Import HTML tables into Google Sheets effortlessly. (2024)

“Getting information off the internet is like taking a drink from a firehose.” — Mitchell Kapor

The internet is flooded with data. However, getting that data in the right format is the real deal. It takes some amount of cleaning and filtering to bring the data into a format that is ideal for analysis. Last week I came across some pretty good tabular data sets on Wikipedia. As always, I copied the data and pasted it on the excel sheet. For most parts, it worked well, but there were few instances when the typical copy-paste methodology failed miserably:

  • When the table was typically long and spread across a complete webpage
  • When the data wasn’t static, i.e., it updated after regular intervals. So every time, there was a change in the original dataset, I had to fetch the dataset again.

For situations like these, simply copy-pasting wasn’t enough. Scraping was another option, but I was looking for something quick and easy and which didn’t involve a ton of code. It was then that I came across a convenient function in Google Sheets called IMPORTHTML, which is ideal for importing data from a table or list within an HTML page. In this article, I’ll describe the end to the end process of fetching tables( and lists) into google sheets.

Prior to extracting or importing data that hasn’t been curated by you make sure you have the necessary permissions. Also, this method works only if the data is publicly available, which means there shouldn’t be requirements for authorisation etc.

This article is part of a complete series on finding good datasets. Here are all the articles included in the series:

Part 1: Getting Datasets for Data Analysis tasks — Advanced Google Search

Part 2: Useful sites for finding datasets for Data Analysis tasks

Part 3: Creating custom image datasets for Deep Learning projects

Part 4: Import HTML tables into Google Sheets effortlessly

Import HTML tables into Google Sheets effortlessly. (2024)

FAQs

Import HTML tables into Google Sheets effortlessly.? ›

Import Website Data into Google Sheets

How do I get data from HTML to Google Sheets? ›

Once you open up the Google Sheet, go to a cell and type in the IMPORTHTML formula which will bring up the following. Here you start out by specifying the url of the database. After specifying the url of the database, you have to specify whether you want to import the table or import the list of tables on the website.

How often does Importhtml update Google Sheets? ›

According to google - the importhtml function refreshes once every hour when the spreadsheet is open. The document also says that if you delete and re-add cess or overwrite the cells with the same formula, this will trigger a refresh - which is probably why you are running the function in the first place.

What is the refresh rate of Importhtml? ›

Widgets powered by spreadsheets using the ImportHTML function refresh approx. every 15 minutes.

Can Google Sheets read HTML? ›

The Google Sheets IMPORTHTML function looks for a specific HTML table or list and copies the data out of it. You can use it to scrape texts within a table or list. An HTML table is defined by the <table> tag, while a list is defined by the <ul> (for unordered list) and <ol> (for ordered list) tags.

Can I import data from Web to Google Sheets? ›

The function IMPORTDATA(url) in Google Sheets is a built-in function that allows you to import data from a specified URL into your spreadsheet. It is a powerful feature that can fetch data from various sources such as web pages, XML feeds, CSV files, and more.

What is sheet monkey? ›

Sheet Monkey connects forms on any platform to Google Sheets. It's simple, reliable, and only takes seconds to set up. No backend required. Get Started for Free See how it works.

How do I use API in Google Sheets? ›

What Are the Steps to Integrate an API Into Google Sheets?
  1. Step 1: Open a New Sheet. ...
  2. Step 2: Go to the Apps Script Editor. ...
  3. Step 3: Name Your Project. ...
  4. Step 4: Add API Example Code. ...
  5. Step 5: Run Your Function. ...
  6. Step 6: Authorize Your Script To Import Data From API to Google Sheets.
Jul 26, 2023

How do I remove HTML formatting from Google Sheets? ›

How to remove Remove HTML from Google Sheet
  1. Select the cells that contain the HTML.
  2. From the Edit tab, click the Find and Replace option. ( ...
  3. In the Find field enter <(?:"[ ...
  4. Leave the Replace with field blank and select Search using regular expressions.
  5. Click on the Replace All button.
Jan 8, 2020

Does import HTML automatically update in Google Sheets? ›

To ensure users get fresh data while they keep their usage reasonable, IMPORTDATA, IMPORTHTML, and IMPORTXML share some rules: All three functions automatically check for updates every hour while the document is open, even if the formula and sheet don't change.

What is the difference between Importxml and Importhtml? ›

IMPORTXML: This function grabs structured data from web pages. It's great for pulling specific details like prices or headlines from websites. It can be used to monitor changes in competitors' websites by tracking updates in their HTML or XML data. IMPORTHTML: This one is for fetching tables or lists from web pages.

How do I automatically update Importhtml in Google Sheets? ›

Google Sheets IMPORTHTML Refresh
  1. Add formula =IMPORTHTML(“url? refresh=” & cell, query, index) ...
  2. Hide Google Sheets Column A. ...
  3. Open Google Sheets Apps Script. ...
  4. Paste the custom script to Apps Script. ...
  5. Add trigger to the function. ...
  6. Authorize the script. ...
  7. Run the code.

How do I refresh Importxml in Google Sheets? ›

IMPORTXML pulls data from your source URL only once. To refresh the data, you'll need to manually re-enter the formula or use Google Apps Script to write a function.

How often does ImportRange refresh Google Sheets? ›

Spreadsheet widgets powered by import functions, such as ImportRange and ImportData, automatically refresh around every 15 minutes. If this isn't often enough for your needs, you can set your own refresh interval by writing a script.

Does ImportRange automatically update? ›

When you use this function, data on the imported sheet will automatically update to reflect the data in the original spreadsheet, making it a useful way to reference up-to-date data from a separate Google Sheet without having to keep multiple spreadsheets open.

Can you import a table into Google Sheets? ›

First things first, go to the Google Sheets spreadsheet you want to target. Type in the IMPORTHTML function in the function bar. The function takes three parameters. The url of the website, the query which represents a table or list structure, and the index of the table.

How do I copy and paste data from a website to Google Sheets? ›

4 Ways to Import Data From a Website Into Google Sheets
  1. IMPORTDATA. You can use the IMPORTDATA function for simple data imports from online CSV or TSV files. ...
  2. IMPORTHTML. You can use the IMPORTHTML function to import data from tables and lists on a website. ...
  3. IMPORTXML. ...
  4. Use Google Sheets Add-Ons to Import Data.
Sep 5, 2023

How do I insert a table format in Google Sheets? ›

To insert a table, click on the “Insert” menu and select “Table.” A pop-up window will appear where you can choose the number of rows and columns you want in your table. You can also choose whether to include headers and how to format your table.

How do I import data from a database to Google Sheets? ›

Import SQL to Google Sheets (Apps Script Method)
  1. Get Access Credentials for the SQL Server. ...
  2. Open Google Apps Script. ...
  3. Copy The Custom Script to Import SQL to Google Sheets. ...
  4. Paste the Script to Apps Script. ...
  5. Set Access Credentials in the Script. ...
  6. Save and Rename Project. ...
  7. Click the Run Button and Authorize the Script.

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