An account with a parent or school

The workbook hangs on an account

A spreadsheet is not just a window in the browser. It belongs to an account. Who knows the account password can see the workbooks. They can see photos on Drive too. They can see mail, if it is Gmail.

That is why you do not set up an account in secret. At home one family Google account is enough, and a parent watches it. At school use school Workspace — the teacher already has it, you have a school email and a password from school.

How do you know which account you are signed into? In Sheets top right there is a circle with a photo or a letter. Click it. You will see an email. That is the account the workbook lives on.

In Excel on a computer it is a Microsoft account (often a school @school.com or a personal Outlook). When you save to OneDrive, it hangs on an account again. When you save only to drive C:, the file is in a folder — but handing in to a teacher still needs Drive, or email, or a USB.

⚠️

A Drive password is not a game password. Do not write it to a friend, into a chat, under a video, or on a slip of paper on the desk. If you need to store it, a parent stores it — in the safety course we will say more about a password manager. Here one rule is enough: you say the password out, a parent hides it.

What happens when the account is not yours

Three typical traps. They all look like “the workbook vanished”, but the workbook is fine. The account is wrong.

Sekolah computer, teacher’s account. You open Sheets, the spreadsheet works, you save. You sign out. At home your account — empty. The workbook sits on the teacher’s account.
A sibling. Mum has one Google account for the whole family. That is fine, when she knows. It is bad when a little brother sets up an account without mum and your pocket money lives there.
“Continue without signing in.” Sometimes the browser lets you preview. After you close the tab, it is over. Nothing on Drive.

The check is simple: the circle top right. The email that lights up there must be the one that should stay.

Top right is the Share button. In Excel on a computer it is often Share on a green bar, or File → Share. It can do three modes. At the start you need to know what each one means.

Only me (Restricted / Restricted to me) — nobody else gets in. Even if they guess the link, Google will not let them. This is what you want now.
Specific people — you type the teacher’s or mum’s email. They get an invite. You can choose if they may edit, or only view. For a home grade sheet, view is enough. For shared work with a teacher, sometimes edit.
Anyone with the link — like a key under the doormat. Who has the link, walks in. The link can be sent on. You do not want that for homework. You also do not want it for a public whole-school survey, until a teacher says yes.

At the start leave the workbook only to yourself. When you do a class survey, you will share it with the teacher, not with the whole internet.

💡

When a teacher wants you to hand in a file, ask: Drive, or download a PDF? Downloading comes in Chart maker. Hard sharing comes with Workbook boss. For now it is enough to know that the Share button exists — and that “anyone with the link can edit” is the widest door a spreadsheet has.

How you check it in a minute

You do not have to send anything. You just look at how the door stands.

Open workbook Tables with Martin.
Click Share top right.
Read the sentence at the top of the window. You want something like Restricted / “Only people with access”. You do not want “Anyone on the internet with the link”.
If it says “Anyone with the link”, click it and switch to restricted access. Save / Done.
Tutup the window. The workbook was not deleted. You only closed the door.

In Excel on a computer, when the file lives only in a folder and you never shared, it is automatically “only you”. The trap is a OneDrive folder you have shared with the whole family — that is already the specific-people mode, even if it does not look like it.

⚠️

Edit ≠ view. When you give a friend “can edit”, they can delete rows, change grades and rename a sheet. For handing in to a teacher, “can view” is often enough. If you do not know, ask an adult before you click Share.

📊 Class survey — do not share yet

When you collect snacks, it will be tempting to send a link into the class chat. Do not do it with “anyone with the link can edit”. Someone will walk into the grades you have on another sheet in the same workbook.

A better plan (when it comes): either a new workbook only for the survey, or a sheet the teacher can see, and keep grades only to yourself. Do not send anything today. Today only check that the door is closed.

Now you 💪

With a parent or a teacher check five things. For each one let an adult look with you. It is not a test — it is a safety net.

The circle top right shows the email that should stay. Not a classmate’s account, not “guest”.
The workbook is called Tables with Martin, not “Untitled”.
At the bottom you have sheets Grades and Catatans.
The Share button shows restricted access — the file is not “anyone with the link”.
An adult knows the account password. You do not send it into a chat.

If the email in the circle does not match: sign out, sign in to the right account, open Drive, find the workbook. If the workbook is not on that account, it is on the other one — sign in there and download / move it with a parent. Do not drag it yourself if you do not know where.

✅

Done. You have a workbook, two sheets and an account that an adult knows. The sharing door is closed. We go to Cell kid — there addresses start, like seats in a cinema.

What to take from this lesson

A parent or the school sets up the account. The workbook hangs on that account, not “in the browser”.
The circle top right shows who you are signed in as. The same account at home and at school.
A Drive password is not a game password. It does not belong in a chat or on a slip of paper.
“Only me” is the default. “Specific people” is an invite. “Anyone with the link” is a key under the doormat.
We will share a class survey later, and not with the whole internet.