in full swing in my neck of the woods, with hot temperatures and high humidity. It always feels so draining at the start of the summer, before your body has acclimatized to the heat. Half-an-hour of football (soccer) in the garden with my son wipes us both out!

➜ News

I.
​One for the developers amongst you... Google Workspace users can now add their GitHub repositories into the Gemini App, so that Gemini has access to the full codebase.

​Read more here >>​

➜ Membership

Last week in the membership we looked at how to use Gems (custom instances of Gemini AI) from the sidebar of Google Sheets. I shared an example of a SPARKLINE formula generator and a monthly reporting tool.

​Members can watch and/or read the tutorial here.​

This week, I'm sharing a neat formula for adding a bit of *dazzle* to your Sheets!

​Join today for access to the these and the full archives.​

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➜ Sheets Tip #351: CHOOSECOLS trick with negative numbers to select columns from the right

In this tip, we look at the CHOOSECOLS function that was added to Google Sheets in 2023.

CHOOSECOLS lets you select specific columns from a range, by specifying the column numbers you want.

Previously, this required a QUERY function, which is more challenging to construct.

This formula selects the first and third columns from the input range:

The numbered columns count up from the left side of the range you specify.

CHOOSECOLS with negative numbers

A neat feature of CHOOSECOLS is that you can specify negative numbers, which count in from the right side of your range.

For example,

selects the right most column and the 3rd column in from the right.

We can even mix-and-match positive and negative numbers to select columns from the left and right of the range.

For example,

selects the 1st and 2nd columns from the left, and the 3rd and 1st columns from the right side.

Super useful!

Next week, I have another trick with CHOOSECOLS that will help you select many columns at once.

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please forward it to a friend who might enjoy it.

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Ben

P.S. Alexa, remind me to go to the gym​