Google Sheets gets emoji reactions for comments, new filters for Connected Sheets

It appears Google is trying to stuff emoji support wherever it can. The search giant is bringing the ability to add emoji reactions to existing comments on Google Sheets. This comes just days after Google introduced emoji reactions for Gmail on Android.

Google said in a blog post that emoji reactions are meant to increase collaboration "by enabling you to quickly and creatively express your opinions about spreadsheet content." It has started rolling out to Rapid Release domains and its launch for Scheduled Release domains is planned for October 19. Emoji reactions will be available to all Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts.

To add an emoji reaction to a Google Sheets comment, hover your mouse over the comment and a smiley icon will appear on its right side. After that, you can select your preferred reaction which will appear below the comment. This is similar to how emoji reactions work for comments in Google Docs which received the said functionality earlier this year.

In addition to comments, Google Docs lets you add emoji reactions to a highlighted text in a document. As per a support document, you can add emoji reactions if you have permission to comment or edit a Google Sheet or Doc.

While you wait for the feature to arrive on your Google account, you can reply to an existing comment with an emoji using the built-in emoji panel on your computer or phone. The difference here is the emoji reaction will appear as a new comment.

Google has also announced two new field types for filtering in Connected Sheets for Looker. The 'filter only fields' and 'parameters' options will "give you even more ways to explore the semantic layer of your data as you will now be able to recreate advanced filtering in Looker explorers or dashboards using Connected Sheets for Looker," the company said.

Earlier this week, Google added some more Workspace features, including a new Activity tab in Google Drive that consolidates all your recent activity into one place. With new buttons at the top of the Google Doc page, building blocks for different content types are now easier to access.

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