Switching from Excel to Google Sheets: A Checklist for Analysts

Day 1: settings

• Turn on Help → Keyboard shortcuts → Enable compatible spreadsheet shortcuts.
• Set your locale and time zone (File → Settings) so dates and currency parse correctly.
• Learn Alt+/ (search the menus). It's your escape hatch for everything.

Day 1: an extension for Excel muscle memory

• Install one Excel-shortcut Chrome extension. Options: SheetSpeed (free Core), ShortieCuts, SheetWhiz, XLKeys, Spex. See the options menu.
• Practice your top five on a real model: paste values (Alt, E, S, V), insert/delete rows (Ctrl+Shift+= / -), borders (Alt, H, B), freeze panes (Alt, W, F, F, Pro), trace precedents (Ctrl+Shift+[).

Week 1: formula differences worth knowing

• Sheets has functions Excel doesn't: QUERY, IMPORTRANGE, GOOGLEFINANCE, ARRAYFORMULA.
• Dynamic arrays spill much like Excel 365's.
• Cross-file links use IMPORTRANGE, not external references. Expect an access prompt the first time.

Week 1: auditing and modeling

• Get a precedent tracer. Sheets has none built in. How to trace precedents.
• Agree on a color convention with your team (blue inputs, black formulas, green cross-tab links).
• For goal seek, use Google's Marketplace add-on or an extension. SheetSpeed Pro (launching soon) adds Alt, A, W, G.

Things to accept

• Sheets lives in a browser tab. Use full-screen (F11) or a dedicated Chrome window per model.
• Very large models get slow sooner than in desktop Excel. Split inputs and outputs across files if needed.
• Version history (File → Version history) replaces "Model_v14_final_FINAL.xlsx".

Install SheetSpeed (free)

SheetSpeed is a free Chrome extension for Excel-style shortcuts and trace precedents in Google Sheets. We make it, so weigh our take accordingly.

Add SheetSpeed to Chrome (free)