{
  "id": "microsoft-excel-vs-google-sheets",
  "ids": [
    "microsoft-excel",
    "google-sheets"
  ],
  "title": "Excel vs Google Sheets: free access, macros and file handovers",
  "kicker": "SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE",
  "heading": "Excel vs Google Sheets:<br>choose around the workbook.",
  "deck": "Compare browser collaboration, desktop Excel, automation dependencies and offline preparation. Use a four-task workbook brief to check the handover that matters to your team.",
  "description": "Excel vs Google Sheets: compare free web access, VBA versus Apps Script, offline setup and XLSX handovers, with a practical workbook checklist.",
  "answerHeading": "Start with the workbook.<br>Then choose the application.",
  "answer": "Shortlist Google Sheets for a shared browser tracker when the team can use an agreed Google account and file format. Shortlist licensed desktop Excel when an existing workbook depends on Excel VBA or another required desktop capability. Free Excel for the web also offers browser collaboration, but it cannot run VBA macros. Compare the real workbook, required actions and receiving application before moving a working model.",
  "researchTag": "Excel / Sheets",
  "researchLimit": "Official product and support documentation with an original fictional workbook brief. No vendor application, macro, conversion, offline session or comparative speed test was run.",
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-17",
  "type": "workflow-buying",
  "rows": [
    [
      "Free starting point",
      "Excel for the web with a Microsoft account",
      "Spreadsheet creation with a Google Account"
    ],
    [
      "Desktop entitlement",
      "Installed Excel requires an appropriate licence",
      "Browser-based editor; assess managed Workspace separately"
    ],
    [
      "VBA dependency",
      "Desktop Excel route; VBA cannot run in the web app",
      "Recreate the required workflow using Apps Script rather than assume VBA transfer"
    ],
    [
      "Shared editing",
      "Online collaboration with file and permission requirements",
      "Live co-editing, comments and sharing controls"
    ],
    [
      "Computer offline work",
      "Identify the installed application and local working copy",
      "Prepare Chrome or Edge, offline extension and required files while connected"
    ],
    [
      "XLSX handover",
      "Use the required Excel application for acceptance",
      "Choose direct Office editing or conversion; inspect the returned workbook"
    ],
    [
      "AI and service costs",
      "Check the selected app and AI entitlements",
      "Check Workspace edition and required AI capabilities"
    ]
  ],
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "A team maintains a weekly tracker",
      "question": "Can several people update one agreed master?",
      "left": "Evaluate shared online Excel with the intended file location and roles.",
      "right": "Evaluate a shared Sheet with named owners and editing permissions.",
      "note": "Use fictional project tasks. Record who can update inputs and who approves the reporting copy."
    },
    {
      "name": "An operational workbook contains VBA",
      "question": "Which required actions depend on the existing code?",
      "left": "Inventory the licensed desktop application, macro owner and dependencies.",
      "right": "Scope a replacement in Apps Script as a separate implementation task.",
      "note": "Do not enable unfamiliar macros. This is a dependency review; no code execution is needed to identify the requirement."
    },
    {
      "name": "A colleague needs to edit away from a connection",
      "question": "Is the actual file ready on the intended computer?",
      "left": "Confirm the installed Excel entitlement and a local working copy.",
      "right": "Prepare supported-browser offline access while online and inspect file readiness.",
      "note": "Record the app or browser, account and reconnection result during an authorised evaluation."
    },
    {
      "name": "A customer requires an XLSX deliverable",
      "question": "Do the returned values and required features remain usable?",
      "left": "Reopen the handover in the customer’s required Excel application.",
      "right": "Export or retain the agreed Office-format copy and validate it in that receiving editor.",
      "note": "Opening a file is only the first check. Recalculate totals and inspect charts, validation and any unsupported dependencies."
    }
  ],
  "exampleTable": {
    "caption": "Original fictional project-hours sample: expected arithmetic, not an application test",
    "headers": [
      "Task",
      "Estimated hours",
      "Actual hours",
      "Expected actual minus estimated"
    ],
    "rows": [
      [
        "Research",
        "8",
        "10",
        "2"
      ],
      [
        "Build",
        "20",
        "23",
        "3"
      ],
      [
        "Review",
        "12",
        "11",
        "-1"
      ],
      [
        "Handover",
        "10",
        "12",
        "2"
      ]
    ]
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "workbook-acceptance",
      "title": "A small workbook can reveal the handover requirements",
      "paragraphs": [
        "The fictional sample above contains four tasks. Estimated hours total 50, actual hours total 56 and the difference is 6 hours. These are independently calculated expectations for the sample data, not measured Excel or Sheets results. The downloadable checklist leaves observations blank for the person evaluating each application.",
        "Build the sample in a non-sensitive workbook with a calculated difference for each task, a total and one chart. Have a second person update an actual-hours input, then check the revised total. Save the master, produce the required XLSX copy and have the intended recipient reopen it. Record differences, the version used and the person accepting the output.",
        "Add the features your real workbook requires: validation, named ranges, external connections or specific functions. A simple hours table cannot establish compatibility for a complex operational model. Keep the original while evaluating a migration, and agree whether the shared master remains an Office file or becomes a Google Sheet."
