# n8n Tutorial for Beginners: How to Use n8n Step by Step > An n8n tutorial for beginners: how to use n8n to build your first workflow, a daily report from a Google Sheet emailed at 5pm. Free practice lesson. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/n8n-tutorial-for-beginners-first-workflow · Updated 2026-10-21 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) Quick answer **Short answer:** to use n8n, you build a workflow on a canvas: a trigger starts it, and each node after it does one job, such as reading a sheet or sending an email. The easiest first [n8n workflow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/workflow) has four nodes in a row: a **Schedule Trigger** that starts it, a **Google Sheets** node that reads your rows, a **Summarize** node that adds them up, and a **Gmail** node that emails the total. You can build exactly that, step by step, in the free [Daily Revenue Total lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-schedule-trigger-google-sheets-daily-report). Nothing is needed to start, because the lesson uses a practice copy of n8n. Last updated October 21, 2026 [Take the free module →](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/n8n-jump-start/6)Module 6 of the free [n8n Jump Start](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/n8n-jump-start) course, about 9 minutes. No account needed. By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) · Published October 16, 2026 · Updated October 21, 2026 · 6 min read n8n · Beginners · Tutorial If you are searching for an n8n tutorial for beginners, this page explains the idea first, in plain words, then shows the build. ## How do you use n8n? You use n8n in four moves, and this tutorial repeats them for every node: 1. **Pick a trigger**, the event that starts the workflow: a schedule, a new email, a form or a chat message. 2. **Add a node** with the plus button and search for the app or step you need. 3. **Fill in its fields** and click **Execute step** to see the real output before you move on. 4. **Test the whole chain** with [Execute workflow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/execute-workflow), then **Publish** it so it runs on its own. You can use n8n in the cloud, where n8n hosts it for you, or install it on your own server. The [n8n Cloud vs self-hosted comparison](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/compare/n8n-cloud-vs-self-hosted-n8n) explains the difference. For learning, neither is needed, because the free lessons use a practice copy. ## What is an n8n workflow? An n8n workflow is a chain of steps called nodes. The first node is a **trigger**, the event that starts everything. Each node after it does one job and passes its result to the next. You build the chain on a canvas by clicking the plus after a node and searching for the next one. No code is needed for the workflow below. If you want the vocabulary, the glossary pages for [n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n), [node](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/node) and [trigger](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/trigger) are short. ## What are we building? The lesson follows Pine Ridge Lawn Care, a made-up business. Every evening someone spends about 20 minutes adding up the day's jobs from a Google Sheet. After this build, the total lands in the owner's inbox at 5pm on its own. The workflow is: 1. [Schedule Trigger](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/schedule-trigger), every day at 5pm. 2. Google Sheets, get only today's rows. 3. Summarize, add up the Amount column. 4. Gmail, send the total to the owner. ## Step 1: How do you start a workflow on a schedule? Click **Add first step**, then choose **On a schedule**. The defaults already say once a day: Trigger Interval is Days and Days Between Triggers is 1. Open **Trigger at Hour**, choose 5pm and leave the minute at 0. One trap catches beginners. A schedule follows the workflow's time zone, and a new workflow starts on a default one. In the lesson the default is New York, which would send a Denver business its report at three in the afternoon. Open the three dots next to the workflow name, choose **Settings**, set **Timezone** to America/Denver and save. The [time zone lesson note](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-schedule-trigger-google-sheets-daily-report) is worth five minutes before you publish anything. ## Step 2: How do you read only today's rows from a Google Sheet? Click the plus after the trigger, search for **sheets**, choose **Google Sheets**, then **Get row(s) in sheet**. Pick your document and the Jobs sheet. Without a filter, this node returns every row from every day, so add one: Column **Date**, and in Value paste: `{{ $today.toFormat('yyyy-MM-dd') }}` That is today's date written year-month-day, in the workflow's time zone, which matches how the sheet writes dates. The double curly braces tell n8n it is an expression, so the field switches to Expression by itself. If your dates are written another way, change the format to match. ## Step 3: How do you add up the numbers? Click the plus, search for **summarize** and choose **Summarize**. It works like a spreadsheet total across all the items. Under Fields to Summarize, change Aggregation from Count to **Sum**, and type **Amount** in Field. Click **Execute step**. In the lesson, the sheet step returns five rows and Summarize returns one item, a field called `sum_Amount` with the value 545. Remember that field name. You use it in the email. ## Step 4: How do you email the total? Click the plus, search for **gmail**, then choose **Send a message**. Fill in the To address and a Subject. In Message, use: `Revenue from today's jobs: ${{ $json.sum_Amount }}` The part in curly braces pulls the total from Summarize, and n8n shows the real result under the field. ## How do you test it, and how do you turn it on? Do not wait until 5pm to find out. Click **Execute workflow** on the canvas and check your inbox. Then, in your own n8n, click **Publish** at the top right. A schedule only runs once the workflow is published. The lesson stops before Publish because that would start real daily runs. The [Execute step, Execute workflow and Publish lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-execute-step-execute-workflow-publish) explains the difference between the three. To do the build for real you need an n8n account, a Google Sheet with a Date column written year-month-day and plain numbers in Amount, and Gmail and Google Sheets connected in n8n. ## Try it free, step by step **Get Your Daily Revenue Total by Email, Automatically, using n8n**. Stop spending 20 minutes every evening adding up the day by hand. In n8n, a Schedule Trigger runs at 5pm, Google Sheets pulls today's jobs, Summarize totals the revenue and Gmail emails it to you. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of n8n, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/n8n-schedule-sheets-report) [Or read the full step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-schedule-trigger-google-sheets-daily-report) ## What should you learn after your first workflow? Once the four-node chain makes sense, the next step is starting from a ready-made workflow. The [Find and Use n8n Templates lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/find-and-use-n8n-templates) shows how to search the template gallery, import one and set up its credentials. After that you can add an AI step, which is where most beginners want to end up. If your whole team is starting n8n together, there is also [n8n training for teams](https://ynteractive.com/n8n-training), or you can [hire an n8n developer](https://ynteractive.com/hire-an-n8n-developer) to build the first workflows. ## Key takeaways - An n8n workflow is a chain of nodes that starts with a trigger. - A schedule runs on the workflow's time zone, so set it before you publish. - Filter the Google Sheets node to today's rows, then use Summarize with Sum to get one total. - Test with Execute workflow first, then click Publish so the schedule actually runs. ## Frequently asked questions **Is n8n good for beginners?** Yes, if you start small. You don't need to code to build a first workflow: drag in a trigger, add one node at a time and test each step before adding the next. The free Daily Revenue Total lesson is an n8n beginner tutorial that builds a four-node workflow in a practice copy of n8n. **How do I use n8n for the first time?** Start with one small job you do by hand every day, like adding up a sheet or forwarding an email. Build it as a trigger plus two or three nodes, test each node with Execute step, then publish. The [Daily Revenue Total lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-schedule-trigger-google-sheets-daily-report) walks through exactly that. **What are the n8n basics?** Five ideas cover the n8n basics: a **workflow** is one automation on the canvas, a **trigger** is the first node that starts it, each **node** after it does one job, **credentials** connect n8n to your accounts, and **Publish** turns the workflow on so it runs by itself. Test each node with Execute step before you publish. [What is n8n?](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/what-is-n8n) explains each idea in plain English. **What is the best n8n tutorial for beginners?** One where you click through a real build instead of only watching. The free Stepthrough n8n lessons check every click in a practice copy, starting with this daily report and then [n8n templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/find-and-use-n8n-templates). If you want rows to fill themselves next, read [Automate Data Entry in Google Sheets with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/automate-data-entry-google-sheets-n8n). **Is n8n free to learn?** The Stepthrough lessons are free and use practice copies, so you can learn the clicks without an account. To run workflows for real you need your own n8n account. Check n8n's current plans and pricing on its website. **Do I need to know how to code?** Not for this workflow. The only things you type are a date expression and a field reference, and the lesson gives you both to paste. **Why did my scheduled workflow not run?