Add, edit, or clear cell content

Add information to a cell

• Select a cell in which to enter information. You can also paste information into cells.
• If you type over existing data in a cell, it overwrites it. However, you can always view the previous cell data by right-clicking on the cell (Mac users can [Ctrl] + click) and choosing View Cell History....
• The column type determines the type of data you can enter into the cell. For example, if a column is set to the date type, you can select a calendar date for a cell in that column. If the column is set to the drop-down list type, you can choose a cell from that column and select a value for it from its value list.

• Each cell can hold up to 4,000 characters.

  You can enter text freely into any column type except read-only system columns.

Edit a cell

You can edit the information in a cell directly or in a form for its row:

• To open a cell for editing, double-click it or press [F2].
   

  When you single-click on a cell, the current value is replaced with whatever text you enter.

• To change the formatting of a cell, choose it and then select the desired formatting option from the left toolbar. Learn more about formatting options. 

• To edit the contents of a cell in a form for its row, select the drop-down arrow next to a row's number and go to Edit. A form for the row appears.

  You must have Editor permissions or higher to see the Edit command. The View Detail command shows if you’re shared to a sheet with Viewer permissions. Select View Detail to view the details of the row in a form.

   

Clear cell content

Select one or more cells and press Delete or Backspace to clear the current contents. To learn about the clear cell value action, see Clear the contents of a cell with the clear cell value action.

You can also right-click a cell and select Clear Contents.

Clear row content

To clear the content of an entire row:

1. Click the row number to the left of the row to highlight it.
2. Press Delete or Backspace.

This doesn’t delete the row itself, but it clears all content from the cells in the row.

You can also use the shortcut Ctrl+E (on Mac Command + E) to open the Edit row dialog.

Clear column content

1. Go to the column header at the top to highlight the column.
2. Press Delete or Backspace.

This doesn't delete the column itself but clears all content from its cells.