Here's how you change direction of your data in Google Spreadsheets, commonly called Google Sheets.
Working with numbers can be infuriating, and not knowing how to do something simple can sometimes take up several hours of trial and error — even though it's a common task in the end.
One of those tasks is to transpose values in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Fortunately it's very easy to do; here's a step by step guide.
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Transposing Data in Google Sheets
There are two different methods to transpose values in Google Sheets;
- Using the Paste Special Menu
- Using the Transpose Function
Both of these are easy to use, but the latter gives you a more dynamic approach and keeps the original values as they are.
Method 1: Using the Paste Special Menu
Select the rows or columns you want to transpose and press Ctrl+C (cmd+C on a Mac) or choose Edit — Copy in the Google Sheets menu.
To transpose the copied rows or columns using the Paste Special Menu, simply right click in the cell where you want the transposed values to show up and select Paste Special — Paste transposed.
That's it — your values are not transposed in the new location.
Method 2: Using the Transpose Function
If you want a more dynamic solution, however, the Transpose Function is the way to do it. Simply navigate to where you want the transposed values to show up and type the following;
=TRANSPOSE(A1:C4)
Now press enter — and you're done.
You need to customize the A1:C4 cell range to reflect your own titles, values and their respective positions in your sheet, but you get the idea. It's important to include the title row if you want the titles to show up in your transposed values as well.
Google Sheets automatically recognizes the direction you want to transpose; if your values are horizontal the TRANSPOSE() function will transpose them to vertical, and the other way around, so there's no need to specify this manually.
What does Transpose Mean?
In the Excel and Google Sheets applications, transpose means that you flip the contents on its side; if you have columns with data going downwards, or you have rows with data going sideways, you can switch between them by transposing the values.
Example of Transposed Values
As an example of what it means to transpose a range of values in Google Sheets, here are four imaginary burgers and their prices.
Burger | Price |
---|---|
Cheese | 9 |
Cheese XL | 12 |
Bacon | 10 |
Bacon XL | 13 |
Now, we want to transpose these values into a horizontal table instead.
Burger | Cheese | Cheese XL | Bacon | Bacon XL |
---|---|---|---|---|
Price | 9 | 12 | 10 | 13 |
This is what transpose means, and lucky for us it's not hard to do in Google Sheets — you just have to know the two ways to do it.