Do you have data in one sheet of your Google Sheets and want to use it in another sheet? Copying and pasting may seem like the obvious solution, but it’s time-consuming and prone to human error. Luckily, there’s a better option: linking your spreadsheet cells to maintain data consistency across sheets.
Copying Cells from One Sheet to Another with an Exclamation Point
To copy data from one sheet to another, all you need is the name of the source sheet and the cell you want to copy. Then, link them together using an exclamation point.
- Open or create a new sheet in Google Sheets.
- Select the cell where you want to import the data.
- Type “=” followed immediately by the name of your source sheet, an exclamation point, and the name of the cell you want to copy. For example, “=Sheet1!A2”.
Here’s a detailed example:
Let’s say your source sheet is named “Sheet1” and you need to copy data from cell A2 to another sheet named “Sheet2”. In the “Sheet2” sheet, click on the desired cell, type “=Sheet1!A2”, and the data from cell A2 in the source sheet will appear.
Or, there’s an even simpler option.
- Type “=” in the cell where you want to reference data from other sheets.
- Switch to the source sheet.
- Click on the cell you want to copy.
- Press Enter, and the function will automatically fill in.
Now, if you make changes to the original cell that was copied, the data will automatically update in every sheet where that cell is referenced.
Need to calculate values using data from your source cell? Just type the rest of your function normally. For example, if Sheet1!B3 has the value 3 and you type =Sheet1!B3*3, you’ll get the expected result of 9 in your new cell.
Connecting Sheets in Different Spreadsheets
Do you have data in two different spreadsheets that you want to copy to a new sheet? The best option is to use Zapier workflows for Google Sheets to connect your sheets. With these Zaps (that’s what we call our pre-built workflows), Zapier can monitor new or updated data in your source cells and automatically copy them to the desired spreadsheet.
Now, with your linked data, you can stop manually copying and pasting information and have peace of mind knowing that your data is up to date and consistent across every sheet.
