Being able to easily manipulate data is an important skill for any chemist. Large data sets are regularly produced in the lab or output from computational experiments and being able to manipulate, plot and estimate errors in data are important skills for chemists.

There are various spreadsheet applications which may be used for visualising and analysing data, for both scientific and non-scientific use. Spreadsheets are ubiquitous in many workplaces, and being able to use spreadsheets is a skill employers often list as essential in job descriptions.

Microsoft Excel is probably the most well known spreadsheet application, with both Windows and Mac versions available and the guides below are designed for use with Excel. However, other general spreadsheet applications do exist, and largely the same functions can be carried out in an analogous fashion. These include programmes such as LibreOffice and OpenOffice Calc for general software markets, as well as more specialist scientific packages such as Origin or SPSS.

Google Sheets is a more recent spreadsheet application which is entirely browser based and has been designed around collaborative working, and now holds a similar market share to Excel. Pretty much any spreadsheet analysis you may wish to carry out can be achieved in either programme, wiht both offering similar functionality.