Smartsheet Basics: Setting up a New Account

Congratulations! You’ve decided to join the millions of people managing their work in Smartsheet. In today's tutorial, we are going to cover five things to take care of today so you can hit the ground running with your new Smartsheet account :

STEP 1 | Personalize your account

Add profile information, regional preferences, and logo.

In the bottom left-hand corner of your main page, locate "My Account"

Select "Personal Settings"

Select "Profile" and update profile information

Now, select "Settings" and update time zone and regional preferences

Depending on the type of account you have, you may be able to personalize your Smartsheet interface with your own logo. Go back to "Account" and select "Personal Colors & Logo"

Make any adjustments that you have available to you and select "Save"

STEP 2 | Add your contacts

It's a good idea to add contact information now for the people you know you will be collaborating with. You can add in this information later but adding now will enable you to automate workflows more quickly.

Note that you can add contacts one at a time by selecting the blue "Add" button or you can import several contacts from Gmail or Outlook by selecting "Import Contacts".

In "Account", locate "My Smartsheet Contacts"

Select the blue "Add" button to add contacts one at a time or choose to import data from your Gmail or Outlook account

STEP 3 | Understand Smartsheet organization

Select "Browse". Your work in Smartsheet is stored in two main buckets: Sheets and Workspaces. "Sheets" will house many of the sheets that you create as well as sheets that are shared with you. You can organize your work by creating folders.

When in "Sheets", on the top right-hand side, select "Create" and "Folder". Create a folder and drag and drop sheets into the new folder.

Workspaces allow you to quickly share a collection of work with others. By default, all items in a workspace are shared to its members. Workspaces are great if you are going to be collaborating with a group of people and you want to share information easily.

STEP 4 | Create a new item

Select "Solution Center". Here, you can "Create", "Import" or search for a template. Templates and the more elaborate Template Sets are solutions that are ready-made by Smartsheet. These are often a great place to start with a new project. Simply download and modify to suit your needs

STEP 5 | Know where to find help.

Smartsheet offers comprehensive operational management solutions. You can manage anything from personal finances and time cards to complex projects with thousands of data points. As you get up and running, it is key to know where to turn for support.

Select "Help"

Selecting "Help and Learning" will take you to the Help and Learning Center. Note the options there. Not all accounts have access to Smartsheet University so you may not see this as an option for you. Smartsheet Community is a great place to post questions about formulas, the use of template sets and any other questions you have. It's frequented by other Smartsheet enthusiasts who are willing to share their knowledge. If you get stuck on a formula, the Smartsheet Community can be a lifesaver!

"Show Help Tips" can be selected when you are working in Smartsheet. The platform will anticipate what kind of help you might need and will offer tips that are relevant to the area that you are working on.

Congratulations! That's it! You've laid a great foundation and now you can take the next step to build your workflows in Smartsheet. As your skills grow, you are going to love the efficiencies that you will gain. For more helpful tips, stay tuned as we discuss other time-saving aspects of using the Smartsheet platform.

Want additional help or support? We offer custom services - anything from getting started on Smartsheet, customizing a template set or personalized training. Smarter Workflow is here to help you grow your skills so you can grow your career. Join our mailing list to receive updates when new content is posted.