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Topic outline

    • Time: 4 hours
    • Free Certificate
    This course is a comprehensive introduction to Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. We will discuss spreadsheets, their terminology, and their components, and explore how to use a spreadsheet in your everyday life at work, school, and home.

    Google based its free spreadsheet program Google Sheets on Microsoft Excel when it first released it in 2006. They continue to share many of the same formatting features and functions. You can use either program in this beginner-level course. Google Sheets is free to use for anyone with a Google account, and Microsoft offers a free 30-day subscription to Excel 365 if you would like to try it for a limited time. Most colleges and public libraries also offer public computer stations with a spreadsheet program you can use.


  • Spreadsheets allow us to organize and manipulate sets of data. Using spreadsheets, we can enter large amounts of numerical data, organize it, and perform calculations using the data. Later in the course, we will use spreadsheets to create personal budgets and business invoices. In this unit, we will describe the primary components of a spreadsheet and how to enter and edit data.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.

  • We use spreadsheets to organize large amounts of data to perform calculations, and we often need to present our data in tables or graphs. In this unit, we will explore how to enter data and format it, and how to create and use formulas to manipulate data. 

    You should think about your spreadsheet as a presentation for an audience, whether that audience is your boss, your colleagues, or even yourself. Your data will often be more understandable and easier to manipulate with formulas when the data is organized and makes sense.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

  • The way we design the columns and rows of our spreadsheet helps us present data to our audience in a way that lets them quickly understand how the information in each cell relates to that in the other cells. When you configure your spreadsheet correctly, you can also perform data calculations quickly and efficiently. In this unit, we will explore two common spreadsheets applications: budgets and work statements. We will use these examples to study how to optimize the design of our spreadsheets.

    Completing this unit should take you approximately 1 hour.

  • Course Feedback Survey

    Please take a few minutes to give us feedback about this course. We appreciate your feedback, whether you completed the whole course or even just a few resources. Your feedback will help us make our courses better, and we use your feedback each time we make updates to our courses.

    If you come across any urgent problems, email contact@saylor.org.

  • Certificate Final Exam

    Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

    To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.

    Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate.