These steps for using Sheets Genie are covered in greater detail below.
Time estimate: 5 minutes the first time you use Sheets Genie, and less than a minute for setting up every new Sheets Genie Project once you know what you’re doing:
- Create an authorized Sheets Genie account
- Open an updated Chrome browser (not Brave or any other kind of browser)
- Strongly recommended: use a clean Chrome profile with minimal extensions dedicated to your authorized Sheets Genie Google account
- See this page for a step by step video on how to do this
- Technically optional but you’ll solve and avoid so many potential issues by doing this
- Install & pin the Sheets Genie Chrome Extension in your browser (pinning it naturally solves the problem of accidentally not installing it or activating it and associated issues with that)
- Make a copy of a Sheets Genie Project Template of your choice
- Enable your your Sheets Genie Project Template copy to send and receive data
- Run tasks in your Sheets Genie Project Template to get things done
- Optional: customize your Sheets Genie Project however you’d like
Watch this video: the easiest way to get started with Sheets Genie
Update 6/2/22: The Sheets Genie Chrome extension is now available on the Chrome web store for 1 click install, so you don’t have to do the part in the video where you download the extension. Instead, just click “Add to Chrome” from the Chrome web store, and then pin it so that you know it is both installed and activated.
This video walks you through the 7 steps down below so that it’s crystal clear what to do for every step to get Sheets Genie working for you.
Watch it to get started with Sheets Genie as quickly and easily as possible.
1. Create an authorized Sheets Genie account
This is currently done by joining the Sheets Genie Facebook Group and providing the email for your Google Account in response to the first question.
Doing this gets you early access to Sheets Genie and a free lifetime deal code manually applied to your provided Google Account when Sheets Genie officially launches on AppSumo later this year. Not too shabby.
This is the only way to get access to Sheets Genie right now. Please allow time for processing your request to join the Facebook group. And heads up: if you don’t provide an email address in response to question one, your request is automatically declined.
The good news: once you’re in the Facebook Group that means you have access to Sheets Genie via the email address you provided.
2. Open an updated Chrome browser (not Brave or any other kind of browser)
I know there are chromium browsers out there like Brave, but chromium is not Chrome. Use a Chrome browser.
Also, the more updated / recent your version of Chrome, the better.
Strongly recommended:
- Use a clean Chrome profile with minimal extensions dedicated to your authorized Sheets Genie Google account
- See this page for a step by step video on how to do this
- Technically optional but you’ll solve and avoid so many potential issues by doing this
3. Install the Sheets Genie Chrome extension in a Chrome browser
The Sheets Genie Chrome extension is available on the Chrome web store for 1 click install, so just click “Add to Chrome” from the Chrome web store.
Then pin the Sheets Genie icon for ease of use (and so that you know it is installed and activated).
4. Make a copy of a Sheets Genie Project Template of your choice
Sheets Genie works with Google Sheets spreadsheets. But not just any Google Sheets spreadsheet… It requires a spreadsheet with special Sheets Genie code attached to it.
These special spreadsheets are called Sheets Genie Project Templates.
Pick one that sounds interesting or relevant to you, make a copy of it (with the Google account you’re authorized to use Sheets Genie with!), and then move on to the next step.
5. Enable your Sheets Genie Project Template copy to send and receive data
This requires doing the following things, which your spreadsheet will naturally prompt you to do when you try to run a task for the first time:
- Authorize the Sheets Genie Project Template script / code to run on your spreadsheet
- Verify your Sheets Genie account so that it can connect with your spreadsheet
- Get and set your /dev deployment url in your Control Center sheet
You also have to do the following, which your spreadsheet will not prompt you to do:
- Disable your pop-up blocker on Google Sheets (to enable popups on Google Sheets)
- You’ll likely be able to tell in your browser bar if popups are being blocked (also, Sheets Genie won’t be able to open tabs, which will be another tipoff)
6. Run tasks in your Sheets Genie Project Template spreadsheet
Which is the whole point of Sheets Genie in the first place.
In your spreadsheet go to Extensions > Macros > Task Whatever for the task row that you want to run in your Control Center sheet.
7. Customize your Sheets Genie Project however you’d like
Sure, you can stick with the pre-built automations if you’d like, but have no fear editing it and making it your own.
Pro tip: you can make a copy of the Control Center sheet if you’d like, so you can always get back to where you were. (This helps remove the fear of editing Sheets Genie commands / tasks.)
You can also rename your spreadsheet whatever you want, although I do recommend keeping Sheets Genie somewhere in the title to remind you that it is a special spreadsheet with Sheets Genie code attached to it that can do things regular spreadsheets can’t.