Turn Empty Spreadsheets into Multilingual AI Assistants in Google Sheets

You’ve just opened a blank Google Sheet and need to fill a column with product descriptions, a row with expense categories, or a whole sheet with translated phrases. Instead of typing everything yourself, you can let Google’s built-in AI do the heavy lifting.

Google Sheets now includes Fill with AI, a feature that lets you type a simple instruction (called a prompt) and have the AI write, translate, or organise text for you. It works in 11 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and German, and it behaves like any other cell entry once it’s done.

Get the AI tool ready

1. Open a new or existing Google Sheet.
2. Sign in with your Google account.
3. Click Extensions → Help me organise in the menu bar.
   • If you don’t see this option, go to Settings → Advanced and enable the AI function.
4. A side panel will appear with a box labelled “Prompt”.
   • A prompt is just the instruction you give the AI — think of it as the sentence you’d type into a search box.

Tip: The first time you use the feature, Google may ask you to review a short terms-of-service notice. It’s a quick confirmation that you understand the AI is generating content.

Pick the language you want

The AI supports 11 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, French, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Polish.

1. In the Prompt box, click the small globe icon (or the language dropdown).
2. Choose the language you want the AI to respond in.
3. If your sheet already contains text in that language, keep the same language selected so the AI stays consistent.

Write a prompt that works

A good prompt is short, clear, and tells the AI exactly what you need. Here are three everyday examples you can copy and adapt:

• Product descriptions Prompt: “Write a two-sentence product description for a reusable coffee cup.” Result: The AI fills the selected cells with friendly, concise descriptions.

• Survey summaries Prompt: “Summarise the following customer comments in three bullet points.” Result: The AI turns a block of text into a neat list you can paste into a report.

• Expense categories Prompt: “Classify each item as ‘Food’, ‘Transport’, or ‘Other’.” Result: The AI adds a label to every row, ready for sorting or filtering.

Type your prompt into the side panel, highlight the cells where you want the output, and click Fill. The AI writes directly into the cells, just like typing by hand.

Use the results like any other data

The AI-generated text behaves like normal cell content, so you can:

• Sort or filter the results the same way you sort any data.
• Reference them in formulas — for example, =LEN(A2) to count characters.
• Export to CSV for use in other apps; the text stays intact.

Tip for large sheets: If you have more than a few dozen rows, work in batches of 20–30 cells at a time. This keeps the request size manageable and reduces the chance of hitting token limits. A token is a tiny piece of text the AI reads — think of it as a word fragment.

Wrap-up

The AI’s Fill feature turns a blank spreadsheet into a multilingual assistant that writes, translates, and organises for you. By enabling the AI function, selecting your language, and crafting clear prompts, you can save time on both personal tasks and professional projects.

Your next step: Open a Google Sheet, enable the AI function, pick a language you’re curious about, and try a one-line prompt. See how quickly the AI fills the cells, and let it do the heavy lifting for the rest of your day.