Spreadsheets in Flint have sheets, rows, columns and formulas that recalculate as you change cells. Use them for gradebooks, rosters, trackers, sign-up sheets and anything else you want to total, sort or keep up to date. The spreadsheet opens in a panel beside your chat, where you or Sparky can edit it.
Make a spreadsheet
You can start one three ways:
- Ask Sparky. Describe the table you need: "Make a gradebook for my 7th grade science class with a column for each of these five assignments and a class average." Sparky writes totals, averages and grades as formulas, so they stay correct as you edit.
- Start a blank one. Click Create a spreadsheet under the message box.
- Open a file you already have. Click Add attachment(s), attach an Excel (
.xlsx) or CSV (.csv) file, and ask Sparky to open it as a spreadsheet. Flint imports its sheets, cells and formulas; an Excel file also keeps cell formatting such as bold text, colors and borders. Your uploaded file stays as it was.
To rename a spreadsheet, click its name at the top of the panel, type the new name, then click the check mark.
📌 Tip: Ask for "an editable spreadsheet in Flint" when you want to work in the panel. Use Download when you need an Excel or CSV copy.
Edit cells and formulas
Click a cell and type. Press Enter to save a cell and move down, or Tab to move right. Flint saves your changes as you go.
A formula starts with =, for example =SUM(B2:B10) or =AVERAGE(C2:C30). You can type a formula in the cell or in the formula bar above the cells.
Get function suggestions
You don't need to remember function names. As you type a formula, Flint lists matching functions, each with a short description of what it does:
- Type
=to see common functions: SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTIF and IF. - Keep typing to narrow the list. For example,
=AVlists AVERAGE, AVERAGEIF and other functions with "AV" in their names. - Press the up and down arrow keys to highlight a function, then press Enter or Tab, or click the function. Flint adds the function name and an opening bracket, for example
=AVERAGE(, so you can type the cells next. - Press Esc to close the list.
When the formula is finished, press Enter to save it and see the result.
The toolbar above the cells has undo and redo, and a Rows & columns menu:
- Insert row above and Insert row below
- Insert column left and Insert column right
- Delete row and Delete column
Right-click a cell to copy, paste or clear it.
Use the Format menu for bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, text and fill color, borders, alignment and text wrapping. To add a chart, select the cells with labels in the first column and headings in the first row, open Insert chart, and choose Bar chart, Line chart or Pie chart. You can also ask Sparky to format cells or add a chart.
Ask Sparky to change it
Tell Sparky what to change: "Add two students named Chi and Dara above the totals row" or "Add a sheet that shows each student's average." Sparky makes a new version of the spreadsheet and keeps the original. Your own edits are kept: Sparky starts from your latest saved version.
Work with sheets
The sheet tabs sit at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Click + to add a sheet. Click the arrow on a tab to open its menu:
- Rename the sheet. You can also double-click the tab. A sheet name can be up to 31 characters and can't contain brackets, slashes, colons, question marks or asterisks.
- Duplicate the sheet.
- Move left or Move right to reorder the tabs.
- Delete the sheet. A spreadsheet always keeps at least one sheet.
Download it
Click Download at the top of the spreadsheet panel and choose:
- Excel (.xlsx) keeps sheets, formulas, frozen header rows, cell formatting and charts in one file that opens in Excel or Google Sheets.
- CSV (.csv) saves each cell's value as it appears in Flint, not the formulas. A spreadsheet with more than one sheet downloads as a
.zipfile with one CSV for each sheet.
Open in Google Sheets at the top of the panel saves a separate copy of the saved spreadsheet to your Google Drive and opens it. You may need to sign in to Google and authorize Drive access first. Later edits in Flint do not update that copy.
To share a spreadsheet with a class or by link without sharing your chat, see Using chats in Flint.