Converting from Excel to Google Sheets: An In-Depth Guide for Single Users

Spreadsheet software constitutes one of the basic building blocks of data analysis and management. As someone who utilizes spreadsheets in your daily work, you likely have a preferred platform that matches your use case needs and personal preferences.

But over time as features evolve, new offerings emerge in the market, and data sharing needs change, re-evaluating your spreadsheet solution makes sense. You may find that a different platform now aligns better with your requirements and ways of working with data.

Over its nearly 40 year history, Microsoft Excel has dominated the desktop spreadsheet software market. However, Google Sheets has recently emerged as a formidable free cloud-based alternative for individual and collaborative spreadsheet work.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the case for switching from the familiar Excel to flexible, shareable Google Sheets. We‘ll cover:

• Key history and turning points for Excel and Google Sheets
• Comparison of notable features and use cases
• 5 steps for an easy Excel to Sheets conversion
• Expert tips for a smooth transition

Let‘s start our exploration by charting the origins and adoption arc for these two spreadsheet giants over the past decades…

A Thorough History of Excel and Google Sheets

Before considering migrating your spreadsheets from one platform to another, it helps to understand the landscape. We‘ll briefly chart the history and growth for both Excel and Google Sheets.

The Early Days of Excel

While rudimentary spreadsheets existed prior, the first software truly tailored for financial modeling tables arrived with VisiCalc in 1979. VisiCalc sales took off like wildfire in the early 1980s. In response, Microsoft launched its Excel spreadsheet software for Windows 1.0 in 1985.

In an episode of the Everyday Excel podcast, Microsoft engineer Doug Klunder who worked on Excel 1.0 recalls the visionary leadership around the product:

"Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer were convinced that empowering knowledge workers with tools like Excel constituted the future of computing and business. And they put massive investment into development."

Excel alone may not have crushed incumbent VisiCalc. But as part of Microsoft‘s integrated Office bundle model offering compatibility across Word, PowerPoint, and more, Excel adoption snowballed through the 1990s.

The Juggernaut Decades

With Microsoft‘s operating system dominance in the enterprise, Excel enjoyed unmatched lock-in and growth for decades. Excel 2000 and Excel 2002 added pivotal pivot tables, autofilters, conditional formatting, and other analytics capabilities.

According to a 1994 study by the Pepperdine University Business School, over 70 percent of US firms were using Excel by the mid-1990s. And Excel‘s market share continued to expand unchecked throughout the early 2000s.

Per Gartner research, Excel retained a staggering 95% market share of all spreadsheet software as of 2013. For reference, the #2 product Microsoft‘s Lotus 1-2-3 held less than 1% share.

This chart depicts Excel‘s complete industry domination through the early 2010s:

Excel controlled over 90% of the spreadsheet software market for nearly 30 straight years. (Sources: [Pepperdine 1994], [Gartner 2013])

Thanks to its advanced calculation power, Visual Basic macros, and deep Office suite integration, Excel retained devoted fans across countless enterprises and roles. Branded as an indispensable toolkit for accounting, finance, operations, and more, workplace familiarity with Excel became assumed knowledge.

Of course, software hegemonies cannot persist indefinitely in fast changing technology landscapes…

Welcome Google Sheets

When Google Docs first appeared in 2006 promising free online document creation and collaboration, it remained a relatively basic word processor, lacking the analysis potency required for serious spreadsheet work.

But in early 2010, Google officially unveiled Google Sheets introducing proper grid tables, formulas, charts and other core spreadsheet capabilities to their web-based office suite. Sheets benefited enormously from Google‘s cloud architecture and drive storage foundation enabling seamless sharing and real-time collaboration.

Over the subsequent decade, Sheets gradually earned credibility as a nimble spreadsheet choice appealing to project teams, small businesses, and casual users.

In a 2022 interview, Jonathan Rochelle – one of Google Sheets founding engineers – comments on driving adoption:

"Those early days felt very much like convincing people to move from driving everywhere to suddenly walking more places instead…it took Teams and enterprises witnessing the radical collaboration benefits firsthand for Google Sheets to gain real traction."

Between 2018 – 2022, Google Sheets usage grew on average 39% Year-over-Year:

Google Sheets usage has accelerated rapidly since 2018 as more teams adopt cloud-based collaboration tools. (Source: [Google 2022 Work Trends])

Sheets continues cementing itself as a leading spreadsheet option suited for workflow flexibility and cross-functional data access in the 2020s.

Now that we‘ve toured the history of Excel and the emergence of Google Sheets, let‘s examine how your spreadsheet needs line up with their respective strengths…

Comparing Key Excel and Google Sheets Capabilities

Excel and Google Sheets boast impressive feature sets that largely overlap for basic spreadsheet functionality. But each platform also offers specialization strengths targeting differing use cases.

In your personal or professional context, considering where Excel and Sheets excel can inform what solution makes the most sense going forward. We‘ll contrast them across five key spreadsheet activity areas:

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Beyond the highlights noted above, both Excel and Google Sheets contain advanced features from conditional formatting to data validation tools to keyboard shortcuts for efficient navigation.

