How to Sync Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets with Unito
This guide will show you how to sync Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets automatically with Unito’s 2-way no-code integration for spreadsheets.
Why sync Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets with Unito?
There are a wide variety of business use cases for any team that relies on spreadsheets, including: marketing agencies, freelance entrepreneurs, consultants, professional service providers, sales teams and others. This automation solution could be used to avoid sending vendors PDFs which quickly become obsolete; oversee budget or resource management; ensure billable hours and costs are on par with forecasts as a project progresses; sync records such as contact or client information to a single spreadsheet; etc.
Before you sync Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets:
- Make sure you have an account in both tools with the right permissions to access and modify data.
- Install the Unito add-on for Microsoft Excel Online and Google Sheets. This walkthrough includes instructions for both, or you can follow the links above.
- Make sure you have header rows in each spreadsheet to clearly identify the data in your columns. If you want to filter out specific rows with Unito, we recommend adding a column with the header row “sync”. This will be explained in our rules section below.
Contents
Feel free to skip ahead if you’ve already completed some of the steps below:
Step 1. Prepare your spreadsheets with header rows
Step 2. Install the Microsoft Excel Add-in
Step 3. Install the Google Sheets Add-on
Step 4. Connect Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets with Unito
Step 5. Set flow direction between Excel and Google Sheets
Step 6. Set rules between your spreadsheets
Step 7. Select field mappings based on header rows
Step 1. Add header rows to your spreadsheets
When you sync row data between spreadsheets, those rows will be matched to specific columns. You’ll need to make sure the first row in both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are headers so Unito knows what counts as a field and what doesn’t. If you don’t know how to categorize the data you want synced, you can use this Google Sheets template to get started.
Step 2. Install the Unito add-on to your Google Workspace
Go to docs.google.com and open up your spreadsheet. At the top of your Google Sheet, click Extensions, then Add-ons, and select Get add-ons. Search for “Unito for Google Sheets” and add it to your workspace by following the on-screen instructions.
Step 3. Install the Unito add-in for Microsoft Excel
Visit www.office.com and open Excel Online. Then, click Insert at the top of your spreadsheet and select Add-ins on the right-hand side.
Select store, then search for Unito for Excel and click add. Follow the on-screen instructions to add Unito to your Microsoft workspace. Once the add-in is installed, click Insert the two columns in this sheet.
Step 4. Connect Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets with Unito
Navigate to the Unito App and select +Create Flow. On the next screen, select Start Here to connect Microsoft Excel Online and Google Sheets. We’ll begin our demo with Google Sheets on the left, and Microsoft Excel on the right. You’ll need to specify which account and sheet you want to sync with Unito.
Step 5. Set flow direction between Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets
Flow direction determines how new rows are created but not modified in your spreadsheets. So if we choose a 1-way flow to Excel, that would mean adding any new rows in Google Sheets would add identical rows to your Excel spreadsheet, but not the other way around.
Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction.
Step 6. Set up rules to sync spreadsheets
Rules determine which triggers cause rows to be created in your other spreadsheet tool. You can use rules to filter out unwanted rows from syncing. To do so, follow the steps below. Otherwise, you can simply select confirm and proceed to field mappings.
To add a filter to your spreadsheet sync:
In your source tool(s), add a column in your header row labeled “sync” if you haven’t already done so.
In Unito, select Add a new trigger, then scroll down and click sync, then set it to any value.
We recommend adding a drop-down menu to your sync column with only two options: yes or ‘ since apostrophes ( ‘ ) count as empty values. The method for doing so is similar in both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. In each spreadsheet, select data -> data validation, then list and add your two values separated by a comma.
Step 7. Select field mappings based on header rows
Similarly to Step 2, we can give individual field mappings their own flow direction. These allow us to decide exactly which rows will sync between Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. The options are based on your header row names. Each field can be synced one-way — from either tool to the other — or bidirectionally.
If you select Auto-map, Unito will pre-populate a list of suggested field mappings which you can then adjust. If you know exactly how you want your fields mapped, Start from scratch.
If you choose a one-way field sync, only the changes made to your source field will appear in the destination field. With a two-way field sync, any change in either spreadsheet will appear in the other for the specified field.
Click Select a field for each tool, and find the appropriate field to map.
You could set a one-way flow for certain fields so that only changes in the source spreadsheet affect the other. You might find this useful if you needed to provide an external contact with an update in their spreadsheet, but not allow their changes to affect yours.
Click Confirm when you’re satisfied with your field mappings to proceed.
Find out more about setting field mappings.
Step 8. Save and close to launch your flow between Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel
And that’s it! Follow the remaining instructions to complete your flow and it should start syncing momentarily. Congratulations!
If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will now add rows in either Google Sheets and/or Microsoft Excel based on rows added in the other.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.
What’s next?
- Learn how to duplicate this flow to suit other use cases you may have in mind.
- Read our Microsoft Excel primer and Google Sheets primer to better understand each integration’s capabilities and limitations.
- Connect Google Sheets to HubSpot to streamline sales reporting.
- Try syncing Google Calendar to Trello, Asana, or Notion.