Projects created in Google Sheets are not always used exclusively for business purposes. Sometimes it is necessary to create some kind of presentation so that the document is not only functional, but also beautiful. Of course, you can use different design styles and insert simple images, but a small looped animation in the form of a gif can also give the right note. As part of this article, I do want to discuss the topic of inserting GIFs in Google Sheets.

Search for a suitable animation

Here I want to show how you can quickly find the relevant files through the search engine and copy the link for insertion into Google Sheets without downloading the animation to your computer.

1. I will use the proprietary search engine, but you can choose any other. Request your topic, go to the pictures and click on the button “Tools”to open the filter panel. Select as type GIF and wait for the results to download.

2. You can now see that each image option has an icon next to it GIFwhich means file format.

3. Select the appropriate animation, click on it with the right mouse button and select an item from the context menu “Copy URL images”.

4. If you want, you can download the GIF directly to the computer, the principle of importing into the project will be almost identical.

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Inserting a GIF into a Google Sheet

The preparation is complete and you have a link or GIF in your hands. It remains only to insert it into the table, adjust the position and size. For this, a standard web service function is used, and the whole process looks like this:

1. Open the required document, call up the menu “Insert”in it, put the cursor on “Image” and select an option “Insert image on top of cells”. Note that the function “Insert image into cell” is not appropriate in this case as the animation will not play.

2. If you copied the link to the gif in the example above, go to the tab “Paste URL”paste the link in the corresponding field and click the button “Insert Image”.

3. Wait a few seconds, after which the gif should appear in the table and play an infinite number of times. You can select it with the left mouse button, resize it or move it to any other place.

If it is not about inserting a link, but about selecting a file with animation that is stored on the computer, the principle of action practically does not change.

1. Select the same paste option from the menu.

2. On the tab “Add” press “Review” or drag and drop the file into the highlighted area.

3. If you press the button, a window will open “Guide”in which you need to find the GIF, and then confirm the discovery.

4. Adjust the size and position of the animation, as well as check the correctness of its reproduction.

Finally, I will note that sometimes a more beautiful effect of using GIFs can be achieved by importing an animation with a transparent background. In this case, only a small area of ​​the table will be covered, and other cells will be visible. You can write something in them or even use different formulas.

Now you know that adding animations to Google Sheets is easy. Use the provided instructions to improve the appearance of the project and prepare it for demonstration to other users. If you are interested in other basic functions used in this web service, I suggest you read the article: Google Sheets for dummies: tools and service capabilities.