Import, export and print sheets

Bring in CSV, TSV, text, Excel, OpenDocument files or a Google Sheets link, export to any of them, and print or save a sheet as a PDF.

Sheets reads the files your team already has and gives you back clean files and print-ready PDFs — no copying and pasting between tools.

Before you start: importing into a workbook needs permission to edit it (Can edit on Sheets). Importing a whole new workbook needs Full control. Exporting and printing only need Can view.

Import a whole workbook

  1. Open Sheets and choose Import spreadsheet.
  2. Pick an Excel (.xlsx) or OpenDocument (.ods) file.
  3. The file opens as a new workbook with one sheet per tab. Formulas Sheets understands stay live; any other formula keeps the value the file had.

Add a sheet from a file

  1. Open the workbook.
  2. In the sheet strip at the bottom, choose Import → From a file (.csv, .tsv, .txt)….
  3. Pick the file. It arrives as a new sheet, with the first row as column names.

Sheets works out the separator of a .txt file for you — tabs, commas, semicolons or pipes.

Add a sheet from Google Sheets

  1. In Google Sheets, choose Share → General access → Anyone with the link, then copy the link. Open the tab you want first — the link points at it.
  2. In Sheets, choose Import → From a Google Sheets link….
  3. Paste the link into Sheet link and choose Import.

The tab's current values arrive as a new sheet. It's a copy: later changes in Google Sheets don't flow in — import again to refresh.

Export

  • Whole workbook: in the top bar choose Export → Excel workbook (.xlsx) or OpenDocument spreadsheet (.ods). PDF of this sheet… in the same menu opens the print window below.
  • One sheet: open the sheet's menu in the bottom strip and choose Export CSV or Export TSV.

The Print / PDF window with a selection chosen, A4 landscape and all three options ticked

  1. Choose Print in the top bar, or press Ctrl+P (⌘P on a Mac). To print part of a sheet, select the cells first and right-click → Print selection….
  2. Choose Whole sheet or Selection, the Paper size (A4 or Letter) and Orientation.
  3. Tick what you want: Fit all columns on one page, Show gridlines, Repeat the first row on every page.
  4. Choose Print to send it to your printer, Download PDF to save the file, or Save to Drive to keep a copy in the Exports folder of your My Drive.

The PDF shows your cells the way the sheet does: number and date formats, currency, bold and italic, text and fill colours, alignment and merged cells. Every page is numbered.

Good to know

  • Old Excel files (.xls) can't be imported. Open them in Excel or LibreOffice and save as .xlsx or .ods first.
  • A Google Sheets link must be shared with anyone who has the link (or published to the web). A private sheet is refused.
  • A linked Google sheet can be up to 20 MB; files follow your plan's row limit per sheet.
  • An .ods export carries values and merged cells; formula cells carry their result. Use .xlsx to keep formulas.
  • A printout leaves out hidden columns, cell borders, underline and strikethrough, and conditional colours. Cells merged down several rows print as one cell on the top row.
  • Without Fit all columns on one page, columns that don't fit continue on extra pages, after all the rows of the first columns.
  • Up to 10,000 rows print at once — select a smaller range for bigger sheets.