Excel to Sheets

Add a Sheets desktop shortcut (Windows only)

If you’re using Microsoft Windows, you can add a shortcut to Sheets on your desktop.

Go to your desktop and right-click.
Choose NewShortcut.
For the location, enter https://sheets.google.com.
(Optional) To name your shortcut, enter a name.
Click Finish.

Work offline (Chrome only)

When you turn on offline access, your most recent files are automatically saved for offline use.

Install the Google Docs Offline extension.
In Drive, click Settings Settings.
In the Offline section, check the Create, open and edit your recent Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files on this device while offline box.
Click Done.
Right-click a file and turn on Available offline.

To learn how to access files offline from your desktop or mobile, see Access stored Drive files without the internet.

Edit Excel files in Sheets

Open an Excel file from Drive and edit it in Sheets. Any changes you make are saved in the original Excel format.

Chrome Browser only

Make sure the Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides extension is not installed:
- Open Chrome Browser and in the top-right corner, click MoreMore ToolsExtensions.
- If you see the Office Editing for Docs, Sheets, & Slides extension, click Remove.
In Drive, double-click an Excel file.
A preview of your file opens.
At the top, click Open with Google Sheets.

You can now edit, share, view version history, collaborate in real-time with others, and more. All changes you make are saved to the original Microsoft Office file.

Import Excel data into Sheets

You can import data from an Excel file to a new (or existing) Sheets file. Your Excel file won’t be changed, even as you change the Sheets file.

In Sheets, create a new or open an existing spreadsheet.
Click FileImport.
Choose the Excel file and click Select.
Choose an import option:
- Create new spreadsheet
- Insert new sheet(s)
- Replace spreadsheet
Click Import data.
If prompted, click Open now.

Convert Excel files to Sheets

Instead of importing data, you can convert an Excel file to Sheets and keep working on it in Sheets. Your Excel file won’t be changed.

Open Driveand double-click an Excel file.
A preview of your file opens.
At the top, click Open with Google Sheets.
Click FileSave as Google Sheets.

To automatically convert all future uploads of Office files to Google Sheets:

In Drive, at the top, click Settings Settings.
Next to Convert uploads, turn on Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format.
Note: Previously uploaded files will not be converted.

In Drive, you’ll see the Excel file and the new Sheets file. You can keep the Excel file or delete it. If you keep the Excel file, to avoid confusion, you can rename it to something like [Archived] My doc.xls.

Share a copy of a Sheets file in Excel format

You can work on a spreadsheet in Sheets and then send a copy by email as an Excel file (or a PDF).

In Sheets, open the file.
Click FileEmail as attachment.
Under Attach as, choose Microsoft Excel.
Enter the email address, subject, and message.
(Optional) Check the Send a copy to myself box.
Click Send.

You can also download a copy of the Sheets file in Excel, PDF, CSV, ODS, or other formats.

In Sheets, click FileDownload as.
Select the file format you want to download.

Switch to an earlier version or name a version

If you own the spreadsheet or have edit access to it, you can see past versions and restore them.

Sheets: See versions or restore a version:

Select FileVersion historySee version history.
(Optional) To see only named versions in the list, click Only show named versions.
Click a timestamp to see a previous version of the file.

Below the timestamp, you’ll see:
- The names of anyone who edited the document.
- A color next to each person’s name. The edits they made appear in that color.
(Optional) To make the version the active version, click Restore this version.

Name a version: