← Google Sheets from Scratch: Formulas, QUERY, and Collaboration
Lesson
Lesson 3: Entering data, and how Google Sheets differs from Excel
Enter data and formulas correctly and learn the Google Sheets basics: a formula starts with “=”, English function names, the comma separator, the cloud, and real-time collaboration.
Entering data and the main differences from Excel
Entering data and the main differences from Excel
In Google Sheets, a cell can hold four types of data: a number (42, 3.14), text (any string of characters), a date (6/1/2026), or a formula. A formula is easy to spot: it always starts with the equal sign “=”. Anything that doesn’t start with “=” is treated by Sheets as text or a number. For example, SUM(A1:A5) is just text, while =SUM(A1:A5) is a formula that calculates a sum.
Coming from Excel? The formulas will look familiar: Google Sheets uses the same English function names (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP) and, with the US locale, the same comma between arguments: =SUM(A1,A2). The separator follows the spreadsheet’s locale (File → Settings): in locales with a decimal comma, such as Germany, Sheets expects a semicolon: =SUM(A1;A2). The real difference is how you work: Sheets runs in the browser, and several people can edit one file at once and see changes live.
Another big advantage of Sheets is dynamic arrays. The FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE, QUERY, and ARRAYFORMULA functions can fill several cells with a result automatically, with no extra setup. Similar features came to Excel later and work differently. More on dynamic arrays in Unit 4.
Lesson notes
Entering data and the main differences from Excel
In Google Sheets, a cell can hold four types of data: a number (42, 3.14), text (any string of characters), a date (6/1/2026), or a formula. A formula is easy to spot: it always starts with the equal sign “=”. Anything that doesn’t start with “=” is treated by Sheets as text or a number. For example, SUM(A1:A5) is just text, while =SUM(A1:A5) is a formula that calculates a sum.
Coming from Excel? The formulas will look familiar: Google Sheets uses the same English function names (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP) and, with the US locale, the same comma between arguments: =SUM(A1,A2). The separator follows the spreadsheet’s locale (File → Settings): in locales with a decimal comma, such as Germany, Sheets expects a semicolon: =SUM(A1;A2). The real difference is how you work: Sheets runs in the browser, and several people can edit one file at once and see changes live.
Another big advantage of Sheets is dynamic arrays. The FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE, QUERY, and ARRAYFORMULA functions can fill several cells with a result automatically, with no extra setup. Similar features came to Excel later and work differently. More on dynamic arrays in Unit 4.