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Use QUERY to select, filter, sort, group, and pivot data with one formula. Start with =QUERY(A1:C, "select A, C", 1): it reads columns A through C, returns A and C, and treats the first row as a header. The query language resembles SQL but is its own subset, so its clause order and column-reference rules matter.
Start with the QUERY formula
Google Sheets defines QUERY as running a Google Visualization API Query Language query across data. Its syntax is:
=QUERY(data, query, [headers])datais the range to inspect, such asA1:C.queryis a query-language statement in quotation marks, or a reference to a cell containing that statement.headersis the optional number of header rows at the top of the range. Omit it or use-1to let Sheets guess; provide the known count for predictable interpretation.
In examples below, column A contains names, B contains departments, and C contains numeric salaries. The third argument is 1 because row 1 has column headings. For the full argument and header behavior, see Google Sheets function help for QUERY.
Select columns and filter rows
Choose which columns to return
=QUERY(A1:C, "select A, C", 1) returns the name and salary columns, in that order. If you leave out select, the query returns all columns in their default order.
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Keep rows that match a condition
=QUERY(A1:C, "select A, C where B = 'Sales'", 1) returns names and salaries only for rows whose department in B is Sales. The column identifier is outside the single-quoted text value.
Sort the results
Add order by after the filter to sort matching rows by salary, highest first:
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=QUERY(A1:C, "select A, C where B = 'Sales' order by C desc", 1)Use asc for ascending order or desc for descending order. The sort clause operates on the data column; it does not rely on the displayed heading.
Summarize rows with GROUP BY
To calculate total salary by department, use:
=QUERY(A1:C, "select B, sum(C) group by B", 1)This produces one aggregate row for each distinct department. In a grouped query, every selected column must either appear in group by or be passed to an aggregate function. For example, selecting an employee name alongside department totals would not describe a single value per department unless the name were also grouped or aggregated.
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Supported aggregate functions include avg, count, max, min, and sum. Aggregates can be used in select, order by, label, and format; they cannot be used in where, group by, or pivot.
Turn categories into columns with PIVOT
To create columns for the distinct department values and show salary sums, use:
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=QUERY(A1:C, "select sum(C) pivot B", 1)pivot turns distinct values in its column into output columns and implies aggregation. Without a group by, the result has one row. Output columns appear only for pivot-value combinations found in the input data.
Use clauses in the required order
Each clause is optional, but when a query uses several, place them in this order:
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select— chooses output columns and their order.where— filters rows.group by— groups rows for aggregation.pivot— turns distinct values into columns.order by— sorts the output.limit— caps the number of returned rows.offset— skips rows before the limit is applied.label— changes displayed column headings.format— sets display patterns while keeping underlying values available for calculations.options— supplies query options.
For example, put where before order by, not after it. A clause in the wrong position can produce a parse error even if the clause itself is valid. Google documents the syntax and clause rules in its Google Visualization API Query Language Reference (version 0.7).
Reference columns by ID, not heading
Write spreadsheet column identifiers such as A and B in query expressions. Do not use a visible heading like Department as the identifier. A label clause can change the returned heading for readers, but it does not change the identifiers used in the query.
Quick Recap
Avoid mixed-type and header surprises
- Mixed values: QUERY columns are expected to contain boolean, numeric (including date and time), or string values. If a column mixes types, Sheets uses the majority type for query purposes and treats minority-type values as null. Normalize the source column or separate unlike data before depending on those values in a filter or summary.
- Unclear headers: If the range has a known number of heading rows, supply that number as the third argument. Leaving it out or passing
-1makes Sheets guess. For ranges with multiple header rows, the header count helps Sheets interpret the input and return a single output header row. - SQL assumptions: QUERY is similar to SQL, but it is a subset with its own differences. Arbitrary SQL syntax is not guaranteed to work; use the documented clauses and ordering.
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