How do you add star ratings in sheets?

How to create a star rating system in Google Sheets?

Google Sheets is a highly praised product from the house of Google. The fact that it is available for free is the best thing. If are used to using Google Sheets, you know the kind of features and interface it has.

Google Sheets is more than what you think. It has certain features that make it stand out from other similar programs. For instance, it is possible to create a star rating system in Google Sheets. If you are wondering how we are here to help.

It is quick and easy to add a rating system to your Google Sheets. This is done using the CHAR and REPT functions. But we will be discussing that in detail. In this post, we will provide the steps to add a star rating system in Sheets. Make sure you follow all the steps correctly and you are good to go.

Steps to create a star rating system in Google Sheets:

1. Create  a table showing a list of movies and their ratings:

Here the score of the movie is given and according to that score we will create the star ratings using In column C, we will  transform that value into a more visually appealing star rating. 

The star is created with the CHAR function, which returns a character based on a Unicode number.You use the REPT function to repeat the star corresponding to the rating value.

1. In the C2 column we will insert the following formula

=REPT(CHAR(9733),B2)

1. You will see the star appear on the Rating column:

1. Now, just drag the cell to apply to the rest of the cells:

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Using the CHAR function in Google Sheets to add star ratings.

Syntax
=CHAR(table_number)

table_number – The decimal value that looks up the Unicode and converts the number into the corresponding character value.

Sample Usage
=CHAR(9733)

//Gives a star as the output; 9733 is the Unicode value for star.

=REPT(CHAR(9733), 5)

//Add five stars. The CHAR function adds a star and the REPT function repeats it five times.

Learn how to create a Star Rating System in Google Sheets.

• Introduction
• Inserting the star symbol in Google Sheets
  • Method 1- Using the CHAR function 
  • Method 2- Using the emoji keyboard
• The REPT Function
  • Example 1
  • Example 2 
• Why am I getting a #ERROR in REPT Function in Google Sheets?

Introduction

Ever given a product or service 5-stars for excellent service? Maybe 1-star if you were disappointed?

Star rating systems are usually used to score/rate the quality of products, services or experiences. A star rating system in Google Sheets is an easy visual way to analyse data related to user feedback. It becomes easier to visualize and interpret the user ratings this way than just displaying the corresponding scores.

Star rating system in Google Sheets is often used by Customer Support teams to monitor the feedback given by their users.

If you are an online seller and want to quickly visualize the rating shared against the corresponding customer ID, you might find this guide on how to create Star Rating system in Google Sheets especially helpful to identify 1-star or 5-star customers!

Inserting the star symbol in Google Sheets

In this article, I will explain the following two methods to create a Star Rating System in Google Sheets- 

1. Method 1– Using the CHAR function
2. Method 2– Using the emoji keyboard

Now let’s have a look at both methods.

Method 1- Using the CHAR function 

• The CHAR function returns a character when a valid character code is given as input.
• To insert a star symbol using the CHAR function, select a cell, type in the following formula, and hit ENTER.

=CHAR(9733)

• As shown below the star symbol now gets inserted in the selected cell. 

Fig 1: Using CHAR function to insert star symbol

Method 2- Using the emoji keyboard

• Select a cell. 
• Pressing the Windows key and ‘.’ or Control + Command + Spacebar keys on Mac simultaneously, displays the emoji keyboard on your screen. 

Fig 2: Emoji keyboard is displayed on the screen

• In the search box, type in ‘star’ and click on the star emoji. The star symbol gets inserted into the selected cell. 

Fig 3: Inserting star symbol using the emoji keyboard

Next, let’s learn how to create your own star rating system.

The REPT Function

The REPT function returns some specified text repeated a number of times. Since I will use the REPT function to create this star rating system in Google Sheets, first let’s have a look at the anatomy of this function.

The syntax of this function is as follows:-

=REPT(text_to_repeat, number_of_repititions)

• text_to_repeat– the string or character you want to repeat.
• number_of_repititions– the number of times you want that string or character to repeat. 

Example 1

Here I will insert the star symbol using the CHAR function.

• In this example, I will create a star rating system to rate the following books. 

Fig 4: Books to be rated

• Firstly select a cell and start typing ‘=’ followed by the name of the function ‘REPT’ in the cell. As you type, Google Sheets will automatically suggest the required function. Choose this function. 

Fig 5: Using REPT Function

• For the REPT function CHAR(9733) is the character that we want to repeat and the score value in column B refers to the number of repetitions, so we type in the following formula. 

=REPT(CHAR(9733), B2)

Fig 6: REPT Function formula

• The star rating for the corresponding score value is displayed. 

Fig 7: Star ratings displayed in the cell

• After following all the above-mentioned steps, our spreadsheet looks like this. 

Fig 8: All Star ratings displayed | Example – Star Rating System in Google Sheets

Example 2 

In this example we will use the emoji keyboard star symbol to create the rating system. 

• Select a cell and start typing ‘=’ followed by the name of the function ‘REPT’ in the cell. As you type, Google Sheets will automatically suggest the required function. Choose this function. 
• Now, press the Windows key and ‘.’ simultaneously. This opens the emoji keyboard. 
• Type star in the search box of the keyboard, and select the star symbol. 

Fig 9: Inserting star symbol from the emoji keyboard

• Ensure you add opening and closing double quotation marks (“ “) around the star emoji to avoid getting an error. 

• The star rating for the corresponding score value is displayed. 

Fig 10: Star ratings displayed in cell | Example – Star Rating System in Google Sheets

• After following all the above-mentioned steps, our spreadsheet looks like this. 

Fig 11: All Star ratings displayed | Example – Star Rating System in Google Sheets

Why am I getting a #ERROR in REPT Function in Google Sheets?

A formula parsing error message is displayed when you don’t include opening and closing double quotation marks (“ “) around the star emoji.

Fig 12: #ERROR! message displayed | Example – Star Rating System in Google Sheets

As already mentioned, to avoid getting this error make sure you add opening and closing double quotation marks around the star emoji. These quotation marks specify that the star emoji is a character. 

Conclusion

In this article, we learned two ways to create the Star Rating System in Google Sheets. For this, we also learned to use

✅ Char Function ✅ REPT Function in Google Sheets.

Want to know more formulas and functions in Google Sheets? Look at our definitive guide on Google Sheets which covers hundreds of such topics. Enjoy reading!

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