Google Sheets can now build a small app on top of your data. Sheets canvas, a new Gemini feature, takes a plain-language prompt and generates an interactive layout, such as a kanban board, dashboard or whiteboard, that sits directly over a spreadsheet.
The key detail is that it’s read-write. Dragging a task card or adding an entry in the canvas updates the source sheet immediately, and changes made in the sheet show up in the canvas in real time. That separates it from a chart or a static summary: the canvas is a different way to work in the same data, not a copy of it.
How you use it
Everything happens in the Gemini side panel. You describe what you want and Gemini builds it, with no formulas, code or add-ons. Google’s examples include a financial analyst asking for “an interactive dashboard that helps me analyze how different cost drivers impact a quarterly budget” and an operations lead asking Gemini to “create a custom tracker to visualize regional field assignments.”
After the first pass you can keep prompting to change the layout, design or functionality. Android Authority pointed to Google’s consumer examples too: a student turning an assignment list into a dashboard sorted by status and due date, or a wedding planner generating an editable reception floor plan from a guest list, then asking for “a clean, elegant aesthetic” to dress it up.
A canvas uses the same sharing settings as the spreadsheet it’s built on, so collaborators who can see the sheet can work in the canvas.
Who can get it
- Workspace: Business Standard and Plus, Enterprise Standard and Plus, plus the AI Expanded Access add-on and Google AI Pro for Education.
- Consumers: Google AI Pro and Ultra.
- Limits: web only, English-language accounts only, and per-user usage limits on creating and editing canvases.
Rapid Release domains began an extended rollout on Aug. 10. Scheduled Release domains start a gradual rollout on Aug. 31. For admins, the feature is on by default wherever Gemini in Sheets is enabled, and users need Workspace smart features turned on.
Why it matters
Plenty of teams already run projects, budgets and trackers out of spreadsheets, then bolt on a separate tool when they need a board view or a dashboard. Sheets canvas tries to keep that work in one place, and because edits sync both ways, it avoids the usual drift between the “real” spreadsheet and the prettier copy someone made for a meeting.
The open question is how well generated layouts hold up as sheets grow and change. Google hasn’t said much about what happens when columns are renamed or restructured under an existing canvas, so it’s worth testing on a copy before pointing it at a sheet a whole team depends on.
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