Importing CSV, XLSX and GSheets files

It’s possible to bring in data that you’ve created elsewhere, but the process depends on what spreadsheet application you’re using.

• If you use another spreadsheet application, you can:

  • export a CSV file and import it into Rows
  • copy and paste your data directly into a Rows spreadsheet.
    
    

• If you’re a Google Sheets user and want to keep your data synchronized, you’re in luck: we have an integration for that.

Importing data from a CSV or XLSX file

You can easily import data from other tools to Rows by clicking Import in your workspace dashboard.

To import a CSV or XLSX file, follow these steps:

1. Open a workspace and click Import in the top-right of the screen.
   
   
2. In the dialog that appears, upload your CSV/XLSX file and select a destination folder.
   
   
3. (optional) Select a delimiter to indicate how your data is split. By default, Rows tries to automatically identify the right delimiter, so you can leave it set to automatic in most cases.
   If the imported data doesn't look correct, import it again and select the correct delimiter.
   
   
4. Wait for the import confirmation, then click Open to review your imported file.

Alternatively, you can import a CSV or XLSX file directly into an existing spreadsheet. Following these steps:

1. Click the dropdown arrow on the right of your spreadsheet's name. This will open a menu.
   
   
2. Select the "Import" option in this menu.
   
   
3. In the dialog that appears, upload your CSV/XLSX file and select a destination folder.
   
   
4. Leave the dropdown option "Insert new table(s)" so that the import happens directly in the current spreadsheet.
   
   
5. (optional) Select a delimiter to indicate how your data is split. By default, Rows tries to automatically identify the right delimiter, so you can leave it set to automatic in most cases.
   If the imported data doesn't look correct, import it again and select the correct delimiter.

Importing data directly from Google Sheets

The easiest way to get data from Google Sheets is to use a template called the Google Sheets data importer. This process has more steps than importing a CSV, but it's useful if you plan to keep using the Google Sheet as the source of truth. Once you have the template set up, it's easy to refresh the imported data in Rows.

If you haven’t done so already, follow the procedure for creating a spreadsheet from a template where you can learn how to set up the template and connect your Google account.

Here, we’re going to focus on using the template so we’ll assume you have it set up already.

To import data from Google Sheets, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Sheet that you want to import, select the sheet where your data is stored, and make a note of the URL.

❇️Each sheet has its own ID which you can see in the “gid=” part of the spreadsheet URL. It’s easy to mistakenly copy the spreadsheet URL with the wrong sheet ID which is why it’s worth double-checking that you’re on the right tab.

2. Make a note of the exact range where your data is stored. An easy shortcut to type “=” and select the exact range as in the following screenshot.

3. Head over to Rows and open the spreadsheet that you created from the Google Sheets data importer template.

4. Paste in the information that you noted in the previous steps.

   • In the Spreadsheet URL field, paste in the Google Sheets spreadsheet URL, making sure it contains the correct ID for the source sheet.
   • In the Cell Range field, paste in the cell range that you noted earlier.

5. Click Get Cells.
   In the Data table underneath, you should now see the data from your Google Sheet appear.

Note: Formulas in your source sheet won’t be retained, only the output values are imported. If the data in the Google Sheets has changed since you imported it, you can refresh the imported data by clicking Get Cells again.