How to create a direct link to your Google Sheets spreadsheet
To create a direct link to your spreadsheet, follow these steps:
- First, create a sharing link of your Google Sheet.
Note
You may need to enable link sharing first. You'll need to set it to any one of the following sharing permission levels:
On - Anyone with link can view
On - Anyone with link can edit
On - Public on the web can view
On - Public on the web can editTo enable sharing on your Google Sheet, follow these steps:
- Open your spreadsheet in Google Drive.
- Click the blue Share button in the top right hand corner to open the Share with others modal.
- If your file isn't shared already, click Get shareable link.
Otherwise click the dropdown to choose the access permissions and select More...
- In the popup window select either On - Anyone with link can view or On - Public on the web.
- Click Save.
- Back on the Share with others modal, click Copy link to copy your sharing link.
- Click Done to close the Share with others modal.
- Now to create the sharing link. We recommend using this link generator tool to receive a direct download link.
Enter your generated link from Google in the Enter Share Link field and click Generate. - Next we'll need to change the generated URL because this link will download in PDF format by default. Copy the generated URL and paste into a text editor.
- To make it download in
.xlsx
format, change the end of the URL from?format=pdf
to?format=xlsx
.Examples
Here's an example sharing link generated from Google Sheets:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gnNj6NFErrRY0NqEBVuYzPcxJ8hnFPzZ01QDeo8xAW4/edit?usp=sharing
Example URL generated by the tool (set to .pdf download by default):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gnNj6NFErrRY0NqEBVuYzPcxJ8hnFPzZ01QDeo8xAW4/export?format=pdf
Example final Geckoboard-friendly link in .xlsx download format:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gnNj6NFErrRY0NqEBVuYzPcxJ8hnFPzZ01QDeo8xAW4/export?format=xlsx
- Now you're ready to use the edited link in Geckoboard!
Hover your cursor over the dashboard square you would like to position your new widget and click the + button. - Search for Spreadsheets using the Search sources field.
Alternatively, you can also click the Spreadsheets button. - From the Choose File menu, click on the link icon.
- Copy and Paste your URL in the Link to file field.
- You can now continue updating your Google Sheet as usual and it will automatically sync with Geckoboard via the generated link.