Comparison of

Google Sheets and

Microsoft Excel
Online

Introduction
This white paper outlines a usability test comparing the ease of use for Google Sheets and Microsofts
Excel Online. This test assumes a basic knowledge of some sort of data management software in a
professional environment such as accounting, record management, and research. Information contained
in this white paper will also be useful to users who are new to data management or Excel and/or Google
Sheets.

Methods
This usability test will be completed at home on a windows 7 desktop pc. I will be using Google Chrome
for the web browser and in which I will complete all tasks.
The following tasks will be evaluated for both Excel Online and Google Sheets;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Formatting Text and Cells

Creating Dynamic Tables
Formulas
Charts
Creating Forms/Surveys
Share and Manage Workbooks with Other Users

Ranking Criteria
The results of each test will be ranked by ease of use;
1- Very Difficult
2- Somewhat Difficult
3- Moderate
4- Somewhat Easy
5- Very Easy

Results
Task 1: Formatting Text and Cells

Excel Online

Figure 1- Formatting Tools

General text formatting in Excel Online is simple. Integrated with the classic Microsoft Office Ribbon,
almost all tools needed to format text is displayed right away in the 'HOME' tab. Adjusting font size,
color, and fill of the cells are located in an easily accessible location at the top left of the screen.
Excel Online surprisingly doesn't offer any way to add conditional formatting. This is sorely disappointing
because conditional formatting can be useful for many tasks including; organizing reports, and outlining
negative values for accounting purposes.
When attempting to highlight
the data on my spreadsheet by
clicking and dragging my cursor
it was surprising to find out that
the window does not scroll with
the click and drag method as it
does in the offline version. I am
forced to click the top left of
the range I want to highlight,
hold shift and manipulate the
Figure 2- Difficulty highlighting data.
arrow keys to cover the range I
would like to highlight. Even this process is buggy. Several times I found that the highlighted range was
not what I intended as I scrolled my page up to the top of the spreadsheet. It is possible to scroll with a
mouse, however this tip does not apply if the user is using a laptop with no mouse.
Due to the difficulty of highlighting a range of data and the lack of formatting features, Excel Online
scores a 2 in text and cell formatting.

Google Sheets
Formatting in Google
Sheets is easy with all
formatting tools
available in the tool bar
at the top of the page.
Sheets offers a wide
variety of tools that are
Figure 3- Google Sheets formatting tools

similar to Excel. Additional formatting tools are found in the drop down Format menu. These tools
include basic functions like font and text color as well as more complex functions like conditional
formatting.
Sheets conditional formatting tool is simple to use. I wanted to highlight all dates after today in the date
of purchase column. Highlight the Date_of_Purchase column and select the conditional formatting
option from the drop down Format menu. Simply select the Date is after option from the first drop
down menu and
follow the outlined
steps in the toolbox.
Sheets only offers six
different font styles,
but the overall
accessibility of tools
and the wellpolished application Figure 4- Sheets Conditional Formatting
of tools such as
conditional formatting scores a 5 in text and cell formatting.

Task 2: Creating Dynamic Tables

Excel Online
Creating a dynamic table in excel online is simple. Make sure that your data is organized with headers.
Highlight the information that you want to be made into a table. Select the INSERT option on the tools
ribbon and click Table option to the left of the ribbon.
Tables in Excel are useful for organizing data. If I want to sort my customers in alphabetical order, all I
need to do is click the drop down option on the Customer column and select Sort Ascending.
I also want to see
only purchases that
amount to $30 or
more. To do this I
select the drop down
option on the
Payment Amount
column. I choose
Number Filters and
Greater Than or
equal to I input
the number 30 into the text box provided and all values under $30 in the payment column are
excluded from view.

Figure 5- Excel Sortable Data

Microsoft excludes the use of pivot tables in Excel Online, but the ease of sorting and manipulating data
with tables earns Excel Online a 4 in Creating Dynamic Tables.

