How to convert Google Sheets to Excel automatically

Do you routinely need to convert Google Sheets files to Excel? Often find yourself copy-pasting data from one file format to the other?

A few years ago, nearly everyone used Excel to crunch their numbers and store their company’s data. But now that Google Sheets is growing in popularity, it’s becoming more common to work across both Microsoft and Google platforms.

Everyone has their preferred spreadsheet format, so even if you use Google Sheets, it’s pretty likely that you’ll work with colleagues, clients, suppliers, or customers who use Excel. For these reasons, many people need a simple way to export data in Google Sheets to Excel.

Here I’ll take you through the steps on how to transfer data from Google Sheets directly into Excel.

Firstly I’ll show you how to export Sheets to Excel manually, which works fine for occasional file transfers.

I’ll also show you how to convert Sheets to Excel automatically using Sheetgo, the no-code tool for spreadsheets.

An automatic system is better if you frequently work with both Google Sheets and Excel, and need a seamless way to move data back and forth between the two file formats. Read the steps here.

How to convert Google Sheets to Excel automatically

1. The manual method
2. The automated method
3. How to convert Google Sheets to Excel automatically

Working with Sheets and Excel

Google Sheets is brilliant for real-time collaboration. It’s simple to share a spreadsheet, and anyone can access their data from anywhere, at any time. As a bonus, Google Sheets is free with a personal Google account.

Nonetheless, Microsoft Excel still has its die-hard fans — and for good reason. Many heavy spreadsheet users like Excel’s advanced functionality and robust data processing power. In some cases, employers insist on Excel for security or standardization reasons.

If you’re undecided on which software to use, check out our Google Sheets vs Excel comparison here.

Switching back and forth between the two file formats takes time and mistakes happen along the way.

As it’s cloud-based, Google Sheets automatically saves all changes. This means that whenever you open the file, you will always see the latest data. If you need to ensure that this information is regularly updated in an Excel file, manually saving new versions is time-consuming and unreliable.

You can solve these problems by connecting your Google Sheets to Excel. This allows you to transfer Google Sheets to Excel automatically, with your data syncing at regular intervals.

How to export Google Sheets to Excel manually

Converting each file manually is straightforward from inside a spreadsheet.

• Open the Google Sheets file you want to export.
• Go to File > Download  > Microsoft Excel (xlsx.)
• The Excel file downloads onto your computer automatically.

Pretty simple? Yes, and this method works well for ad-hoc file conversions.

But every time you want to update the data in the Excel file with fresh information from Google Sheets, you’ll need to repeat the process. Then you’ll need to manually save the file to the correct folder, or email a copy to the right colleague.

Why sync Google Sheets to Excel? The benefits of automation

To solve these problems you can connect Google Sheets to Excel using Sheetgo using Sheetgo.

This enables you to:

• Sync Google Sheets to Excel
• Export Google Sheets to Excel automatically
• Eliminate routine manual work —no downloads or saving files
• Ensure Excel files are always up-to-date
• Transfer selected data from Sheets to Excel
• Move data back and forth between Google Sheets and Excel
• Prevent file conversion errors
• Share data cross-cloud, without sharing the same spreadsheet
• Send data to automated dashboards and reports

How to convert Google Sheets to Excel automatically

Sheetgo is a no-code automation platform that allows you to transfer data between different spreadsheet formats automatically.

In a few clicks, you can link Google Sheets to Excel and send data from one spreadsheet to the other.

Whenever you make changes to the data in the Google Sheets file, it will be updated in the connected Excel file.

Follow the steps below to get started:

Step 1: Open Sheetgo

Click on the blue button below to open Sheetgo.

As you can see, you have the option to sign in with your Microsoft, Google, or Dropbox account. You can connect files stored on any of those cloud storage platforms.

In the following example, I’ll show you how to sync a Google Sheets file stored in Google Drive to an Excel file stored in OneDrive.

Step 2: Select your Google Sheets file

Inside Sheetgo, click on New workflow to get started. Then, click on Create a connection to start building your Google Sheets to Excel conversion system.

• Give your Untitled workflow a name at the top of the screen. Here I’ll call it Google Sheets to Excel.
• Under Source, click on Select file.

Select the Google Sheets that you want to export data from.

Under File tab, make sure to select the correct source tab (sheet) from the dropdown menu if your spreadsheet contains multiple tabs.

Step 3: Select a data processor

When you have selected your Google Sheets source file and tab, scroll down and click the Next step button.

Now you can select a data processor. 

Select Filter if you want to transfer filtered data from Google Sheets to Excel.

Select Split if you want to split data into multiple Excel sheets.

When you select multiple source files, you also have the option to merge data from these Google Sheets to a single Excel spreadsheet. 

In this case, as we only want to transfer data from Google Sheets to Excel, click Skip to move on to the next step.

Step 4: Select your Excel file

After selecting your data processor, you need to choose your destination file.

Select Excel as your file type.

You can either ask Sheetgo to create a new file or choose an existing file.

I will ask Sheetgo to create a new Excel file. 

Sheetgo will transfer your Google Sheets data to a new worksheet in the destination Excel file.

Now you can name your new file and the file tab.

Step 5: Create the connection

Click on the blue Finish and save button to create the connection. Sheetgo will now convert Google Sheets to Excel.

Sheetgo transfers the data from the selected source tab in your Google Sheets file to the new tab in your destination Excel file.

Click on Workflow to see how your files are connected.

Check out your imported data

From the Workflow or Files menu, double-click on the Excel file to open it in a new tab in your browser.

You will see that it contains a new tab (worksheet) with the imported data from Google Sheets.

Step 6: Update the connection to sync the files

Now that you have created the connection, you can update it at any time.

Open Sheetgo, select your workflow from the list on the left, and click Run on the menu bar.

This will refresh the data in the destination Excel file with the latest information from the Google Sheets source file.

Step 6: Automate the workflow

To make sure you always have the latest data in your Excel file, you can automate your Google Sheets to Excel connection.

• Open the workflow inside Sheetgo and click Automate on the menu bar.
• Schedule automatic updates as often as you need them.

Choose how frequently, and at what times of the day or week, you want Sheetgo to update the connection.

Your automated Google Sheets to Excel converter is up and running

That’s how you convert Google Sheets to Excel, syncing the two spreadsheets so that your Excel files automatically update when someone makes changes to Google Sheets.

Want to do this the other way around? Read how to upload Excel to Google Sheets automatically.

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