Osman Goni Ridwan
Excel and Google Sheets are the most popular spreadsheet application now. Both have some similarities and differences. Suppose, you prefer to work in Excel but you need to send your file to someone who is used to working in Google Sheets or maybe your Excel subscription is expired or not working but you have an urgency to work on that file, then you must have to convert the Excel file to Google Sheets.
Apart from that, there are some most common issues related to converting Excel to Google Sheets. If you don’t know that then you may face some difficulties.
But no worries, you have come to the right place if you are looking for the answer or some unique tips about how to convert Excel sheet to google sheets and answers for related issues. There are 3 ways to convert an Excel sheet to google sheets. This article will walk you through each and every step with appropriate examples. As a result, you can use them easily for your purpose. Let’s move on to the article’s main discussion.
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How to Convert Excel Sheet to Google Sheets: 3 Different Approaches
In this section, I will show you 3 quick and easy methods of how to convert excel sheet to google sheets on the Windows operating system. This article contains detailed explanations with clear illustrations for everything. I have used the Microsoft 365 version here. However, you may use any other version depending on your availability. Please leave a comment if any part of this article does not work in your version.
1. Use Import Menu to Convert Excel Sheet to Google Sheets
In this method, you will know about how to convert Excel sheet to google sheets by using the import option. You can import an Excel file in Google Sheets to convert that into a sheet.
- First, go to the following link to open Google Sheets webpage:
- Then, click on the Blank page option to open a blank sheet.
- Now, click on the File tab on the left-top corner of the blank sheet.
- Here, you will a list of options. Then click on the Open or Import option to open an Excel file from the local storage.
- There will open a window named Import File -> select Upload option.
- Drag the Excel file from the local folder to the box in the window or click on “Select a file from your device” to select the Excel file by going to the folder.
- After selecting or opening the Excel file from the local storage, there will appear a new window.
- Here, click on the Import Data tab.
- Thus, you can easily open and convert an Excel file to Google Sheets.
Things Lost While Converting Excel Files to Google Sheets:
Some things in the Excel file will not work after converting to Google Sheets are:
- Macros and VBA Codes
- Interactive Controls
- Charts, Split Worksheets, Linked Shapes.
Excel File Formats That Are Compatible with Google Sheets
The supported formats of Excel files are as follows:
Read More: How to Import Data from Excel to Google Sheets (2 Easy Ways)
2. Upload Excel File to Google Drive and Then Open to Convert Excel Sheet
Alternatively, you can upload the Excel file to Google Drive and open it to convert it to Google Sheets.
- Go to your Google Drive using the following link and log in to your Google Account:
- Then, click on the New button on the left top corner of the Webpage.
- Here, click on the File upload option.
- Go to the file location and select it to open.
- Thus, you have opened an Excel file in Google Sheets but still, this file has an extension as .xlsx.
Read More: How to Open Password Protected Excel File in Google Sheets
3. Upload Excel File and Save as Google Sheets to Convert Excel Sheet
I you want to know how to convert Excel sheet to google sheets? You can upload an Excel file in Google Sheets then you can save it.
- Open an Excel in Google Sheets >> Go to the File tab >> Select the Save as Google Sheets option.
- Thus, you can easily open and save an Excel file as Google Sheets.
Read More: How to Sync Excel to Google Sheets (with Simple Steps)
When and Why to Convert Excel Sheet to Google Sheets?
- While your Microsoft Office subscription is at the end and you have no way to re-subscribe right now then you can convert your Excel file to Google Sheets to continue your work as it is fully free.
- Excel has a lot of functionalities and that’s why a beginner who received an Excel file and is not used to Excel may find it difficult. As Google Sheets is mostly inspired by Excel and has a neat and clean interface although contains fewer features compared to Excel, someone can feel comfortable working in Google Sheets.
- When you are a desktop user and sometimes you need your Excel files in remote places then it’s better to convert and work in Google Sheets, it is saved in Google Drive so you can access it from anywhere if you just get access to the internet.
- When your computer has a limitation of RAM and internal space then instead of using Excel you can use Google Sheets as it is a web-based platform. You don’t need any dedicated software to run it, just your regular browser is enough.
- If you need to work with some other collaborators live then it’s not possible in the earlier version of Excel. But you can do it easily in Google Sheets. The most amazing part is you can chat too.
- When Google Sheets bring out an update all users get it at the same time, there’s no hassle of installation. While you have to update Excel by installing the updated Microsoft Office. So literally you have no headache of versions or installation process.
- There is quite less chance of losing data in Google Sheets because it automatically saves data in Google Drive.
- Google Sheets has the Apps Script feature run by Java Script which is more updated than VBA, also you can use API that will give you more access to your data.
How Can We Save an Excel File as a Google Sheet in Google Drive Automatically
You can automate the conversion of Excel files to Google Sheets while uploading the Excel file to Google Drive.
- Go to the Google drive webpage and click on the Settings icon >> Click on the Settings option.
- In the Settings window, go to the General tab.
- Here, mark the box saying ”Convert uploaded files Google Docs editor format”.
- Then, press the Done button.
- Now, after uploading an Excel file to Google Drive, it will automatically be updated as Google Sheets.
How to Convert a Google Sheets File to Excel
While you are learning to convert an Excel sheet to Google Sheets, you may want to learn how to convert a Google Sheets file to Excel too. The process is pretty simple, we’ll cover it here in this section.
- Open your Google Sheets file and click File > Download > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx).
- After completing the download, you will get the converted Excel file.