But in reviewing the key differentiators side-by-side, common themes emerge…

• For intensive financial modeling, statistical analysis, and desktop customization – Excel leads
• For lightning fast real-time collaboration with internal/external teams – Sheets dominates

Depending on whether raw calculation power or seamless collaboration ranks higher in your work priorities, you likely have a preferred spreadsheet platform.

However, technology trends point toward growing enterprise adoption of cloud-based tools for easier access and infrastructure management. Sheets happens to really excel there!

When to Consider Converting from Excel to Google Sheets

Given the high degree of feature overlap, you may be wondering if migrating files from a robust known entity in Excel over to Google Sheets offers substantive advantages.

First, rest assured an immediate wholesale switch is not required to start benefiting from Sheets.

As you determine which files and tasks could fit better within Sheets, converting select Excel files to Sheets format can create helpful hybrid workflows while allowing Excel access as needed.

Below we‘ve compiled common scenarios where transferring Excel files over to Google Sheets proves valuable:

Cross-functional collaboration – Your Excel budgets, inventory records, product pipelines used internally across marketing, operations, product teams etc.

External shared access – Client reporting dashboards, board presentation financials, auditor data requests handled via secure view-only Sheets access

Cloud convenience – Centralized access to key data templates from any device while saving local storage

Existing Google integrations – Streamline workflows by connecting converted Sheets with Google Ads, Analytics, Calendar etc.

The great news? Once you‘ve moved an Excel file over to Sheets, you can still tap into Excel‘s power for further number crunching before sending refreshed data back into Sheets for company-wide visibility. Think of Sheets as an optimization layer on top of Excel‘s capabilities.

Now that we‘ve covered the benefits, let‘s make this Excel to Sheets conversion happen…

5 Simple Steps: Converting Excel Files to Google Sheets

If you feel the use cases above resonate with your needs, you‘re likely eager to get your existing Excel content migrated over into flexible Google Sheets format.

The process requires just a few quick steps which we‘ve summarized below:

Converting legacy Excel files into Sheets unlocks awesome new collaboration capabilities

Without further ado, let‘s get your Excel data imported into Google Sheets!

Step 1: Check Excel File Compatibility

Unlike Excel, Google Sheets can only import spreadsheets saved in one of the following formats:

• .xls (Excel 97-2003 Workbook)
• .xlt (Excel 97-2003 Template)
• .csv (Comma Separated Values)
• .ods (OpenDocument Spreadsheet)
• .xlsx (Excel Workbook)
• .xlsm (Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook)
• .xlsb (Excel Binary Workbook)
• .tsv (Tab Separated Text File)

Confirm your target Excel file uses XLSX, XLS, or another supported format. Various specialty Excel formats can‘t transfer over directly.

Step 2: Upload Target Excel File to Google Drive

Navigate to drive.google.com and login to your Google account. Click the prominent New button and select File Upload to choose your Excel file. Find the desired spreadsheet on your local device and confirm upload.

Depending on size, this process may take several seconds to complete.

Google Drive offers free 15GB storage for personal accounts by default

Step 3: Open Uploaded Excel File in Google Drive

Examine the upload notification for completion status. Then double click the Excel file appearing now in your Google Drive view among any other stored files.

This will launch the Excel spreadsheet within the Google Drive interface. Full editing access allows modifying the Excel file right from Drive just like your desktop.

Step 4: Convert to Sheets Format Via "Save As"

With the Excel file open and active in Drive, select File > Save As Google Sheets from the Drive menu ribbon.

In a few seconds, a Google Sheets version of the Excel file will generate. You‘ll immediately recognize the familiar grid-shape interface.

Step 5: Excel and Google Sheets Files Now in Drive

Unlike simply downloading a Sheets copy, this Save As action retains BOTH the original Excel file AND its converted Sheets twin together within Google Drive.

You can toggle between each version‘s respective tabs for ongoing access to your data in Excel and Sheets formats. Updates made in one sync automatically to the other.

Retain simultaneous access to Excel and Google Sheets files after conversion

And that‘s it! With just those 5 quick steps you‘ve successfully unlocked the collaboration superpowers of Google Sheets!

Now your converted spreadsheets integrate seamlessly with Google‘s full stack of real-time sharing and automation capabilities. Yet your Excel data remains perpetually accessible for advanced calculations via the original file. It‘s the best of both worlds!

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

After reviewing the long histories plus use case alignment for Excel and Google Sheets, we walked through smoothly converting legacy Excel files into sharable Sheets format.

Here are some key final takeways:

• For scenarios demanding real-time collaboration, converting select Excel files to Sheets unlocks tremendous flexibility
• Retaining the Excel source files enables tapping into specialized functionality unique to Exceldesktop app
• Start slow by converting non-critical templates to Sheets and assess from there over time
• Full Excel replacement possible for teams with limited modeling needs valuing cloud convenience

As next steps, spend time orienting around Google Sheets‘ impressive features – especially the collaboration and automation capabilities.

And begin gradually immersing your team into processes powered by Sheets data rather than emailed Excel attachments. Change can take inspiration plus persistence!

Soon you‘ll find Sheets reduces spreadsheet headaches while connecting colleagues with the latest data instantly. Ultimately you may even decide to transition fully into the efficiency of an integrated Google ecosystem.

But for now, congratulations on unlocking Google Sheets and beyond spreadsheet possibilities!