Google Sheets
Also known as: Google Spreadsheets, GSheets
Google Sheets is Google's spreadsheet application, part of Google Workspace and free with any Google account.
It works entirely in the browser, saves automatically to Google Drive, and supports real-time multi-user editing. Sheets handles formulas, charts, pivot tables, and data analysis. For collaborative spreadsheet work, Sheets is often easier to use than Excel, but it has fewer advanced features for complex financial modelling.
Google Sheets, explained at three levels
At home
Google Sheets is like Excel but it lives in your browser, saves automatically, and is free. You enter data in rows and columns, use formulas to do calculations (like =SUM(A1:A10)), and can share the sheet with anyone by sending a link. Multiple people can edit at the same time.
At work
In workplaces using Google Workspace, Sheets is the standard for shared tracking documents: expense reports, project trackers, content calendars, and team rosters. Instead of one person owning a local Excel file, the team shares a single Google Sheet link and everyone edits the same version.
At home
Google Sheets has most of Excel's common functions (SUM, IF, VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH) plus some unique ones. IMPORTRANGE pulls data from another Google Sheet. QUERY lets you filter and sort data using SQL-like syntax without building a pivot table. GOOGLEFINANCE pulls live stock prices and currency exchange rates directly into a cell.
At work
Sheets integrates with Google Forms so that form responses automatically populate a connected spreadsheet. Google Apps Script adds automation: scripts can send emails, update other sheets, or call external APIs on a schedule. For reporting, Sheets can feed data directly into Looker Studio dashboards. Conditional formatting, data validation, and protected ranges allow teams to build structured input forms with guardrails.
At home
Functions such as ARRAYFORMULA, FILTER and UNIQUE return a whole range from one formula, which spills into neighbouring cells and grows as rows are added. Import functions like IMPORTXML and IMPORTRANGE fetch data from outside the sheet on Google's servers and refresh periodically, so heavy use slows recalculation and can hit loading limits. Because every formula recalculates in the cloud, a sheet slows down as chains of dependent formulas grow. In my view, Sheets stays fast only if you keep imports few and formulas simple.
At work
Google Sheets' maximum of 10 million cells per spreadsheet can become a constraint for large data sets. For performance, splitting data across multiple sheets connected via IMPORTRANGE is a workaround, but it adds complexity. At the enterprise level, BigQuery integration allows Sheets to query billions of rows of data stored in Google Cloud: combining the familiarity of a spreadsheet with data-warehouse scale.
Real-world examples
At home
Nadia organized a group holiday for eight friends using a Google Sheet. One tab listed everyone's budget, another tracked shared expenses and who owed whom, and the last tab had a formula that automatically calculated the final settlement. She shared the link so everyone could update their own rows.
At work
Jerome's marketing team maintained a content calendar in Google Sheets with columns for article title, owner, due date, status, and publish date. A dropdown validation in the status column restricted entries to Draft, In Review, or Published, preventing typos. The team lead could filter by owner to see each person's workload.
How it compares
| feature | Google Sheets | Excel |
|---|---|---|
| Primary strength | Real-time collaboration, simplicity | Feature depth, financial modelling |
| Auto-save | Yes, continuous | Manual or AutoSave (365) |
| Max data size | 10 million cells | ~17 billion cells (1M rows) |
| Unique functions | QUERY, IMPORTRANGE, GOOGLEFINANCE | Power Query, VBA, Python integration |
| Offline use | Limited offline mode | Full offline (desktop app) |
| Best for | Shared tracking, simple analysis | Complex models, large data sets |
Google Sheets is the better choice for simple collaborative spreadsheets where multiple people need to edit simultaneously in a browser. Excel is better for complex financial models, large data sets, VBA automation, and offline use. Many teams use both: Sheets for shared tracking and Excel for heavy analysis.
For analysts
When organizations switch from Excel to Google Sheets, complex Excel workbooks with macros, Power Query, or many cross-sheet references often break on import. Do a file audit before migration: identify which workbooks are active models that need Excel features versus shared trackers that can move to Sheets easily.
History & origin
Google Sheets launched in 2006 alongside Google Docs, growing out of Google's acquisition of 2Web Technologies. Its browser-native, real-time collaboration was its defining feature from the start. Over the years, Google added pivot tables, the QUERY function (an SQL-like function unique to Sheets), import functions for pulling live web data, and integration with Google Forms. In 2023, Google began adding generative AI features to Sheets under the name Duet AI, rebranded as Gemini in 2024.