Google Sheets
Sheets does not require you to make a specified table to sort data. Instead tools to sort data are
provided in the Data drop-down menu at the top of the page. Tools for sorting data can also be found
at the top of each column in a drop down menu.
A function that allows me to only view values greater than 30 in Sheets could not be found. I am still
able to filter text, but I would need to
manually uncheck each value for the 100
rows of data to filter the desired values
from view. In addition, headers sort with
the data. For example, when column A is
sorted in alphabetical order, the column
header Customer is sorted with the rest
of the data. This is a huge disadvantage
when working with large complex
spreadsheets.
Google Sheets offers pivot table reporting.
Pivot tables are useful for organizing data
for reporting purposes. With Sheets pivot
table I am able to easily create a summary
of customer purchases. Sheets pivot table Figure 6- Sheets Pivot Table
automatically created the total rows, but
the total values did not appear at first. Payment values needed to be entered twice, once in the Rows
section, and again in the Values section.
After a bit of trial and error with options in the pivot table menu it is possible to create a nice looking
report showing desired data. The difficulty of accomplishing this task can be frustrating without
additional help. Fortunately tutorials can be easily found on managing data in Google Sheets on
YouTube or Googles support menu.
In Google Sheets organizing data is possible, but seems to be complicated and limited. For this reason
Google Sheets scores a 2 in creating dynamic tables.

Task 3: Formulas
Excel Online
Formulas in Excel can be somewhat complicated, but allow users to create dynamic spreadsheets and
write potentially hundreds of lines of new data. There are hundreds of available formulas in excel, so for
practicality purposes only two formulas will be demonstrated.

Statisticians that works with programs like SAS or SPSS (statistical reporting software) can find the
concatenate function in excel to be of extreme value. Hundreds of lines of code can be written in a
matter of minutes. In the existing spreadsheet I can create a sentence that states customer paid
amount on date for each entry. The best part is that I can do this automatically. The concatenate
function works like this; =(customer)& paid&text(amount,$0.00)& on&text(date of
purchase,dd/mm/yyyy). The result is displayed in figure 7.

Figure 7- Concatenate Function in Excel

An accountant may want to create a dynamic table that displays total values for each customer. This is
possible with the SUMIF function. An example of this will look like, =SUMIF(customer,individual
customer name,payment amount). The result is displayed in figure 8.

Figure 8- SumIf function in Excel

Formulas in Excel can be tricky and require a lot of practice to master. There are entire websites
dedicated to manipulating formulas in excel. The video channel excelisfun on YouTube is an excellent
source for tutorials on Excels formulas. The possibilities are endless using formulas, but the difficult
nature of the formulas earns Excel Online a 3.

Google Sheets
Formulas in Google Sheets appear to work the same as Excel Online. There are only about 50 functions
in Excel that do not work in Google Sheets. This list can be found here.
Google Sheets will also be given a 3 for moderately difficult because both of the demonstrated
functions work exactly the same on Sheets as they do on Excel.

Task 4: Charts

Excel Online
Excel Online offers 25 different charts and graphs that can be used to plot data. The different available
charts can be found in the INSERT tab of the tool ribbon. If I wanted to create a simple pie chart I would
simply select the Pie drop down in the charts menu. Make sure that the data you want to graph is
highlighted prior to selecting your chart.

Figure 9- Pie chart in Excel

The resulting pie chart is messy because I have 30 different customers to report on, but the ease of
creating the chart and the availability of several options earns Excel Online a 5.

Google Sheets
Sheets offer 27 different charts that can be used to report data. Although 25 is not much different than
27, Google Sheets offers a wide variety of types of charts. All chart editing in Sheets is done in its chart
editing tool. The tool is easy to use and even offers tips for how to best use each type of chart.
Once a chart is created, additional editing can be done clicking on the chart itself and manipulating the
desired areas such as colors and titles. The chart editor can be opened up again at any time by selecting
the drop down at the top right of the chart window and selecting advanced editing.

Figure 10- Chart Editor in Sheets

Googles easy to use chart editor and wide variety of options scores a 5.

Task 5: Creating Forms/Surveys

Excel Online
A tool for creating a survey in Excel Online can be found in the INSERT tab of the tools ribbon. Once
New Survey is selected the Edit Survey window appears. In the Edit Survey window the title, survey
description, and all questions may be added here. Survey question options include desired text for the
question as well as specifying what type of response is necessary. A sample question is displayed in
figure 11.

Figure 11- Survey in Excel

Once all survey questions are added, clicking Save and View at the bottom of the survey editor will
display the final product of your survey. A survey may be edited at any time by returning back to the
INSERT tab and clicking on Survey.
Once the survey is completed to your satisfaction it can be shared by clicking Share Survey when
either viewing the survey
editor or the final product of
the survey.
As users fill out the survey,
results from each user are
automatically entered into a
dynamic table as shown in
figure 12.

Figure 12- Survey Results in Excel

Simple and easy to use, the

survey editor in Excel Online scores a 5.

