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How to Make a Study Schedule in Google Sheets (Step-by-Step Template)

Build a free study schedule in Google Sheets in about 20 minutes: a weekly timetable, a task tracker with checkboxes, colour coding, a progress formula and an exam countdown. Includes the exact columns and formulas to copy.

A study schedule only helps if you can see it, change it quickly and tick things off. Google Sheets does all three for free, on your laptop and your phone. This guide walks you through building a simple study planner from a blank sheet: a weekly timetable, a task list with checkboxes, colour coding by subject, a progress percentage and an exam countdown.

You do not need any add-ons or paid templates. Everything below uses built-in Sheets features, and you can copy the column names and formulas straight in.

What you will build

Your file will have three tabs:

  1. Week: a timetable of study blocks for each day.
  2. Tasks: every assignment, reading and revision task, with due dates and checkboxes.
  3. Exams: test dates with a live countdown.

Set aside about 20 minutes for the first build. After that, updating it takes five minutes a week.

Step 1: Create the file and tabs

  1. Go to Google Sheets and start a blank spreadsheet.
  2. Name it something you will find again, like “Study Planner – Autumn Term”.
  3. Rename the first tab to Week (double-click the tab name). Add two more tabs with the + button and name them Tasks and Exams.

Step 2: Build the weekly timetable (Week tab)

  1. In A1 type Time. In B1 to H1 type the days: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun.
  2. In column A, list your time slots. One-hour slots are easiest to start with, for example 07:00 down to 22:00.
  3. Block out fixed commitments first: classes, work shifts, commuting, meals and sleep. Type them in and give them a grey fill colour.
  4. Add study blocks in the gaps. Write the subject and the type of work, for example Biology – flashcards or Maths – problem set 4. Short labels are fine.
  5. Freeze the header row and time column so they stay visible: View → Freeze → 1 row, then View → Freeze → 1 column.

How many study blocks should you add? Use your course load as a guide. The article on how many hours you should study a day shows a quick way to work out a weekly total. If you are not sure which hours suit you best, run the one-week test in best time to study: morning or night.

Colour code by subject

Colours make the week readable at a glance:

  1. Select the whole timetable area (for example B2:H17).
  2. Open Format → Conditional formatting.
  3. Choose Text contains, type a subject name such as Biology, and pick a fill colour.
  4. Click Add another rule and repeat for each subject.

Now any block you type with that subject name colours itself automatically.

Step 3: Build the task tracker (Tasks tab)

Put these headers in row 1:

A B C D E F
Done Subject Task Due date Est. hours Days left
  1. Checkboxes: select A2:A100 and choose Insert → Checkbox.
  2. Due dates: select D2:D100 and choose Format → Number → Date. You can also add Data → Data validation → Is valid date so typos are caught.
  3. Days left: in F2 paste this formula, then drag it down:
=IF(D2="","",D2-TODAY())
  1. Subject dropdown (optional): select B2:B100, open Data → Data validation, choose Dropdown, and type your subjects. This keeps names consistent so colour rules and filters work.

Break big assignments into small tasks with their own dates. “Essay” is hard to start; “find 3 sources”, “outline”, “first 500 words” are easy. The guide to backward planning assignment deadlines shows how to set those mini-deadlines.

Highlight what is urgent

  1. Select A2:F100 and open Format → Conditional formatting.
  2. Choose Custom formula is and enter:
=AND($A2=FALSE,$D2<>"",$D2-TODAY()<=2)
  1. Pick a light red fill. Unfinished tasks due within two days now stand out.
  2. Add a second rule with =$A2=TRUE and a grey fill with strikethrough, so finished tasks fade.

Track your progress

Somewhere above or beside the table, for example in H1, type Progress and in H2 paste:

=IFERROR(COUNTIF(A2:A100,TRUE)/COUNTA(C2:C100),0)

Format H2 as a percentage (Format → Number → Percent). It shows what share of your listed tasks are ticked off.

To see remaining hours per subject, put a subject name in J2 and this formula in K2:

=SUMIFS(E2:E100,B2:B100,J2,A2:A100,FALSE)

Step 4: Add an exam countdown (Exams tab)

Use these headers: Exam, Date, Days left, Topics to review.

In C2 add:

=IF(B2="","",B2-TODAY())

Sort the tab by date (Data → Sort range → Column B, A to Z) so the next exam is always at the top. When an exam is two weeks away, switch your Week tab to a revision plan using the finals study schedule guide or, for a shorter run-up, how to study for midterms in a week.

Step 5: Make it a weekly habit

A spreadsheet planner stays useful only if you update it. Pick one fixed time each week, such as Sunday evening, and do this:

  1. Tick off finished tasks and check the progress percentage.
  2. Add any new assignments from your syllabus, emails and course pages.
  3. Look at Days left and move urgent tasks into this week’s study blocks.
  4. Copy the Week tab (right-click the tab → Duplicate) if you want to keep a record of past weeks.

The 30-minute weekly review for students gives a fuller checklist, and syllabus to weekly tasks helps you fill the Tasks tab at the start of term.

Use it on your phone

Install the Google Sheets app and open the file. Checkboxes work with a tap, so you can tick off tasks between classes. To find the planner fast, star it in Google Drive. If you also use Google Calendar for classes, see the Google Calendar semester setup and keep Sheets for tasks and Calendar for fixed times.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Filling every empty hour with study. Leave buffer time and breaks, or the plan falls apart by Wednesday.
  • Vague tasks like “revise chemistry”. Write the specific action: “chemistry – 20 practice questions, ch. 4”.
  • Too many colours and tabs. Three tabs and one colour per subject is enough.
  • Never updating it. A weekly five-minute update beats a beautiful planner you stop opening.

Printable setup checklist

GOOGLE SHEETS STUDY SCHEDULE – SETUP
[ ] Blank sheet, named, tabs: Week / Tasks / Exams
[ ] Week: days across, times down, header frozen
[ ] Fixed commitments greyed out first
[ ] Study blocks added in the gaps (subject + action)
[ ] Colour rule per subject
[ ] Tasks: checkboxes, due dates, Days left formula
[ ] Red rule for due in 2 days, grey for done
[ ] Progress % formula
[ ] Exams tab with countdown, sorted by date
[ ] Weekly update time: __________

Bottom line

A free Google Sheets study schedule needs only three tabs: a weekly timetable, a task tracker and an exam countdown. Block out fixed commitments, add specific study blocks in the gaps, let conditional formatting flag what is urgent, and update it once a week. Simple and consistent beats complicated every time.