G Suite Updates: Google Sheets hack and Admin console feature

Quick launch summary 

We’ve added two additional parameters to filter and sort cells by in Google Sheets:

  • Text color 
  • Fill (background) color 

Along with sorting by values and conditions, these filters make it easier and faster to find and surface relevant data in Sheets. This feature will be available on mobile and web.

Filtering by fill color, then text color.

March 11, 2020

What’s changing

We’re making some updates to how you manage less secure app (LSA) settings and account recovery (AR) settings in the Admin console. This is part of a wider migration of our Admin console pages to a simplified and more streamlined experience, and will affect the sections at Admin console > Security > Settings > Less Secure Apps and Admin console > Security > Settings > Account Recovery. In those sections you may notice:

  • An updated interface, which reorganizes the settings to make them easier to find and change.
  • A new system to apply group-based policies in these areas. As a result of this change, existing settings will be migrated to the new system. See “Additional details” below for more information.

Why it’s important

The interface updates will make security settings more findable and scannable, reducing the number of clicks it takes to manage these settings. The new group-based policy system is the same one used in other areas of the Admin console and so should be more familiar and intuitive than the legacy system. The new system allows for multiple group based policies to be applied in a single UI view, and makes it possible to manage policies exclusively using groups, instead of a combination of OU-based policy with group-based exceptions.

Additional details

As part of migrating LSA and AR pages to the new UI, we will migrate any currently applied group-based policies to the new groups-based system. This migration will have no functional impact for most customers.

However, for a very small number of organizations (specifically those that currently have group based policies for LSA and AR applied at child-OU levels,) this transition may impact your existing settings. We will email the primary admin at affected domains with more details on how we will do the transition, and instructions for how to prepare. If you don’t receive an email, no action is required.

Before

After

What’s changing 

We’re improving the way data is suggested and how data is selected when creating a chart in Google Sheets. It’s now easier to locate and select the data you need when creating a dashboard over a dataset with slicers, pivot tables, charts, and more.

Why you’d use it 

When creating reports in Sheets, it’s common to create multiple charts from the same data table, but using different column ranges. Previously, all data ranges on a table would be used when creating a chart. Now, you’ll be able to select which columns to use for the chart axis and series. This allows you to quickly customize your charts so that they display the most relevant data.