GOOGLEFINANCE: Do you ever wish you could see your stocks, check exchange rates, or track crypto without switching between a dozen apps? What if you could do it all right inside a spreadsheet you already use?
Good news! Google Sheets has a secret weapon for anyone curious about money and markets: the GOOGLEFINANCE function.
Think of it as a free, built-in data feed that brings live financial information straight to your spreadsheet. This guide is for you. It is helpful if you are a curious beginner. It is also useful for small business owners who deal with many currencies. If you are planning your next vacation, this guide will assist you, too. It will show you how to use it, step by step.
What is the GOOGLEFINANCE Function? A Simple Explanation
In simple terms, GOOGLEFINANCE is a command you type into a Google Sheets cell to pull financial data from the internet.
It’s like asking your spreadsheet a question, such as:
- “Hey, what’s the price of Apple stock right now?”
- “How many Euros will I get for $100 today?”
- “What was the price of Bitcoin last week?”
The spreadsheet then goes online, finds the answer, and displays it for you.
The Basic Recipe
The formula can look a bit scary at first, but don’t worry. We’ll break it down. Here’s the full structure:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(ticker, [attribute], [start_date], [end_date], [interval])
Let’s translate that into plain English:
ticker(Required): This is the “name tag” of what you want to track. Every stock, currency, and crypto has a short code (e.g.,AAPLfor Apple,EURUSDfor Euro to US Dollar). This is the only part you always need.[attribute](Optional): This is the type of information you want. Just the price? The daily change? The trading volume? If you leave this blank, it gives you the price by default.[start_date]&[end_date](Optional): Use these when you want to look at past data (history).[interval](Optional): Do you want the historical data day-by-day or week-by-week?
A Quick Heads-up: The data you get can be delayed by up to 20 minutes. It’s perfect for personal tracking and reports, but don’t use it for split-second, professional trading!
Also read, Google Finance Portfolio 2025: How to Set Up a Google Finance Portfolio
Let’s Get Our Hands Dirty: Simple Examples
Ready to try it? Open a new Google Sheet and follow along.
1. How to Check a Stock Price
Let’s find the current price of Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Its ticker is GOOGL.
In any cell, type:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(“GOOGL”)
Press Enter. You should see a number—that’s the latest stock price!
2. How to Check a Currency Exchange Rate
Planning a trip or an international purchase? Let’s see how many US Dollars (USD) one Euro (EUR) is worth.
To avoid confusion, we start with the word CURRENCY:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(“CURRENCY:EURUSD”)
3. How to Check a Cryptocurrency Price
To check the price of Bitcoin in US Dollars, use:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(“BTCUSD”)
A Very Important Tip: Don’t Get the Wrong Company!
Imagine you’re looking for Apple stock. You know its ticker on the NASDAQ exchange is AAPL. But what if you accidentally type AAP? You’d get the stock for “Advance Auto Parts,” which is a completely different company with a much lower price!
To avoid this mix-up, you can be specific by adding the stock exchange name.
The safe way:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(“NASDAQ:AAPL”)
This tells the formula exactly where to look, ensuring you get the right data.
Building a Simple Stock Watchlist
Typing formulas one by one is slow. Let’s build a mini-dashboard.
- In Column A, list some stock tickers (e.g.,
NASDAQ:AAPL,NASDAQ:MSFT,NASDAQ:TSLA). - In cell B2, type the formula:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(A2) - Click on cell B2. A small blue square will appear in the bottom-right corner. Drag this square down to copy the formula for all your stocks.
Like magic, you now have a live watchlist! When the markets are open, the prices will update automatically.
Beyond the Price: What Else Can You Track?
The real power GOOGLEFINANCE comes from the attribute option. Instead of just the price, you can ask for different details.
Let’s add more columns to our watchlist:
- Daily Change: In cell C2, use:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(A2, "change"). This shows how much the stock is up or down since yesterday. - Today’s High/Low: In D2 and E2, use
"high"and"low"to see the highest and lowest prices the stock reached today.
Pro Tip: You can use Conditional Formatting on the “change” column to automatically color gains in green and losses in red. It makes your dashboard look professional and easy to read at a glance.
Unlocking the Past: How to Get Historical Data
Want to see how a stock has performed over the last month or year? You can pull historical data.
To get the daily price of Netflix (NFLX) for the last 30 days, use:
=GOOGLEFINANCE(“NFLX”, “price”, TODAY()-30, TODAY())
This formula is used TODAY()-30 to mean “30 days ago” and TODAY() for the current date. It will create a small table in your sheet showing the price for each day.
Simple Example: Compare Two Stocks
Let’s see how two rival companies, Visa (V) and Mastercard (MA), have performed over the last few years.
- In one cell, use:
=GOOGLEFINANCE("V", "price", "1/1/2020", TODAY()) - In the cell next to it, use:
=GOOGLEFINANCE("MA", "price", "1/1/2020", TODAY()) - Select the data that appears and click Insert > Chart.
- Google Sheets will suggest a line chart, perfectly showing you the trend for both stocks on one graph!
Build a Personal Currency Converter
Do you have money in different currencies? Or run a business with international clients? You can build a simple converter.
Let’s say your “home” currency is Euros (EUR), and you want to see the value of your other holdings.
| Currency | Amount | Value in EUR |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 1000 | =GOOGLEFINANCE("CURRENCY:"&A2&"EUR")*B2 |
| GBP | 500 | (Drag the formula down) |
| JPY | 10000 | (Drag the formula down) |
The magic is in the "CURRENCY:"&A2&"EUR" part. It builds the correct ticker by combining “CURRENCY:”, the currency in column A (USD), and your home currency (EUR), creating CURRENCY:USDEUR.
Know more, Is Google Finance Good? Why Google Finance
Handy Tricks and Problem-Solving
1. The Copy-Paste Mistake
If you Google “Uber stock ticker,” you might see UBER NYSE. If you copy and paste this directly, your formula will fail because of the space.
- Wrong:
=GOOGLEFINANCE("UBER NYSE") - Right:
=GOOGLEFINANCE("NYSE:UBER")
Always remove spaces and use the Exchange:Ticker format.
2. Tiny Charts in a Cell (Sparklines)
Instead of a big table of historical data, you can create a tiny, simple chart inside a single cell.
=SPARKLINE(GOOGLEFINANCE(“AAPL”, “price”, TODAY()-90, TODAY()))
This creates a small line graph showing Apple’s stock trend over the last 90 days. Perfect for a quick visual!
3. Making Data Update Faster
To make sure your data is as fresh as possible:
- Go to File > Settings > Calculation.
- In the “Recalculation” section, choose “On change and every minute.”
This tells your sheet to check for new data more often.
Know more from the Google Finance Official Site
Your Next Steps
The GOOGLEFINANCE Function is a gateway to smarter, more dynamic spreadsheets. You can start tracking your investments, managing foreign exchange risk, or just satisfying your curiosity about the financial world.
Start simple. Try checking a stock price or an exchange rate today. Once you’re comfortable, you can start building your own powerful financial dashboards. Happy analyzing
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