A free step challenge tracker template, and when to stop using one
A spreadsheet is a perfectly good step challenge tracker for a small group over a short period. Download the free template below, drop it into Excel or Google Sheets, and it will rank a team and flag who missed the daily goal. It will also, reliably, become a chore around week two, and this page is honest about where that line sits.
Download the template
The template is a plain CSV, so it opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or anything else. It has a row per person and a column per day, with a daily goal row at the top that climbs.
Download it below, then open Google Sheets and choose File, Import, Upload, or just double-click it on a Mac or PC. It comes with eight example player rows and thirty days of goals; delete the names you do not need.
- Row 1: a column per day, Day 1 to Day 30, starting in column B
- Row 2: that day's goal, starting at 2,000 and rising 250 a day
- Rows 3 onward: one player per row, one step count per day
- Last two columns: total steps, and the day they were eliminated, both already filled in with working formulas
The three formulas that make it work
Everything a step challenge tracker needs is three formulas. They are already in the template, but here they are in case you would rather build your own. Day one is column B, day thirty is column AE, and player rows start at row 3:
- Total steps: =SUM(B3:AE3)
- Which day they went out: =IFERROR(MATCH(1,INDEX((B3:AE3<B$2:AE$2)*(B3:AE3<>""),0),0),"still in"). The second half is what stops empty future columns counting as misses, which is the mistake almost every home-made tracker makes
- Conditional formatting on the player cells: a custom formula of =AND(B3<>"",B3<B$2) coloured red, which is the only part anyone actually looks at
- To change the ladder, edit B2 and C2 and drag across: the goal row is plain numbers, not formulas
How to run a challenge on a spreadsheet without it collapsing
The tracker is not the hard part; collecting the numbers is. Pick one way for people to report and refuse every other way, or you will spend Friday afternoon reading direct messages. A shared sheet where people fill in their own row is better than a form that lands in your inbox, and both are better than screenshots.
Set a cut-off. Yesterday's number must be in by 10 am, or it counts as zero. Without a cut-off, one person is always three days behind and the standings are never true.
Agree that phone screenshots settle disputes and that you will not adjudicate anything else. This is the rule that decides whether you still like your colleagues in week three.
- One reporting channel, no exceptions
- A daily cut-off time, in writing
- Lock the historical columns so nobody edits last week
- Decide in advance what happens on holidays and sick days
When a spreadsheet is the right answer
Under about ten people, for a week or two, with colleagues who genuinely do not care who wins: a sheet is fine, it is free, and it needs no permissions conversation with anyone. If your group has mixed phones, including Android, a spreadsheet may be the only thing everyone can use.
It is also the right answer if you want to count something an app cannot, like minutes of any activity, so that swimming and cycling count alongside walking.
When it stops being worth it
Three things break a spreadsheet tracker, and they usually arrive together in week two. Volume: at thirty people, chasing thirty numbers a day is a real job for whoever volunteered. Trust: self-reported numbers are unverifiable, and it only takes one person at a suspicious 30,000 a day for everyone else to stop trying. Attention: the sheet is a tab nobody opens, so the standings stop being a topic of conversation, and a challenge that is not talked about is over.
If two of those three are true for your group, the admin is now costing more than the challenge is worth.
What an app does that the template cannot
Stepr counts the steps itself from each player's iPhone, so nobody reports anything. The daily goal climbs on its own, days settle at midnight in the league's time zone, eliminations happen without anyone deciding, and the standings are a live page anyone with the code can open. Because the counts come from the motion sensor and Apple Health and are signed by the device, there is no honour system to erode.
Joining is free for everyone and there is nothing to fill in. Hosting is $18.99 once per league or $9.99 a month for unlimited leagues, and free for everyone during launch. The one honest catch: Stepr is iPhone-only today, so a group with Android phones should stay on the spreadsheet for now.
Questions people ask
Is there a free step challenge tracker template for Excel?
Yes, the CSV template on this page opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. It has a climbing daily goal row, one row per player, and the three formulas for totals, pass/fail and elimination day.
How do you track a step challenge in Google Sheets?
Give each player a row and each day a column, put the daily goal in a row above, and use conditional formatting to highlight any cell below that day's goal. Let people fill in their own row and set a daily cut-off time for entries.
How many people can you track on a spreadsheet?
About ten before collecting the numbers becomes the main activity. Past thirty, the person running it is doing twenty minutes of admin a day, which is when most office challenges quietly stop.
Can you stop people inflating their steps in a spreadsheet?
Not really. Self-reported numbers cannot be verified, and screenshots can be staged. If trust matters to your group, use a tool that reads steps from the phone itself and does not accept typed numbers.
Start a league
Free to join. Share one code, and the last one walking wins.
Keep reading
Last updated September 2026