Formula guide · Google Sheets · Updated May 13, 2026
Google Sheets Formula Cheat Sheet
A quick reference for useful Google Sheets formulas including QUERY, FILTER, ARRAYFORMULA, TEXTJOIN, and lookup formulas.
Quick Answer
For Google Sheets, QUERY, FILTER, UNIQUE, SORT, ARRAYFORMULA, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS, and TEXTJOIN cover most everyday problems.
Copyable Formula
=QUERY(A1:D20,"select A, sum(D) group by A",1)Syntax
Use QUERY for report-style summaries, FILTER for live filtered views, and ARRAYFORMULA when a formula should fill a column.Google Sheets
Worked Example
| Task | Formula |
|---|---|
| Report summary | QUERY |
| Filtered view | FILTER |
| Clean list | SORT + UNIQUE |
| Join text | TEXTJOIN |
Result: Use this cheat sheet as the entry point into more detailed Google Sheets guides.
Steps
- Choose QUERY when you need select, where, group by, or order by.
- Choose FILTER when you want matching rows with simple conditions.
- Choose SORT and UNIQUE for clean lists.
Common Mistakes
- Using QUERY when the next user will not understand query syntax.
- Forgetting that Sheets formulas may use locale-specific separators.
- Mixing text and numbers in QUERY columns.
Excel vs Google Sheets Notes
This page is focused on Google Sheets. Excel may require a different function, pivot table, or Power Query workflow.
Editorial check: This guide was last updated May 13, 2026. Formula behavior can vary by Excel version, Google Sheets rollout, and spreadsheet locale.