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Google Sheets course

Learn Google Sheets by doing it, step by step.

Short lessons you do in a practice version of Google Sheets, in your browser, with every step checked as you do it. From your first formula to lookups, pivot tables and charts.

Try a free lessonGet the full course

The free lessons need no sign-up. Lessons run in your browser on a laptop or desktop.

The lesson player with the free lesson Your first pivot table in the practice Google Sheets: a pivot table of revenue by region, the Pivot table editor beside it, and the lesson panel with the step "Click Add next to Values and choose Revenue" checked.
The free lesson Your first pivot table, in the practice Google Sheets.
  • 215 lessonsabout 10 minutes each
  • 22 skillsfrom formulas to pivot tables
  • About 35 h 50 minat your own pace
  • 5 free lessonsno sign-up
  • No Google account neededa practice Google Sheets in your browser

Try the first step here

This is a step from the free lesson Why your formula broke when you copied it. Pick an answer.

C2 =B2*(1+F1)

ABCEF
1ProductPriceWith taxTax rate7%
2Ballpoint pens$6.49$6.94
3Sticky notes$8.25
4Copy paper$9.99

You're about to copy C2 down to C11. What will C3 show?

What you'll be able to do

From your first formula to the tasks analysts are tested on, in four stages. Each line opens the lessons that teach it.

Beginner

50 lessons · about 7 h 15 min

Write your first formulas, and copy them down a column without breaking them.8 lessonsSort a list, and filter it to just the rows you need.2 lessonsFix names typed in capitals or with stray spaces, and join first and last names.3 lessons
3 more Beginner skills
Work with dates: today's date, the days between two dates, the month of a date.4 lessonsShow numbers as money, percents and dates, and give a table clear fonts, colors and borders.8 lessonsGet around a big sheet, and copy, fill and undo from the keyboard.3 lessons

Confident

111 lessons · about 18 h 45 min

Add up and count only the rows that match, like one rep's sales in March, with SUMIFS and COUNTIFS.8 lessonsBring a price or a name over from another list with XLOOKUP or VLOOKUP, and fix the #N/A when it fails.7 lessonsTurn hundreds of rows into totals by region, month or product with a pivot table.10 lessons
3 more Confident skills
Clean up an export: remove duplicates, split one column into several, and fix numbers and dates stored as text.9 lessonsPick the right chart for a trend or a comparison, with clear titles and labels.9 lessonsColor the cells that need attention: overdue dates, duplicates, values over a target.7 lessons

Advanced

46 lessons · about 8 h 5 min

Pull every matching row into a new list with FILTER, then sort it and drop repeats with SORT and UNIQUE.10 lessonsLook up with two conditions, by tier for tax brackets and commissions, or the last match in a list.5 lessonsFind percentiles and weighted averages, and totals that skip the rows a filter hides.3 lessons
1 more Advanced skill
Forecast a trend, and work out NPV and IRR for an investment.2 lessons

Analyst

8 lessons · about 1 h 45 min

Name the parts of a long formula with LET, and build your own function with LAMBDA.2 lessonsTake timed tests on formulas, lookups, pivot tables and cleaning data, then a full analyst take-home task.6 lessons

Projects you'll build

19 projects · about 4 h 15 min

Build a monthly budgetInvoice templateTimesheet with overtimeInventory tracker with low-stock alertsExpense reportProject tracker with status and due datesand 13 more

How a lesson works

Every lesson teaches one skill in about 10 minutes and has the same four parts.

The lesson panel on the first step: what the lesson is about (a list of 200 sales, and which region brought in the most revenue), before anything is clicked.

What you'll build

The lesson starts by showing you the result, with a small example of the idea, so you know what it's for before you click anything.

The lesson panel with the step "Click Add next to Values and choose Revenue" checked, and what it did: Sum of Revenue appears next to each region, with a grand total.

Guided steps

One action at a time: click a cell, open a menu, type a formula. Each step is checked the moment you do it. Open the wrong menu and the lesson tells you where that feature lives.

The lesson panel on Your turn: a task on the same data with no steps to follow, waiting for you, with Hint and Show me.

Your turn

Then a task on new data, with no instructions. Your answer is also tested on other data, so a typed-in number won't pass.

The lesson's cheat sheet, open over the lesson panel: its first lines on building a pivot table.

A cheat sheet to keep

Every lesson ends with a one-screen summary. When you're stuck, hints start small and build up to the full answer, with the reason it works.

