It takes ZERO effort to now get searchable drop-down lists in Excel. Excel's data validation list now offers autocomplete by default. Empty cells are skipped too! This is all for desktop and online version. Check out this post to find out more.
Learn how to use IMPORTRANGE in Google Sheets. This function is great when you'd like to import data from other spreadsheets. You can also use it together with QUERY to import and append data from multiple sheets.
There is a trick you can use to create multiple dependent drop-down lists on the same sheet in Google sheets. It's simple trick that doesn't involve Apps Script. Check out the full article.
Learn how to create dependent drop-down lists in Google Sheets. Dependent drop-downs can be tricky in Google Sheets because you can't add a formula to the drop-down version of the data validation. But there is another way.
Is Google Sheets the right spreadsheet application for you? Or should you go with Excel? Here is a list of 10 features where Google Sheets beats Excel. It's a mix of Google sheets basic to advanced functions and hidden features.