From school to work and everything in between, spreadsheet software is a practical, powerful tool that has slowly become a central piece of software in our daily lives, whether we realize it or not. When we think of spreadsheets, many of us first think of Microsoft Excel, and for good reason.
Often seen as the premier spreadsheet software, Microsoft Excel has been a foundational tool for countless schools, businesses, and homes. However, the rise of Google Suite has led to fierce competition between Excel and Google Sheets, Google’s response to Microsoft’s spreadsheet powerhouse.
While both Excel and Sheets are fantastic programs, let’s take a look at why we feel Excel is better than Google Sheets.
Local vs. Cloud Files
The meteoric rise of cloud technology has made file sharing and collaborative spreadsheets easier than ever. Google Sheets is built natively in an online environment, meaning its online only. Excel was originally built as an offline program, but now has online collaboration and sharing capabilities with OneDrive and Microsoft 365. The flexibility to work both offline and online when needed gives Excel the edge when it comes to how work gets done.
Data
As anyone who works in Excel or Google Sheets on a daily basis knows, spreadsheets can quickly become large and complex. It’s not uncommon for regular users to see spreadsheets with hundreds of thousands of cells with data in them, if not more.
Fortunately, Excel can hold a massive number of cells - a maximum of over 17 billion cells, in fact. Comparatively, Google Sheets has a maximum of 5 million cells in one sheet. While it would be difficult to fill even 5 million cells, it’s safe to say that a regular Excel user is never going to fill every cell in a single sheet.
Formulas
Both Excel and Google Sheets can leverage a wide range of formulas to quickly calculate and manipulate data. However, Excel has a better range of advanced formulas for complex data analytics. If you’re looking for advanced formula and spreadsheet capabilities, Excel is the way to go. Excel vs. Google Sheets Both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets are fantastic tools for reviewing, organizing, and manipulating data. If you’re looking for a program that can handle large, complex sets of data while giving you the flexibility to work offline or collaboratively, Microsoft Excel is the right choice for you.