Hi Reader,

Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #394, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form.

Welp, with the World Cup and the Tour de France events both now firmly in the rear view mirror, I guess I have no choice but to get back to work!

In all seriousness, this summer has been crazy busy for me. International travel to visit my family in England, a bad sickness, summer camps, moving house... Once my boys go back to school again, it'll be a little easier to get into a work routine.

I'm looking forward to (finally) launching the updated version of this newsletter that I've been talking about. And to start recording lessons for the new Gemini Vibe Coding course that will launch later this year.

Today I want to show you the useful shortcut menu hidden behind the "@" symbol. Super easy. Super useful. Find all the details below.

➜ News

I.
​Google Sheets now offers enhanced options for combo charts. For anyone interested in data visualization, like me, this is very exciting news!

​Read more here >>​

I've been exploring what's possible with the Google Sheets chart tool for years now (see and download this Visual Vocabulary) so I'm personally excited to see what new charts might be possible.

➜ Sheets Tip #394: The versatile "@" menu

Take a blank cell in your Sheet and type "@":

This pops up a menu where you can select from:

1. People
2. Files
3. Dates
4. Calendar Events
5. Components
6. Media

Let's look at each in turn...

People

Type "@" then select one of the pre-filled names, or start typing a different name, to enter a People Smart Chip for that person.

People Chips give you instant access to metadata (e.g. email address) about that person.

Files

Select a file or type in a filename to add a File Smart Chip.

Dates

Typing "@date" into a cell brings up the date picker object, with today's date highlighted.

Press Enter to select today's date or use the picker to select a different date.

Or try typing the following:

@today → inserts today's date

@tomorrow → inserts tomorrow's date

@yesterday → inserts yesterday's date

@mon or @monday → Brings up list of recent Monday's (works for other days of the week e.g. @tue or @tuesday)

@next → week on Monday or 2 weeks on Monday

@next tue or @next tuesday → week on Tuesday (works for other days of the week too)

@last → week last Monday, or one before that

@last wed or @last wednesday → week last Wednesday, or one before that (works for other days of the week too)

Calendar Events

Scroll down the "@" menu and you can select from upcoming Calendar Events (or type in a calendar event name) to insert a Calendar Event Smart Chip, which gives you metadata about the calendar event directly in your Sheet.

Components

Further down the "@" menu are the component options.

Useful to quickly create Tables, Dropdowns, or Rating Smart Chips.

Media

Lastly, you can quickly insert emojis into your Sheets via the "@" menu.

Scroll to the bottom of the menu to the Media section. Click on Emoji and then click to insert an emoji into your Sheet.

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

Have a great week!

Cheers,
Ben

P.S. What happens when you put Red Bull in charge of the slip 'n slide...​