      ],
      "links": [
        {
          "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9406611?hl=en",
          "label": "Google: direct Office editing and conversion"
        }
      ],
      "navLabel": "Workbook handover"
    },
    {
      "id": "automation-and-offline",
      "title": "Separate automation migration from ordinary spreadsheet editing",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Microsoft states that Excel for the web retains existing VBA in a workbook but cannot create, run or edit it. A browser-only comparison therefore cannot stand in for a decision about a VBA-dependent desktop model. List the actions, maintainers and required desktop application before evaluating a change.",
        "Google’s migration guidance describes recreating Excel macros with Google Apps Script. Treat that as work to specify, build and validate, rather than a promise that imported VBA will execute. Inventory dependencies without enabling unfamiliar code, and include maintenance responsibility in any proposed replacement.",
        "For computer offline work, Google requires preparation in Chrome or Edge, a normal browser profile, its offline extension and files ready on the device. Test reconnection and any conflicting edits during your own evaluation. Do not assume a file opened online will be editable during travel."
      ],
      "links": [
        {
          "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/work-with-vba-macros-in-excel-for-the-web",
          "label": "Microsoft: VBA in Excel for the web"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9331168?hl=en",
          "label": "Google: recreate Excel macros using Apps Script"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102?hl=en",
          "label": "Google: prepare computer offline access"
        }
      ],
      "navLabel": "Automation & offline"
    },
    {
      "id": "licence-and-choice",
      "title": "Compare the retained licence and working arrangement",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Both products have free browser starting points. That does not make every desktop, managed business or AI capability free. Check the rights already assigned to each person and buy only the application and service scope the workflow needs.",
        "For a company, keep account administration, storage, training, workbook rework and automation maintenance with the decision. A change that removes a software purchase fee may still require implementation effort. Use the same acceptance brief for both applications rather than inventing a universal winner."
      ],
      "links": [
        {
          "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/accounts-billing/subscriptions/what-s-the-difference-between-a-microsoft-365-subscription-and-free-web-apps",
          "label": "Microsoft: free web apps versus subscription rights"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/sheets/",
          "label": "Google Sheets: product and plan scope"
        }
      ],
      "navLabel": "Licence & choice"
    }
  ],
  "faqs": [
    {
      "question": "Is Google Sheets better than free Excel?",
      "answer": "Compare Sheets with Excel for the web for browser work, and separately with licensed desktop Excel for desktop requirements. Choose around the workbook, collaborators, automation and final file."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can Google Sheets run Excel VBA macros?",
      "answer": "Google documents recreating Excel macros with Google Apps Script. Do not assume an imported VBA workflow will execute unchanged in Sheets."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can free Excel for the web run VBA macros?",
      "answer": "No. Microsoft says Excel for the web cannot create, run or edit VBA macros, although it can retain them in a workbook."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can Google Sheets work offline on a computer?",
      "answer": "Yes, after advance setup in Chrome or Edge with a normal browser profile and the Google Docs Offline extension. Check readiness for the required files while online."
    },
    {
      "question": "Can Google Sheets edit XLSX without converting it?",
      "answer": "Yes. Google documents direct Office-file editing that saves changes in the original format. Conversion creates a separate Google copy. Validate the returned workbook."
    },
    {
      "question": "Will switching from Excel to Sheets preserve every formula and workflow?",
      "answer": "Do not assume complete compatibility. Recalculate representative workbooks and separately assess required functions, automation, connections, charts and recipient requirements."
    }
  ],
  "relatedLinks": [
    {
      "path": "/categories/spreadsheet-software/",
      "title": "Browse spreadsheet applications"
    },
    {
      "path": "/guides/google-docs-offline-not-working/",
      "title": "Prepare Google editor files for offline work"
    },
    {
      "path": "/guides/software-buying-checklist/",
      "title": "Use a software buying checklist"
    },
    {
      "path": "/compare/microsoft-powerpoint-vs-google-slides/",
      "title": "Compare PowerPoint and Google Slides"
    }
  ],
  "datasetDescription": "Seven spreadsheet differences, four proposed buying briefs and a four-task fictional hours sample with expected totals of 50 and 56. No application compatibility result.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/excel",
      "facts": "Free Excel browser offer, spreadsheet capabilities and paid application routes."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/accounts-billing/subscriptions/what-s-the-difference-between-a-microsoft-365-subscription-and-free-web-apps",
      "facts": "Web-only versus desktop application rights."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/work-with-vba-macros-in-excel-for-the-web",
      "facts": "No VBA creation, running or editing in Excel for the web."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://workspace.google.com/intl/en_uk/products/sheets/",
      "facts": "Google Account access, collaboration and edition-dependent features."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9406611?hl=en",
      "facts": "Direct Office-file editing versus converted copies."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/9331168?hl=en",
      "facts": "Apps Script-based macro recreation."
    },
    {
      "url": "https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102?hl=en",
      "facts": "Computer offline prerequisites and readiness checks."
    }
  ],
  "downloads": [
    {
      "path": "/downloads/excel-vs-sheets-workbook-checklist.csv",
      "title": "Download the workbook evaluation checklist (CSV)",
      "description": "Four acceptance checks with the fictional hours sample, expected totals and blank fields for each application’s observed result and reviewer."
    }
  ]
}