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The whole Import window: pick the file, pick the worksheet, tidy it up (transpose, cut, merge, delete), append or replace, and how columns line up by name. Multi-sheet merging and empty headers are covered too.
Opening the Import window
Three places open the same Import window; only where the result lands differs:
| Where you click | Result |
|---|---|
| Upload file on the home page, or at the bottom of the sidebar | A new table |
| Import → Upload file in a table's toolbar | Into that table |
| New from blank → New Table, then import | Same, starting from an empty table |
Formats: .xlsx, .xls, .csv, .xlsm. The upload area reads Choose a Local File / CtrlV, so you can also press Cmd+V (Ctrl+V on Windows) to paste a block straight in. Importing has no row limit, on the free version too.
Step 1: the file and the worksheet
After choosing a file you land in a preview. A workbook with several worksheets gets a picker at the top and imports one at a time; tick Merge and import into one Table to stack several by row (matching column names line up), or import them one after another.
Step 2: tidy it up (skippable)
The row of tools above the preview turns a table meant for people into a table meant for machines:
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Transpose Data | Flips the whole sheet. For sources shaped "one metric per row, one month per column" |
| Cut | Keep only a selected region — the fastest way to drop banner titles, notes and total rows |
| Merge Rows / Merge Fields | Joins selected rows (or fields) into one. Two header rows become one |
| Delete Row / Delete Field | Removes the selected rows or columns |
| Auto Merge Rows | With empty headers detected, stitches the rows above into a single header |
| Undo / Redo | Every tidy-up step is reversible |
The footer shows Columns to Import and Rows to Import live — check them before pressing Import. The note beside them is the preview's limit and the table's ceiling: the preview renders only the first N rows and columns (selecting the last row or column selects all of them), and a table holds at most 1,000 columns; rows are unlimited.
The first row is always the header. A file starting with a merged banner triggers Empty headers detected — "There are empty headers in this table, do you want to try to auto merge?" — and Auto merge and import usually handles it. Otherwise use Cut to remove the title rows. Empty headers become "Untitled"; rename them afterwards.
Step 3: append or replace
Importing into an existing table offers two modes:
- Append Data — new rows added, existing data untouched. The one for "another batch every month".
- Replace Existing Data — clears the table, then writes this batch. For sources that are always the full set.
A new table skips this step.
Columns line up by name
When appending, the file's columns map to the table's by name, not by position. Columns only the file has are skipped; columns only the table has are left empty. So column names are the one thing to get right — and Template in the toolbar gives you an empty Excel with just the headers, which makes that impossible to get wrong. See Manual entry.
After it lands
- A new table takes the file's name. Importing into an existing table asks Import and Rename Table As — Import and Rename takes the file's name, Import keeps the current one.
- Column types are guessed once from the contents; the icon before each header shows the result. An amount column showing
Tneeds Field Type changed to Numeric, or nothing will sum. See Field types. - Excel formulas arrive as values. Hyperlinks, colours and comments are dropped. To make the calculation happen again, rebuild it as a formula column.
Next
- Another batch every month: Import → Append Data. To stop the same rows arriving twice, set a primary key first.
- Not a file: paste, an image, JSON, or a live data connection.
- It came in wrong: when the import looks wrong.