** The most common reasons are that it was never published, or that the time zone is not the one you expected. Check Publish first, then Settings, Timezone. ## Free lessons in this post - [Get Your Daily Revenue Total by Email, Automatically, using n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-schedule-trigger-google-sheets-daily-report): Stop spending 20 minutes every evening adding up the day by hand. In n8n, a Schedule Trigger runs at 5pm, Google Sheets pulls today's jobs, Summarize totals the revenue… - [Find and Use n8n Templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/find-and-use-n8n-templates): Skip the blank canvas. Find a ready-made workflow in the n8n template gallery, import it into your workspace, connect Google Sheets and Gmail, test it with a real form… - [n8n: Execute Step, Execute Workflow and Publish](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-execute-step-execute-workflow-publish): Learn the buttons in today's n8n editor: run one node with Execute step, pin test data, run everything with Execute workflow, then Publish and copy the Production URL. ## Watch it in a free lesson: n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets ### AI Social Media Idea Agent: video walkthrough Full walkthrough · 8:07 · with captions Build an AI agent for BrightPath Marketing that generates social media post ideas and saves them to Google Sheets — chat trigger, AI Agent, system prompt, model, memory, and the Sheets tool. The whole lesson narrated step by step, recorded in Stepthrough’s simulated practice environment. [Watch it with chapters and the full transcript](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets#watch) From the free lesson [n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/n8n-ai-agent-tutorial-google-sheets) ## Related terms Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson. [Workflow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/workflow) · [Execute workflow](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/execute-workflow) · [Schedule Trigger](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/schedule-trigger) · [Autoresponder](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/autoresponder) · [Edit Fields (Set) node](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/edit-fields-node) · [Execute step](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/execute-step) · [Execution (n8n)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n-execution) · [Merge field](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/merge-field) [The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) ## Related prompts - [Automation candidates prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/automation-candidates-prompt): Rank your repetitive tasks by which to automate first, using only your own counts and minutes, with a first workflow sketched… - [Customer intake form questions prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/customer-intake-form-questions-prompt): Design the questions for a booking or intake form: only what you need to do the job, each with a field type, help text and a… - [Appointment reschedule reply prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/appointment-reschedule-reply-prompt): A ChatGPT prompt for replying to a reschedule request with only your real open slots, the right weekday for every date and no… - [Missed appointment follow-up prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/no-show-follow-up-prompt): Reach out after a customer misses an appointment: no blame, your real fee policy stated once, two open times to rebook, and an… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) ## More terms on this topic [Invoice](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/invoice) ## Visual guides The same ideas as quick visual guides: swipe through the slides, or read each one as text. - [n8n Execute Step vs Execute Workflow vs Publish](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/n8n-execute-step-execute-workflow-publish-explained): A visual guide to the three n8n buttons: run one node with Execute step, pin test data, run everything with Execute workflow, then Publish for real. - [n8n Webhook: Test URL vs Production URL, Explained](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/n8n-test-url-vs-production-url-webhook): A visual guide to the two n8n webhook addresses: the Test URL that listens only while you test, and the Production URL that works once you publish. - [How to use n8n templates without the red warnings](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual/n8n-templates-myth): Most people copy an n8n template, see a canvas full of red warnings and give up. The warnings just mean the template can't know your accounts or your data. [All visual guides](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/visual) ## Keep reading - [n8n Triggers Explained: Which One Starts Your Workflow?](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/n8n-triggers-explained): n8n triggers explained: schedule, Gmail, chat, webhook and form triggers, how to test each one, and how the trigger changes your AI Agent's prompt. - [What Is n8n? What It Does and Who It Is For (Plain English)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/what-is-n8n): n8n is a workflow automation tool that connects apps and AI. What it is, what it does, what it costs and whether it fits a small business, with examples. - [Website Form to Google Sheets: Two Ways with n8n](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/blog/website-form-to-google-sheets): Two ways to send a website form to Google Sheets with n8n: a ready-made template with its own form, or a Lovable page with a webhook and an AI agent. 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