To connect Excel to Google Sheets, you have three options. Google Sheets can open an Excel file from Drive and save your changes back to it, or make a separate Sheets copy. Excel can pull a Google Sheet in with Get Data, From Web, if you publish the sheet to the web as a CSV link, and it can refresh on a timer. Zapier can add and update rows between the two, if the Excel file is on OneDrive for Business. Where it stops: a converted copy doesn't stay in touch with the original, a published sheet can be read by anyone with the link, and Zapier loses track when someone sorts or deletes rows. AI agents keep both copies current and check that the numbers match.
What it takes to connect Excel to Google Sheets
Most companies end up with both. Finance keeps its workbooks in Excel. Sales, ops or a client shares a Google Sheet. Then the same numbers sit in two files, and someone copies them across each week by hand, or one file quietly falls behind.
So connected has to mean two things. When a number changes in one file, the other one shows it without a person retyping it. And both files keep their own shape, formulas and all, so nobody breaks the other team's sheet. Each option below does part of that. None of them does all of it.
Three ways to connect Google Sheets and Excel
Which one fits depends on which file is the main one, and which way the numbers need to go.
Open the Excel file in Google Sheets
- How it works
- Upload the .xlsx file to Google Drive and open it in Sheets. You can edit it and keep it as an Excel file, so your changes save back to the .xlsx. Or you can import its data, or convert it into a new Google Sheet.
- Good for
- A team that works in Google Sheets and gets one Excel file from someone else, or wants to move off Excel for good.
- Where it breaks
- Google says editing an Excel file this way works in Chrome only. A converted or imported copy is a separate file, so your Excel file doesn't change when the Sheet does. Google also says to stay in Excel for files over 20 million cells, some add-ons and rare chart types.
Get Data in Excel, from a published Google Sheet
- How it works
- In Google Sheets, use File, Share, Publish to web and publish the sheet as a CSV link. In Excel, use Data, Get Data, From Other Sources, From Web, and paste the link. Excel can then refresh the data when the file opens, and on a timer you set.
- Good for
- Someone who keeps the main numbers in Excel and needs to read a Google Sheet that another team keeps.
- Where it breaks
- It only goes one way, Google Sheet into Excel. Published means anyone with the link can see the data. People on Microsoft's Q&A forum report that a private Google Sheet can't be pulled in this way, and that the wrong kind of link downloads a file instead of making a connection that refreshes.
A Zapier zap
- How it works
- Zapier has Excel steps like New Row, Updated Row and Add Row, and Google Sheets steps like New or Updated Spreadsheet Row and Update Spreadsheet Row. You build each zap yourself.
- Good for
- One steady list, like new orders or leads, copied row by row from one file to the other.
- Where it breaks
- Zapier's Excel steps only work with files on OneDrive for Business, and table steps need the data set up as an Excel table. Zapier's help center says it tracks Google Sheets rows by row number, so sorting or deleting rows can make it miss rows or copy them twice.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read both files, copy the new and changed rows across on your schedule, and check that the totals in Excel and Google Sheets match. When something is off, they tell the person who owns the file.
- Good for
- Teams where a weekly report, a tracker or a client sheet lives in both programs and someone checks it by hand.
- Where it breaks
- Anything your rules keep for a person, like changing a formula another team built, goes to the file's owner in one message.
How to connect Google Sheets to Excel, step by step
These follow Google's and Microsoft's own guides. Open them for the screens.
- 1Upload the Excel file to Google Drive
Add the .xlsx file to Drive and open it with Google Sheets. Edit it as is if the Excel file should stay the main copy. Use File, Save as Google Sheets only if you mean to move the work into Sheets.
- 2Publish the Google Sheet as a CSV link
To read a Google Sheet from Excel, open it and go to File, Share, Publish to web. Publish only the tab you need, as comma-separated values, and leave Automatically republish when changes are made turned on.
- 3Add the link in Excel with Get Data
In Excel, go to Data, Get Data, From Other Sources, From Web, and paste the CSV link. Load the data into a new sheet.
- 4Set how often Excel refreshes
Go to Data, Queries & Connections, right-click the query and open Properties. On the Usage tab, set Refresh every 30 minutes, or the gap you want, and turn on Refresh data when opening the file.
- 5
Test one change
Change one number in the Google Sheet, wait a few minutes, refresh Excel and check that it came across. Do it again after anyone adds a column.
What still has to be done by hand between Excel and Google Sheets
None of the three keeps one file that both teams edit and trust. Google's own page says that when you convert or import an Excel file, your Excel file won't change, even as you change the Sheet. From that day on there are two copies, and someone has to know which one is right.
The Get Data route only reads. It brings a Google Sheet into Excel, but nothing goes back the other way, so a fix made in Excel is lost on the next refresh. Google warns that anyone with a published link can see the data, and a person on Microsoft's Q&A forum was told a private sheet can't be linked this way at all. Another forum thread shows the wrong link downloads a one-time file that never refreshes.
Zapier copies rows, not the work. Its help center says Google Sheets rows are tracked by row number, so when someone sorts the sheet or deletes a few rows, the zap can skip new rows or run on old ones again. Its Excel steps need the file on OneDrive for Business.
And nobody checks the numbers. When a total in Excel doesn't match the Google Sheet, finding the row that's off, and the person who changed it, is still a person's job.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish, in your own Excel and Google Sheets files. Your team talks to them in Slack or Teams.
The tracker is right when you open it.
- Pulls new deals, jobs and invoicesevery day
- Updates the rows in your trackersame day
- Flags rows no one has touchedevery Monday
Bad entries fixed before the report goes out.
- Checks sheets for blanks, repeats and odd numbersevery day
- Marks the rows that need a lookper row
- Tells the person who owns the sheetsame day
Your weekly numbers, filled in for you.
- Pulls sales and bookings into your sheetevery Monday
- Compares it to last weekevery Monday
- Sends the summary to your teamMonday morning
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own files and see only the sheets their job needs. Customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
How do I connect Google Sheets to Excel so it updates?
Publish the Google Sheet to the web as a CSV link, then add that link in Excel with Data, Get Data, From Web. In the query's Properties, set Refresh every 30 minutes, or the gap you want, and turn on Refresh data when opening the file. The data then comes into Excel on that schedule, one way only.
Can I edit an Excel file in Google Sheets without converting it?
Yes. Google says you can open an Excel file from Drive and edit it in Sheets, and your changes save in the original Excel format. Google says this works in Chrome only.
Does converting an Excel file to Google Sheets keep them connected?
No. Converting makes a copy. Google says your Excel file won't change when you change the Sheet, so the two files go their own ways from then on.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.
Sources
- support.google.com
- support.google.com
- learn.microsoft.com: can i link a google sheet to an excel using power
- learn.microsoft.com: solved google sheets to excel power query sheet wi
- support.microsoft.com: refresh an external data connection in excel 1524175f 777a 48fc 8fc7 c
- zapier.com: google sheets
- help.zapier.com: Google Sheets error Zap not triggering