Prepare the spreadsheet

What to do in Google Sheets before connecting: create a spreadsheet, share it and copy its link

You do not need to create a Google Cloud project, enable an API or download a JSON key — the service account is already set up on the service side. All that is needed from you is the spreadsheet itself, access to it and its link.

Step 1. Create a spreadsheet

Open Google Sheets and create a new spreadsheet — or take the one you already work with. The spreadsheet name can be anything, the service does not check it.

Step 2. Copy the service account address

The address is shown in your account — this is the account you will share the spreadsheet with.

  1. Open API connection — the "API connection" item in the user menu (top right corner of your account).
  2. Find the "Google Sheets" card.
  3. In the "Service account" row, click the copy icon next to the address — the "Email copied" notification appears.
ScreenshotThe "Google Sheets" card on the "API connection" page in the "Not connected" state: the "Service account" row with the address and a copy button, the "Spreadsheet" row with the value "Not connected", and the "Connect" button in the card header.

Step 3. Share the spreadsheet with the "Editor" role

  1. Open your spreadsheet in the browser.
  2. Click "Share" in the upper right corner (in some versions of the Google interface this item is called "Sharing settings").
  3. Paste the copied service account address.
  4. Choose the "Editor" role.
  5. Click "Send".
The "Viewer" role is not enough: the service does not only read the spreadsheet, it also writes results into it. Until access is granted, the spreadsheet does not exist for the service at all — the connection test answers "Spreadsheet not found or not shared with the service account".
These same five steps are always at hand in your account: the "How?" button next to the service account address opens them in a window. The service shows that same window itself when it runs into missing access.

Step 4. Copy the spreadsheet link

The link is the address of the open spreadsheet from the browser address bar:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AbCdEfGhIjKlMnOpQrStUvWxYz/edit

Copy it in full — there is no need to pick the identifier out of the middle of the address, the service takes it itself.

The spreadsheet is ready. Next — Connecting the spreadsheet.