Reports enable you to look across multiple sheets and only work on the items that meet the report criteria you set. For example, you can create a report that shows all items that are assigned to you, priority is high and status is not complete.
Creating a new report
- Reports can be created by selecting New Report option in the Add New tab (the one with the green plus on it) or in the Add New button in the upper right of your Home tab.
- Reports do not count against the sheet limit associated with your account.
Setting up a report
In the Report Builder form (via the Report Builder tab at the bottom):
- Click on the Where? button to select which sheets you want to include in the report. By default, the report will look across all of the sheets you have created or been shared to.
- Click on the Who? button to use Contact List type columns as report criteria (e.g., show rows in the report where Assigned To is Sandy). Note that only columns that are a Contact List type will be available in the Who? section.
- Click on the When? button to use Date type columns as report criteria (e.g., show rows in the report where Due Date is in the next 7 days). Note that only columns that are a Date type will be available in the When? section.
- Click on the What? button to use other column types as report criteria (e.g., Text/number, Dropdown list, Checkbox, and Symbol columns).
- Multiple criteria - click on the Who, What or When buttons again to add multiple criteria to any section (for example, in the What? section could have Priority is High and Status is In Progress).
- And/Or operators - by default there is an And operator between the Who, What, When and between multiple criteria in the same section. You can click on And to change them to an Or.
- Click on an existing criteria selection to edit it. When you mouse over an existing criteria selection, you'll see a red x that can be used to delete it.
- Column Display - the columns you choose as report criteria will automatically be added to the report (along with the primary column and the Sheet Name column). Click on the Columns button (next to Run) to select or deselect columns that you want to show up in your report. As in a sheet, you can also right click on the column headers in a report to Add/Remove columns from the report (they are not deleted, only removed from the report). You can also drag and drop columns to arrange them.
- Run - click on the Run button to return all of the rows that meet your criteria. If you make changes to your criteria, you will need to click on Run to refresh the report. A report will automatically run/refresh when it is opened.
- Sort, Freeze, Hide - as in a sheet, you can right click on the column headers in a report to sort the report, freeze a column or hide a column. These settings are saved as part of the report definition and applied whenever the report is opened.
Editing a report
- The contents of a report are fully editable. Changes made in a report to cells, row attachments or row discussions will be reflected in the source sheets and vice versa.
Sharing a report
- Use the Sharing tab at the bottom to share a report with others as you would a sheet. Viewers can only see the report but can't edit it. Editors can edit the contents of the report but they cannot make changes to the report criteria in the Report Builder. Admins can edit the report contents and change the report criteria in the Report Builder.
- NOTE: for security purposes, a report will not give access to sheets that have not already been shared to a user. If you share a report that looks across 3 sheets to a person who only has access to 1 of the source sheets, when they open the shared report they will only see rows that meet the report criteria from the 1 sheet that they have access to.
Additional reporting features
- Export - click on the File button on the left to export your report as an Excel, Google Spreadsheet or PDF file
- Send as Attachment - click on the File button on the left to send a copy of your report as an Excel or PDF attachment to your email. Like a sheet, you can also schedule a copy of your report to be sent on a weekly or other recurring basis.
- Save as New - click on the File button on the left to create a copy of your report with the same column setup and report builder criteria
- Print - like a sheet, you can print a report via PDF
- Highlight Changes - like a sheet, you can highlight any cells that have been updated within a time period you specify.
Why can't I create a report?
Reporting is a premium feature that is available only to paid plan subscribers. Reporting can also be previewed during an account's 30 day initial trial period. Even though reports can't be created by non paid plan subscribers, they can be shared to and run by any user.
I was shared a report, but I can't change the criteria. Why?
Your sharing permissions on the report dictate whether you can change the criteria. Only report Owners and Admins can make criteria changes in the Report Builder tab.
Editors and Viewers can view the report criteria, but not alter it.
Why do I see a report column named ‘Primary’? Can I change this?
Every smartsheet has a primary column. By default it reads Task Name, and you are free to rename it on every sheet. You can tell which column is a sheet's primary column because its description/name is formatted bold. On sheets, this column enables you to organize items in a parent-child relationship (hierarchy) with expand / collapse capability.
Since reports can return data from multiple sheets each having a different 'primary column' name, we consolidate this information into a single column for display reasons.
You can rename a report's ‘Primary’ column by using the right-click ‘Rename Column’ option in the report.
What do numbers that appear next to report criteria options mean?
The number in parentheses represent the total number of cells containing that value across all sheets you are reporting against. Since additional criteria may filter what is returned when you run your report, this number does not always serve as an indication of report size.