Google Sheets
To insert a form into Sheets, select the Insert dropdown tab and select Form at the bottom of the list.
Once Form has been selected a new window opens with Googles form editor. Three sections appear in
the form editor; Form Settings, the Form Creator, and Confirmation Page settings. The intuitive design of
Googles form editor allows you to customize everything that a user sees and is able to do. Figure 13
displays the options
provided in the Form
Settings section.
Sheets offers built in
data validation for
survey questions. This Figure 13- Form Settings in Sheets
helps prevent conflicts
in the format of entries. In figure 14 an example for using the Data Validation tool is shown. In this
example a user can only enter number values. If a user attempts to enter special characters or text, a
message Add number values only. will appear.

Figure 14- Form Editor in Sheets

The confirmation page settings are located at the bottom of the form editor. In figure 15 the available
confirmation page settings are displayed.

Figure 15- Confirmation Page Settings in Sheets

Once the desired settings are selected, clicking Send form opens up a window that enables you to
embed the form on a website or social media site, and gives the option to send the form via email to a
group.
As respondents to the form submit entries, results are sent to a created spreadsheet where the data can
be sorted. A useful date and timestamp is also created for each entry.

Figure 16- Form Results in Sheets

The variety of settings and customizability available in Googles form editor scores a 5.

Task 6: Share and Manage Workbook with Other Users

Excel Online
In the File tab of the tools ribbon options for sharing your spreadsheet are found. Excel Online offers
the options of sharing with others or embedding the spreadsheet on a website. I need help with a
formula in my document so I choose to share my spreadsheet with another user that I know can help
me.

I click Share with People and the sharing window pops up. I am able to give access to another via email,
or I can provide a link to my spreadsheet. Figure 17 shows Excels share window. Once an email address
is entered and a short message, click Share to send.

Figure 17- Sharing Data in Excel

When my friend receives the email desperately asking for my help, he may click the provided link in the
email to begin editing my spreadsheet. In Excel Online, multiple users may edit data at the same time
and the best part is that collaborators do not need an account with Microsoft. In Excel Online other
users are identified in the upper right corner of the screen. Figure 18 shows a comment that was
entered by a second user.

Figure 18- Shared Comment in Excel

Sharing spreadsheets with others in Excel Online was easy. I found several different options for sharing
my work. A variety of options plus ease of use earns Excel Online a 5 in sharing and managing data with
others.

Google Sheets

Inviting a collaborator to work on my spreadsheet in Sheets is a simple task. The blue Share button is
displayed at the top right of the screen, and once selected the Share with others window appears. As
shown in figure 19
the process to add
users is clean and
simple. Other
options are provided
in the advanced tab
at the bottom right
of the window, but
everything I need to
invite my friend is in
the default box.
I click send and
await my
collaborators arrival
to my spreadsheet.
When my loyal
friend does not
arrive I realize what happened. Google Sheets requires a google account to view and edit spreadsheets.
This means that I am limited to individuals who have Gmail accounts to ask for help. Unfortunately this
means that unless my friend starts a free account with google, I am not able to receive his help. Because
I have other friends who happen to also have google accounts, I ask another maybe not so capable
person to view and comment on my spreadsheet.
Figure 19- Sharing Data in Sheets

As my backup arrives Sheets identifies him in the upper right hand corner of the spreadsheet next to the
share button. I see that I am able to view his account picture and Sheets also provides a link to his
Google profile.
Communicating while in Sheets is seamless. Google has provided a built in instant messaging feature
that allows communication with all that are viewing the spreadsheet.
The additional instant messaging feature and simple way to
invite others to your spreadsheet would have earned
Sheets a 5 but the small inconvenience of requiring a
Gmail account gives Sheets a 4.

Figure 20- Example of Instant Messaging in Sheets

Recommendation
Scoring results are as follows; Excel Online scored a 27 in ease of use, and Google Sheets scored a 24.
In a professional setting I recommend Excel Online simply because Excel Online is compatible with its
offline counterpart. Most of the tools available will be familiar to experience excel users and a transition
to online spreadsheets will be easier. In addition, Excel Online is directly compatible with its offline
counterpart.
Although the usability tests suggest that Excel Online is easier to use I recommend Google Sheets for
new users. Google Sheets offers built in tips and explanations for new users to familiarize themselves
with the tools available.
In conclusion, I found both tools to be effective and intuitive. Excel Online tends to be a bit buggy at
times and during the testing portion I had a hard time even loading the tool. Once my work loaded I had
few issues. As for Google Sheets I enjoyed my time exploring the tool. I found almost no bugs with the
software, but the limitations of certain features frustrated me. Either option will be good candidates for
data management in a professional environment. Preference is key.