n8n tutorial: your first workflow in 30 minutes

In this tutorial you'll build a working n8n workflow from start to finish. The example: every new lead from a form lands automatically in a Google Sheet and you get a notification about it. Count on half an hour. Not sure yet what n8n is? Read the short explanation first.

Step 1: open a new workflow

Log in to n8n and click New workflow. You'll see an empty canvas. This is where you'll place and connect nodes.

Step 2: pick a trigger

Click the plus and look for a trigger node. For this example you'll use the Webhook trigger (works with almost any form) or the ready-made form trigger. The trigger decides when your workflow starts.

Tip: copy the webhook URL that n8n gives you and paste it into your form tool as the destination. Then send one test submission, so n8n knows what the incoming data looks like.

Step 3: add the first action

Click the plus again, after the trigger. Look for the Google Sheets node and choose Append row. Connect your Google account, select your sheet and drag the fields from the trigger (name, email, message) to the right columns. That dragging is the heart of n8n: it's how you pass data from one step to the next.

Step 4: send a notification

Add one more node: Slack or Microsoft Teams, action Send message. Write a short message and put the lead's name in it using the fields from the trigger. Now the right colleague knows immediately.

Step 5: testing

Click Test workflow and send another test submission. Walk through the nodes: does the row appear in your sheet, does the message come through? n8n turns every successful step green. If something's off, click the node and look at the output, usually it's a wrongly connected field.

Step 6: go live

Flip the switch at the top right to Active. Done. From now on the workflow runs by itself on every new lead.

And now, further

This pattern, trigger, move data, notify someone, is the basis underneath most automations. Want to take it more seriously? Read how to self-host n8n so your data stays inside your own environment. Or add a smart step with AI in your n8n workflow.

[Case, to be filled in: describe a real workflow you built for a client or for yourself, with the concrete result. That makes this page more credible than any example could.]

Don't fancy tinkering yourself? We build your workflows and hand them over cleanly.