Google Sheets now plays more nicely with your imported Excel spreadsheets

The last few months have been really great for Google Sheets users. Google has steadily rolled out new updates and features, introduced useful add-ons, and improved support for pivot tables. Now, it’s making it easier for users to manipulate pivot tables directly in Sheets.

Google announced today that Sheets can now preserve custom sorting in pivot tables imported from Excel spreadsheets. Previously, Sheets reverted pivot tables to a standard alphanumeric sort order. However, it will now maintain any custom sort you’ve applied within Excel so you can easily move between the two apps. Exporting a Sheets file to an Excel spreadsheet also maintains the exact sorting order of your pivot tables.

Users can also drag and drop rows or columns in pivot tables to reorder data and better meet custom presentation requirements directly within Sheets. They can also select multiple rows or columns to quickly reposition data within a pivot table.

For more complex pivot tables with expandable and collapsible sections, the update also maintains data hierarchy. When you move a row or column, Sheets automatically moves any nested child items with it to maintain structure.

Sheets will now also preserve custom row and column arrangements across browser sessions, layout adjustments, and data refreshes. So you can rearrange your pivot tables as needed, and you won’t lose your custom sorting if you close your browser and come back to the Sheets document later, or add new data to the table.

These new features are rolling out in Google Sheets starting today, but the full rollout could take up to 15 days. They will be available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts.