Creating increment and decrement buttons for multiple columns in Google Sheets

[ExcitedGamer85]

I need help with Google Apps Script buttons in my spreadsheet. Right now I have two buttons that can add or subtract 1 from a single cell, but I want them to work across several columns at once.

My current script looks like this:

function increment() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
  var currentValue = sheet.getRange("C2").getValue();
  var newValue = currentValue + 1;
  sheet.getRange("C2").setValue(newValue);
}

function decrement() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
  var currentValue = sheet.getRange("C2").getValue();
  var newValue = currentValue - 1;
  sheet.getRange("C2").setValue(newValue);
}

I want to modify this so it works on columns D through J instead of just one cell. This is for tracking inventory numbers across different product categories. I’m pretty new to Google Sheets scripting so any simple explanation would be great.

[CreativeArtist88]

yeah, just change it to getRange(“D2:J2”) and then loop through those cells. that really worked for me, super ez!

[OwenNebula55]

The range approach works, but you’ve got to handle the array values right. When you use getRange(“D2:J2”).getValues(), it returns a 2D array even for just one row. I hit this same issue building an inventory tracker last year. Here’s how to fix your functions:

function increment() {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getActiveSheet();
  var range = sheet.getRange("D2:J2");
  var values = range.getValues()[0]; // Get first row as 1D array
  
  for (var i = 0; i < values.length; i++) {
    values[i] = values[i] + 1;
  }
  
  range.setValues([values]); // Wrap back in 2D array
}

The trick is grabbing the first row with [0] and wrapping the modified array back in brackets when setting values. This updates all columns in one shot instead of hitting each cell separately - way more efficient.