Issues You May Face While Converting Large Excel File to Google Sheets
While converting an Excel file to Google Sheets, you may face a problem that it is saying “This worksheet is too large to import” in Google Sheets.
There are some limits to Google Sheets while importing data from an Excel file.
- You can import a maximum of 10 million cells or 18,278 columns from an Excel old CSV file.
- Google Sheets has fewer columns and rows than Excel, there are about 1000 rows and columns.
- If any cell in the Excel file contains more than 50,000 characters, will be removed.
- You can import an Excel file of 5MB highest in Google Sheets.
Solution
- Split the Excel file and import them individually.
- If the dataset is very smaller than the limit but still says it is too large then check whether there are any unnecessary cells at the end of the worksheet or not. If there is, then remove those cell values. Finally, you know how to convert Excel sheet to Google Sheets. You can solve the issue easily.
- If you have an Excel file of more than 5MB, then delete unwanted cells or split your dataset to minimize size.
Read More: Pros and Cons of Google Sheets vs Excel – Which Will Be Better?
Most Common Compatibility Issues When Converting Excel Sheet to Google Sheets
Although Google Sheets has a clean and easy user interface, there are some lackings too. It contains fewer functionalities compared to Excel. So when you have the intention to convert an Excel file to Google Sheets, you might keep in mind the compatibility issues that occur frequently. That will rescue you from any unwanted functionality loss. Now we’ll introduce the most common issues while converting Excel sheet to Google Sheets.
- PowerPivot, Power Query, or other Data Model features of Excel are not available in Google Sheets.
- If you have links to other external workbooks in your Excel workbook then you will lose them after converting to Google Sheets.
- If your Excel file remains password-protected then Google Sheets can’t import it.
- If you have VBA Macros in your workbook then you will lose them after converting because Google Sheets doesn’t support VBA. However, Google Sheets has the Apps Script feature so you can rewrite the codes in JavaScript
So when you aim to convert an Excel sheet to Google Sheets try to avoid the above issues. Otherwise, you will face some unwanted moments.
1. Functions of Google Sheets That Don’t Work in Excel
The following functions of Google Sheets don’t work in Excel, so try to avoid them while you have plan to convert to Excel or share with an Excel user.
- UPLUS Function
- UNIQUE Function
- UNARY_PERCENT Function
- UMINUS Function
- TO_TEXT Function
- TO_PERCENT Function
- TO_DOLLARS Function
- TO_DATE Function
- SPLIT Function
- SPARKLINE Function
- SORT Function
- QUERY Function
- POW Function
- MULTIPLY Function
- MINUS Function
- LTE Function
- LT Function
- JOIN Function
- IMPORTXML Function
- IMPORTRANGE Function
- IMPORTHTML Function
- IMPORTFEED Function
- IMPORTDATA Function
- IMAGE Function
- GTE Function
- GT Function
- GoogleTRANSLATE Function
- GoogleTOURNAMENT Function
- GoogleFINANCE Function
- FILTER Function
- EQ Function
- DIVIDE Function
- DETECTLANGUAGE Function
- COUNTUNIQUE Function
- CONTINUE Function
- CONCAT Function
- ARRAYFORMULA Function
- ADD Function
2. Changes That Happen after Converting Excel File to Google Sheets
After converting the Excel sheet to Google Sheets you may come across some unwanted changes of functions or missing some other functionalities too. You can face the following issues:
- Change of Conditional formatting.
- Missing VBA Macros.
- Change or loss of interactive controls.
- Worksheets may split.
- Missing some certain charts.
So while you are sharing or sending an important Excel file to a Google Sheets user, you should check out these issues or you should make him aware of this that some changes may happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do All Excel Formulas Work in Google Sheets?
Unfortunately not, all Excel formulas don’t work in Google Sheets. But the good news is Google Sheets is continuously updating and you will get a similar type of function for a specific task and that will return the same result. All you just need to do is google it.
2. How to Convert Excel files to Google Sheets Without Losing Formatting?
While importing or opening Excel files in Google Sheets by following the above three methods, no worries, you won’t lose any format, all the formats will remain the same. And you don’t need to take any extra steps or precautions to do it.
3. How to Sync Excel to Google Sheets?
There is an amazing way to sync Excel sheets to Google Sheets, that’s a pretty lengthy process though. But you can follow the below article to learn it in an easy way:
How to Sync Excel to Google Sheets (with Simple Steps)
4. Can You Convert .xlsx File to Google Sheets?
Yes, of course, you can convert any .xlsx file to Google Sheets by uploading it using the Import option from the File menu of Google Sheets.
5. Can I Import Excel to Google Sheets Automatically?
First, save the Excel file in your Google Drive. Then from the General settings tab in Google Drive and mark Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format option in the Convert uploads tab.
6. How to Google Open .xlsx Files in Google Sheets?
Yes, by clicking File > Open > Upload in Google Sheets you can open the .xlsx file anytime.
7. How to Convert Google Sheets to Excel with Formulas?
Just download the Google Sheets file as an Excel (.xlsx) file and it will be converted with formulas, but you may get some functions missing as we mentioned before.
8. How Do I Convert Excel to Google Sheets on Android?
Open the Sheets app on your Android phone, click on the Folder icon from the upper section, then select Device Storage, next navigate and select the Excel file to convert.
Conclusion
In this article, you have found how to convert Excel sheet to Google Sheets. We covered all possible methods and all the related issues of converting. So we hope you found this article helpful and if you properly go through this article, you won’t face any difficulties further. You can visit our website, ExcelDemy to get more Excel-related content. Please leave comments, suggestions, or queries if you have any in the comment section below.
