Google Sheets is one of the most popular spreadsheet tools presently used across the world. It is noted for the convenience, efficiency, and creative innovations in dealing with the spreadsheet requirements of the customer community. It is free and accessible from any device, making it undoubtedly one of the front runners in spreadsheets. Google Sheets can be used for individual tasks or can be shared between multiple users within an enterprise. The ability to accommodate multiple users in real-time is something that Google Sheets is acclaimed for. Despite the numerous positives, advantages, and benefits associated with Google Sheets, it is also prone to several limitations. Regular users of Google Sheets often point out the challenges that happen in the application that sometimes makes the application feel like not enough. The team behind Google Sheets does look into the limitations and has even solved several major flaws, but at times, certain limitations pertain without receiving any solution. Some of the most discussed and most relevant limitations associated with Google Sheets are discussed in detail below.
What are the major limitations regarding Google Sheets?
While comparing the other spreadsheet tools, there are certain fields and areas in which Google Sheets has still got the scope to improve. It is always better for the user to get a glance into the inadequacies of an application, as it will let them make the best use of the application.
The Google Sheets have a maximum capacity
One of the downsides of using a Google Sheets application is that it comes with a maximum capacity beyond which no entries can be made. The generally estimated capacity of a Google Sheet is that of 5 Million cells. It need not be in a single worksheet. Having 5 Million cells used over multiple sheets can also be considered as reaching the maximum limit.
Once the user reaches the prescribed maximum limit, the application will no longer let him or she create another entry. That is, if it was in the column section that the maximum capacity was reached, no more columns will be permitted for the user and likewise for the rows.
Once the user reaches the maximum limit, an alert appears on the Google Sheet which states that the application has met with a problem. An important thing to be remembered by the users is that the maximum limit can be made possible by both the sheets created by the user and the sheets that were converted from other file formats.
There is an inherent column limit in the application
Another limitation with using the Google Sheets application is that it maintains a limit on the maximum number of columns being created. It may not sound so terrible from the point of view of an individual. But when it comes to the records and sheets of an enterprise or an organization, keeping a column limit may cause several practical difficulties.
The currently maintained limitation on the number of columns is 18,278 columns. The application does not let the user create one more column once the sheet has reached the prescribed maximum limit. The user will be provided with an error notification as soon as he or she hits the maximum limit.
A similar restriction was present for the number of rows possible in the sheets also, but it was looked into by the creators of the application and was properly taken care of. Now, there is no limit as to how many rows can be created in the application.
There is a limit on the size of the converted files
Numerous file formats are converted into Google Sheets daily. One of the inherent limitations of Google Sheets is that it maintains a limit regarding the maximum size of a file that is being converted into a Google Sheet. As of now, the limit stands at 100 MB. The users of Google Sheets are expected to maintain the size of 100 MB when attempting to convert a file. If the file happens to be bigger than the prescribed limit, the user is notified with an error message which forces the user to compress or reduce the file size somehow.
Limitations regarding formulas
The Google Sheets happen to have inadequacies in dealing with several formulas like Google Finance, CONCAT, Import Range, etc. The application maintains a maximum limit of formulas that can be processed by it and this limit seems fairly inadequate. The application can only have a maximum of 1000 Google Finance formulas and likewise for the rest of the formulas.
