How to use Google Sheets QUERY function – standard clauses and an alternative tool

This comprehensive guide unlocks the power of Google Sheets' QUERY function, often hailed as the most potent spreadsheet function. We'll dissect its syntax and explore its various clauses to master data manipulation.

• Understanding the Google Sheets QUERY Function Syntax
• Deconstructing QUERY Clauses:
  • SELECT (All or Specific Columns)
  • WHERE (Filtering Data)
  • GROUP BY (Aggregating Data)
  • PIVOT (Data Transposition)
  • ORDER BY (Sorting Results)
  • LIMIT (Restricting Row Count)
  • OFFSET (Skipping Rows)
  • LABEL (Renaming Columns)
  • FORMAT (Customizing Output)
  • OPTIONS (Advanced Settings)
• Streamlining QUERY Formula Creation: The Filter and Extract Data Add-on

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Google Sheets QUERY Function Syntax

The QUERY function boasts a powerful yet potentially daunting syntax:

• data: The data range to process (required). Google recommends each column contain a single data type (text, number, boolean). Mixed types will default to the most frequent type, treating others as blanks.
• query: The query string using Google Visualization API Query Language (required). This resembles SQL and uses clauses like SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, etc. Enclose the entire query in double quotes. Values within the query should also be in quotes.
• headers: (Optional) Specifies the number of header rows. Omitting this lets QUERY automatically detect headers.

Let's explore the individual clauses. We'll use a sample dataset of student papers:

Google Sheets QUERY Clauses

The ten clauses offer versatile data manipulation. Note that multiple clauses can be combined, generally following the order presented here.

SELECT (All or Specific Columns)

• To select all columns:
• To select specific columns: (Columns appear in the order specified).

WHERE (Filtering Data)

The WHERE clause filters data based on conditions. It uses comparison operators (, , <code>>, <code>>=, ), string operators (<code>contains, starts with, ends with, matches, !=, like), logical operators (AND, OR, NOT), and null checks (IS NULL, IS NOT NULL).

• Example (numeric):
• Example (text):
• Example (date):

(Remaining clauses – GROUP BY, PIVOT, ORDER BY, LIMIT, OFFSET, LABEL, FORMAT, OPTIONS – have been omitted for brevity but are explained in detail in the original article.)

Filter and Extract Data Add-on

While powerful, QUERY can have a steep learning curve. The "Filter & Extract Data" add-on simplifies the process, eliminating the need to manually construct complex queries. It provides a user-friendly interface for defining conditions, previewing results, and generating formulas.

This add-on streamlines the process, allowing for easy creation of complex QUERY formulas without needing in-depth knowledge of the syntax.

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