Google-sheets – How to reference Google spreadsheet inside your mail message

From today (2016-05-20) on, Google is starting to roll out the ability to embed a chart from a Google spreadsheet into a Google document. At this point, two of my 3 Google accounts make the option available in the Insert menu, with a new Insert→Chart submenu below the Insert→Drawing… item.

When you insert such charts, they remain linked to the original spreadsheet. If all you want is tabular data, there's a table chart type that you can use to present your data as a simple table.

There are some limitations at this stage (e.g. regarding the size of the chart) and the chart must pre-exist in the spreadsheet before you can insert it, but this is going in the right direction…

To insert a spreadsheet or table, use Add a table from Google Sheets by copy-pasting from Sheets to Docs and choose the linked option.

The chart is not updated live if you modify the source spreadsheet while your document is opened, however, the document will detect changes and give you an Update button above the embedded spreadsheet to reflect the latest changes in the source.

From Google Docs Help:

Publishing

Once you're done creating and editing your spreadsheet, you can publish it to a webpage. >Just click the Share drop-down menu on the top right and choose Publish as a webpage. Then, click Publish now.

Then, everyone you choose can access your spreadsheet by entering the URL you send them into their browser's address bar.

Even after you publish a spreadsheet, it won't appear in any search index.

Embedding

After you publish your spreadsheet, you can share it with the world by embedding it (or parts of it) in a website or blog.

Publish your spreadsheet following the steps listed above and a unique URL is generated. Use this URL to embed the spreadsheet on your website or blog. You can also insert a spreadsheet in Google Sites. Just click Edit page > Insert > Spreadsheet from within your site. You'll need to enter the URL of your spreadsheet to embed it.