How to Use the Helperbird Add-on for Google Sheets
Add Helperbird to Google Sheets for translation, a dyslexia font, bigger cells and read aloud. See what the Sheets sidebar does and what it leaves out.
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Spreadsheets pack a lot of text into small cells. The Google Sheets add-on puts reading tools in a sidebar beside your grid. You can translate cells, make them bigger, or hear them read out.
What the Sheets Add-on Gives You
Text sits in separate cells here, not in flowing paragraphs.
There are no paragraphs to space out, so there is no line spacing control. You get column width, row height and text wrapping instead. Reading aloud joins your selected cells together and reads them one after another.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Translate | Shows the cells you selected in one of 52 languages |
| Dyslexia | Sets the font on the sheet to Lexend Deca |
| Readable | Changes text size, column width, row height and wrapping |
| Statistics | Counts the words and characters on the sheet |
| Listen | Reads the cells you selected aloud |
| Pro | Takes your subscription key |
| Guides | Opens this help site in a new tab |
How to Add It to Google Sheets
- Open a spreadsheet.
- Click Extensions in the top menu.
- Choose Add-ons, then Get add-ons.
- Search for Helperbird and click Install.
- Accept the permissions.
You can also start from the Helperbird listing on the Google Workspace Marketplace (opens in a new tab).
On a work or school account, an admin may need to approve the add-on before you can install it.
The steps match the other two editors. For the longer walkthrough, including what the add-on asks to access, read how to install the Google Docs and Slides add-on.
How to Open the Helperbird Sidebar
- Open your spreadsheet.
- Click Extensions in the top menu.
- Choose Helperbird, then Open Helperbird.
The sidebar opens on the right, titled Helperbird for Sheets™.
How to Translate Cells
- Select the cells you want to translate.
- Click Translate in the sidebar.
- Pick a language from the list.
- Click Translate.
The translation appears in a read-only box in the dialog, one cell per line. Your spreadsheet is not changed. Copy the text out if you want to keep it.
This is the big difference from the Docs and Slides add-ons. Those have a Replace button that writes the translation back over your text. Sheets has no Replace button.
Empty cells are skipped. You can translate up to 100 cells that contain text at once. Select more and the box comes back empty.
Translation comes from Google's own translation service.
How to Change the Font, Size and Layout
Dyslexia sets the font to Lexend Deca. It applies to every cell holding data on the sheet you have open, whatever you have selected. There is no font picker and no second font.
Readable opens four controls:
- Text size, from 8 pt to 36 pt.
- Column width, from 60 px to 500 px.
- Row height, from 20 px to 150 px.
- Wrap text, on or off.
The four controls do not all work on the same scope.
Text size and Wrap text change only the cells you selected.
Column width and Row height resize whole columns and rows. Select B2 to C5 and you resize all of columns B and C, top to bottom, and all of rows 2 to 5.
Select nothing, or a single cell, and all four change the whole sheet.
How to Listen to Cells and Count Words
Listen needs a selection. Select cells with text in them first, or you get a message asking you to highlight some text.
It reads your selected cells aloud using the voices already installed in your browser and operating system. Helperbird does not ship its own voices. You pick from that list, and a speed button steps through seven speeds from 0.5x to 2x.
Statistics works differently. It reads the whole sheet, not your selection, so you do not need to select anything. It counts words, characters, sentences and unique words, and estimates reading, speaking and writing time. It does not give a readability score.
What Each Tool Changes
| Tool | With cells selected | With nothing selected |
|---|---|---|
| Translate | Shows the selected cells translated | Asks you to select cells |
| Listen | Reads the selected cells | Asks you to select cells |
| Readable: text size, wrap text | Changes that block, if it is 2 cells or more | Changes the whole sheet |
| Readable: column width, row height | Resizes the whole columns and rows the block sits in | Changes the whole sheet |
| Dyslexia | Whole sheet | Whole sheet |
| Statistics | Whole sheet | Whole sheet |
What the Sheets Sidebar Leaves Out
The Sheets sidebar is smaller than the other two.
- No Immersive Reader. The Immersive button is in the Google Docs add-on and the Google Slides add-on, but not here. The 1,200-character free cap you may have read about applies to those two. It does not apply to Sheets, because the feature is not in this add-on at all.
- No accessibility checker. The A11Y button is in the Docs add-on only.
- No Replace button. Translation is read-only in Sheets.
- No line spacing. Use Row height instead.
None of the three add-ons offer these:
- A font picker. Lexend Deca is the only font.
- Letter spacing or word spacing.
- Reading text from an image.
- Summarizing or spell check.
Your settings do not carry over to the Helperbird browser extension. The add-on and the extension are separate products.
What You Get Free
Every tool in the Sheets sidebar works on the free plan. Nothing in this add-on is behind Helperbird Pro.
Pro changes one thing in the Workspace add-ons: the Immersive Reader character cap. Sheets has no Immersive Reader, so Pro adds no features here.
The Pro button still appears. Paste a key there if you have one, and the badge under the logo reads Helperbird Pro instead of Google Sheets.
- Click Pro in the sidebar.
- Paste your subscription key.
- Click Save.
There is no account to sign in to inside the add-on.
Need Additional Help?
Ran into a snag while getting started? No worries at all. Reach out to our friendly Helperbird support team, and we'll help you smooth things out in no time.