This presentation explores the lessons learned from pivoting a Data Carpentries workshop from in-person to online. Before the initial onslaught of tightened COVID-19 restrictions, Carpentries workshops worldwide were traditionally held in-person, facilitating a learning environment where personalized instruction was further enhanced by helpers who would streamline troubleshooting processes. Two instructors, one librarian and one Wildlife Biology PhD student, jumpstarted and co-taught the University of Montana’s first in-person Carpentries workshop focused on the R programming language during February 2020. Due to COVID-19 complications, a repeated workshop was postponed to the 2020 fall semester and was adapted for a fully online setting. These circumstances granted the instructors a unique opportunity to reflect upon and compare the effectiveness of facilitating Carpentries workshops for novice learners in a face-to-face environment versus a virtual modality.