Google Sheets Basics: An Introduction to Google Sheets

Name: Google Sheets Basics: An Introduction to Google Sheets
Rating: 4.4 (23 reviews)

Get started with Google Sheets with this comprehensive course for absolute beginners

Created bySimon Sez IT

Last updated 1/2023

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Different ways of accessing Google Sheets and getting familiar with the Google Sheets interface
Working with cells, rows, and columns, including group and merge
PC and Mac keyboard shortcuts
How to apply themes, formatting, and conditional formatting
Inserting images, links, checkboxes, comments, and notes
Making use of Google Drawings to insert videos and drawings
Adding data validations and dropdown selections
How to sort and filter data in Google Sheets and working with multiple sheets
An overview of basic formulas and functions and how to use the Query function
Creating charts and graphs, learning different chart types, editing, and customizing charts
Sharing your sheet and collaborating with other users
Publishing, downloading, and printing Google Sheets files

Course content

8 sections • 41 lectures • 4h 8m total length

Course Introduction5:02
WATCH ME: Essential Information for a Successful Training Experience2:11
DOWNLOAD ME: Exercise Files0:17
DOWNLOAD ME: Instructor Files0:17
Accessing Google Sheets7:49
Access Google Sheets from Google Drive by creating a blank spreadsheet. Use templates from the gallery and import Excel data to convert to Google Sheets with insert or replace options.
It's Just Google4:39
Explore the basics of Google Sheets, including naming and organizing in Drive, and using version history. Collaborate in real time, autosave offline, and extend functionality with add-ons, macros, and scripts.
Section Quiz

Orientation4:19
Access Google Drive to open Google Sheets, name a new sheet, and use the toolbar for formatting and data manipulation while building a family recipe book.
Cells6:34
Explore using cells in Google Sheets to build a recipe book with headers for title, ingredients, directions, course, and protein; master copy-paste and merging for clean data.
Rows & Columns - Part 15:40
Explore adding and moving rows and columns in Google Sheets, merging cells, and using keyboard shortcuts to insert and delete in a recipe book.
Rows & Columns - Part 26:20
Theme7:10
Formatting - Part 16:27
Explore Google Sheets formatting tools across the toolbar and format dropdown, apply currency and date formats, and customize font, colors, borders, alignment, and keyboard shortcuts for clean data.
Formatting - Part 28:32
Exercise 016:19
Apply a theme and craft an engaging title for the Google Sheets dataset from data.gov; format headings, resize columns, convert data to percentages, add borders, and freeze panes.
Section Quiz

Insert Links5:36
Learn how to insert and cleanly display hyperlinks in Google Sheets, including copying links, using shortcuts like command K or control K, and displaying clean link text for recipe titles.
Insert Images8:36
Insert images in Google Sheets by cells or over cells, using upload, URL, Google Photos, Drive, or image search, and align, resize, and group to fit the sheet.
Insert Drawings9:43
Explore how to insert Google drawings into Google Sheets to create draggable shapes, text boxes, and images over cells, with word art and video integration for enhanced presentations.
Insert Checkboxes9:04
Learn how to insert checkboxes in Google Sheets, configure data validation options for true/false or yes/no values, and customize appearance and range settings for clean, interactive data.
Insert Notes & Comments8:36
Exercise 024:07
Section Quiz

Data Cleanup6:26
Learn to clean up data in Google Sheets by removing duplicates and trimming whitespace. Use cleanup suggestions to fix inconsistencies and prepare data before analysis or graphing.
Conditional Formatting: Part 17:47
Apply conditional formatting in Google Sheets to color cells, highlight based on text, numbers, or dates, and quickly identify issues for clean, organized data.
Conditional Formatting: Part 26:50
Drop-down in Cells9:40
Data Validation4:31
Learn how to use data validation in Google Sheets to enforce numeric constraints, text and email rules, URLs, dates, and custom formulas, improving data quality and collaboration.
Exercise 035:18
Section Quiz

