How To Download Google Sheets Into Excel

If you often work with spreadsheets, you’re likely familiar with both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. They are both powerful tools for data management, calculation, and analysis. However, at times, you might need to switch between these platforms. One such scenario is downloading a Google Sheets file into an Excel format. This blog post provides a step-by-step guide on how to accomplish this task.

Step One: Open Your Google Sheets File

First, open your Google Sheets file. You can do this by navigating to sheets.google.com on your web browser and selecting the particular file you wish to download.

Step Two: Navigate to the File Menu

Once your Google Sheets file is open, locate the “File” option on the menu bar. It’s situated on the top-left corner of the page. Click on it to expand the dropdown menu.

Step Three: Download as Microsoft Excel

In the dropdown menu, you’ll see a ‘Download’ option. Hover over it, and a submenu will appear. Here, select ‘Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)’. This action will automatically download the Google Sheets file into Excel format into your computer’s default download location.

Step Four: Open the Downloaded File

Now, locate the downloaded file on your computer and open it. It should open in Microsoft Excel. You can now manipulate the file as required in Excel.

Code to Automate Downloads

If you have numerous sheets to download, manually doing so can be tedious. Fortunately, you can automate this process using Google Apps Script. Here’s a simple script that downloads an active sheet as an Excel file:

function downloadAsExcel(){
  var ss = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet();
  var url = 'https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/'+ss.getId()+'/export?format=xlsx';
  var options = {
    method : 'get',
    headers : {'Authorization' : 'Bearer ' + ScriptApp.getOAuthToken()}
  }
  var response = UrlFetchApp.fetch(url, options);
  DriveApp.createFile(response.getBlob()).setName(ss.getName()+".xlsx");
}

Remember, this code will require authorization to access your Google Drive and download files. Click on the Review Permissions button when it pops up, and grant the necessary permissions.

Conclusion

Downloading Google Sheets into Excel is a straightforward process, and automation makes it even more convenient for numerous files. We hope this guide simplifies the process for you, making your data management tasks easier and more efficient.