From the free lesson Your first pivot table, in the practice Google Sheets.

A Carnegie Mellon study of an online course found that practice activities were linked to far more learning than watching videos or reading. Read the study

See how it works

How it compares

This courseVideos and YouTubeSearching for fixesLearning on the job
What you doEvery step yourself, in a practice Google SheetsWatch someone elseCopy a formula from a forumPick it up when there's time
Who checks your workThe lesson, on every stepNobodyNobodyWhoever spots the mistake
When you're stuckHints, then Show me, with the reasonRewind and watch againSearch againAsk a busy colleague
In what orderA Roadmap from Beginner upThe next suggested videoThe next thing that breaksWhatever your work needs that week
What's left at the endA cheat sheet for every lessonNotes, if you took themA bookmarkWhat you remember

Swipe the table to see all four.

Three ways to take the course

Every lesson is in the Roadmap, under its skill, and in each path that needs it. Take the course whichever way suits you.

The Roadmap

Every lesson in a recommended order, in four stages from Beginner to Analyst. Start at the top, or jump to any stage.

See the Roadmap

Skills

The lessons grouped by topic, like lookups or pivot tables. Go straight to what you need today.

See all 22 skills

Paths

A short list of lessons for one goal, like cleaning up messy data or pivot tables by Monday.

See all 7 paths

Whichever way you take, every lesson you finish adds a one-screen summary to your cheat sheets, so you can look it up later.

Free lessons

Five lessons are free, and you don't need to sign up. Start with any of them.

Do the free lessons on your computer.

They run beside a practice Google Sheets in your browser, and every step is checked as you go. Free, with no sign-up.

On your computer, go tolearnford.com/sheets

Beginner · 7 min

Why your formula broke when you copied it Free

Lock a cell with $ so a formula keeps working when you copy it down.

Start the lesson

Confident · 11 min

Look up a price with VLOOKUP and XLOOKUP Free

Bring each order's price over from a price list with VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP, and avoid the missing-FALSE trap.

Start the lesson

Confident · 9 min

Remove duplicates Free

Delete repeated rows from a merged list, and choose which columns decide what counts as a duplicate.

Start the lesson

Confident · 10 min

Your first pivot table Free

Turn 200 rows of sales into totals by region, read the answer, and re-ask the question by rep or product.

Start the lesson

Confident · 7 min

Make a dropdown list Free

Give a column a dropdown of fixed choices, pick from it, and stop anything else from being typed.

Start the lesson

What the course doesn't cover

  • Apps Script, macros and add-ins. The course is about the spreadsheet itself.
  • Working on a phone or tablet. Lessons need a laptop or desktop: they fit best in a window 1280 px wide, and open from 900 px.
  • A certificate. You leave with the skill, a cheat sheet per lesson, and work you did yourself.
  • The look of Google Sheets. The practice version follows its menus, functions and shortcuts, with our own design and icons.

Get the full course

Every lesson in the Google Sheets course, with new lessons added as they're written.

  • All 215 Google Sheets lessons open today, and every new one as it's written.
  • The Roadmap, Skills and all seven paths.
  • A cheat sheet for every lesson you finish.
  • At checkout, add the Excel course for US$49.

US$149

Tax included · Lifetime access

Get the full course

30-day money-back guarantee if you've opened fewer than 10 paid lessons.

No account needed to pay. Payments are handled by Link, Stripe's checkout. Your card statement shows LINK.COM.

Questions

Do I need a Google account?

No. Every lesson runs in a practice version of Google Sheets in your browser. There's nothing to install, and you don't need a Google account.

How close is the practice version to Google Sheets?

The menus, menu paths, function names and keyboard shortcuts follow current Google Sheets, on Windows and Mac. The look is our own, and a few rarely used features are not there.

Can I use my phone?

Not for lessons. They need a laptop or desktop, so the practice program has room. You can read this page on your phone and send yourself the link for later.

I already know Excel. Is this a repeat?

Partly, on purpose. The core skills are the same, but the menus, some function names and some features differ, and every lesson uses the Google Sheets way.

I already know the basics. Do I have to start at the beginning?

No. Go at your own pace, or jump ahead whenever you like. Search Skills for what you need, such as "remove duplicates" or "dropdown", and open that lesson.

What if it isn't for me?

30-day money-back guarantee if you've opened fewer than 10 paid lessons. You request it yourself from your Account page.

Google Sheets course

US$149

Try a free lessonGet the full course