Sort & Filter9:09
Basic Formulas7:40
Master basic formulas and functions in Google Sheets by working with the USDA trade dataset, learning cell references, absolute locking with dollar signs, and dragging formulas across rows.
Basic Functions8:34
Query Function9:06
Learn the basics of the google sheets query function, including syntax, named ranges, select and where clauses, and how to pull a condensed, text-only data subset into separate tabs.
Multiple Sheets4:01
Learn to add, rename, organize, duplicate, and copy tabs in Google Sheets, color code and hide sheets, and view comments to manage data efficiently.
Exercise 043:52
Turn on filters, sort the landscaping data alphabetically, and answer questions; then calculate item totals with a simple formula and sum to compute the grand total.
Section Quiz

Types of Charts & Graphs9:23
Explore the full range of Google Sheets chart types, learn how to insert and customize charts, and understand which type best fits your data.
Edit & Customize Charts: Part 15:26
Edit and customize charts in Google Sheets using chart type suggestions, stacking, range updates, and switching rows and columns to compare weekly work across designers.
Edit & Customize Charts: Part 26:59
Explore editing and customizing charts in Google Sheets, covering chart style, theme colors, axis labels, and fonts. Learn to adjust legends, grid lines, scales, and chart placement for professional visuals.
Exercise 056:57
Create a line chart of U.S. agriculture exports and imports by year using the USDA data, then tailor setup and customize settings, titles, units, and axis labeling.
Section Quiz

Share & Collaborate: Part 17:04
Learn to share and collaborate on Google Sheets, selecting access levels from viewer to editor and sharing via link. Manage notifications and view edit history to safeguard your work.
Share & Collaborate: Part 25:05
Learn to safeguard shared Google Sheets by protecting ranges and sheets, setting precise edit permissions, and inviting collaborators with targeted access, while using comments and action items to assign tasks.
Download, Print or Publish2:47
Download, print, or publish your Google Sheets workbook. Export as Excel or PDF, preview prints, and publish selected tabs or the entire sheet to the web.
Exercise 062:21
Section Quiz

Requirements

A Google account to access Google Sheets
No previous knowledge of Google Sheets required. This course is created for absolute beginners.

Description

**This course includes course instructor files and exercise files to work with and follow along.**

Discover how to use Google’s popular online spreadsheet application with this comprehensive beginner course for Google Sheets. This application is perfect for collaboration as it allows you and other users to work on the same spreadsheet at once and have all your changes saved in real-time. No more conflicting changes and lost work! Think of it as using Excel, only better.

In this Google Sheets for Beginners course, we start from the very beginning, where we teach you how to create a sheet from scratch. We’ll work through rows and columns, themes, formatting, and a handful of keyboard shortcuts. We’ll also cover inserting images, checkboxes, and comments as well as using Google Drawing.

This course also discusses data cleanup and data validation, including how to create dropdown menus. We then move on to basic formulas and functions, sorting and filtering, working with multiple sheets, adding graphs and charts, and sharing your sheet.

This is a beginner-level course designed for Google Sheets novices who would like to get started with spreadsheets and is suitable for both PC and Mac users. We’ve also included accessible exercise and instructor files the same Google Sheets files that the instructor used in the tutorial so you can follow along.

What you’ll learn from this course:

Different ways of accessing Google Sheets
Getting familiar with the Google Sheets interface
Working with cells, rows, and columns, including group and merge
PC and Mac keyboard shortcuts
How to apply themes, formatting, and conditional formatting
Inserting images, links, checkboxes, comments, and notes
Making use of Google Drawing to insert videos and drawings
Adding data validations and dropdown selections
How to sort and filter data in Google Sheets
An overview of basic formulas and functions
How to use the Query function
Working with multiple sheets
Creating charts and graphs and learning different chart types
Editing and customizing charts
Sharing your sheet and collaborating with other users
Publishing, downloading, and printing Google Sheets files

This course includes:

4 hours of video tutorials
38 individual video lectures
Course and exercise files to follow along
Certificate of completion

Who this course is for:

Google Sheets novice
Those who want to use a web-based spreadsheet as an alternative to Excel.

Google Sheets Basics: An Introduction to Google Sheets

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction6 lectures • 20min

Start It8 lectures • 51min

Insert It6 lectures • 46min

Organize It6 lectures • 41min

Work with It6 lectures • 42min

Graph It4 lectures • 29min

Share It4 lectures • 17min

Closing1 lecture • 2min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: