How to Migrate Your Team From Excel to Google Sheets

Moving your team from Excel to Google Sheets can feel overwhelming, but with the right plan it doesn't have to be. Whether you're driven by real-time collaboration, lower licensing costs, or cloud-first IT policies, knowing how to migrate Excel to Google Sheets properly prevents lost data, broken formulas, and frustrated teammates. This guide walks you through a practical four-step migration plus a week-by-week timeline your team can actually follow.

Key Takeaways:A structured 4-week plan prevents data loss and team resistance during migrationVBA macros do not run in Sheets — audit before you convert anythingGoogle Sheets has a 10 million cell limit; Excel supports 17 billion+SmoothSheet handles large CSV/Excel imports that would crash a browser tab

Before You Migrate — Audit Your Excel Workflow

Jumping straight into file conversion is the most common migration mistake. Before you touch a single spreadsheet, you need a clear picture of what your team actually depends on in Excel.

Identify VBA Macros and Add-ins

Google Sheets uses Google Apps Script (JavaScript-based) instead of VBA. That means every macro your team relies on — from automated reports to custom data entry forms — will need to be rewritten or replaced. Open each critical workbook and check the Visual Basic editor (Alt + F11) for existing code.

Google offers a Macro Converter add-on for Workspace Enterprise and Education Plus plans. It scans your VBA code and categorizes each API call as "Supported," "Supported with workaround," or "Needs investigation." Run this report early — it tells you exactly how much rewriting you're facing.

Map Complex Formulas and External Links

Most standard Excel formulas work fine in Sheets, but a few power-user features don't translate:

• Power Query / Power Pivot: No direct Sheets equivalent. You'll need Connected Sheets with BigQuery for complex ETL workflows.
• GETPIVOTDATA and advanced dynamic arrays: These may break or behave differently after conversion.
• Cross-workbook references (e.g., =[Budget.xlsx]Sheet1!A1): These break on import because Sheets can't access local file paths. Replace them with IMPORTRANGE after migration.

For a detailed breakdown of what transfers and what doesn't, see our Excel features not available in Google Sheets guide.

Check File Sizes

Google Sheets caps at 10 million cells per spreadsheet. If you have workbooks with 50+ columns and hundreds of thousands of rows, do the math before converting. Use our free Excel to CSV converter to inspect file sizes, or check the Google Sheets vs Excel comparison for a full limits breakdown.

Step 1 — Convert Your Files

Once you've completed the audit, it's time to start converting. There are two main approaches depending on how many files you're moving.

Manual Conversion (Small Teams)

For a handful of files, the simplest method works:

1. Upload .xlsx files to Google Drive
2. Right-click the file and select Open with Google Sheets
3. Go to File > Save as Google Sheets

This creates a native Sheets file alongside the original Excel file. Keep the original as a backup until you've verified everything converted correctly.

Automatic Conversion (Larger Teams)

If you're migrating dozens or hundreds of files, enable automatic conversion in Google Drive: go to Drive Settings > Convert uploads and toggle on "Convert uploaded files to Google Docs editor format." Every Excel file uploaded after this setting is enabled will automatically convert to a Sheets file.

What to Watch For

After conversion, spot-check each file for these common issues:

• Broken formulas: Look for #NAME? or #VALUE! errors — these indicate functions that didn't translate.
• Chart formatting: 3D charts, pie-of-pie charts, and sunburst charts often revert to default styles or disappear entirely.
• Conditional formatting rules: Complex rules using custom formulas or icon sets may be dropped during conversion.
• Data validation dropdowns: Rules referencing other workbooks or named ranges may fail silently.
• Pivot tables: Calculated fields and source data connections sometimes break during the transition.

Our convert Excel to Google Sheets article covers these issues with specific workarounds for each one.

Step 2 — Set Up Google Workspace for Your Team

Converting files is only half the job. You also need to organize where those files live and who can access them.

Create a Shared Drive Structure

Set up Shared Drives (not just "Shared with me" folders) for each department or project. Shared Drives are owned by the organization, not individual users — which means files won't disappear when someone leaves the company.

A simple structure that works for most teams:

Company Shared Drive/
├── Finance/
│   ├── Budgets/
│   ├── Reports/
│   └── Templates/
├── Sales/
│   ├── Pipeline/
│   └── Commission Trackers/
└── Operations/
    ├── Inventory/
    └── Scheduling/

Set Permissions Thoughtfully

One of the biggest advantages of Google Sheets over Excel is granular sharing. Instead of emailing spreadsheet copies back and forth, you can:

• Viewer: Can see but not edit (replaces "Read Only" Excel files)
• Commenter: Can suggest changes without modifying the original
• Editor: Full editing access

Set Shared Drive-level defaults, then override per-file as needed. This prevents the "everyone can edit everything" chaos that derails many migrations.

Step 3 — Train Your Team

Technical migration is the easy part. Getting people to actually change their habits is where most teams struggle. Here's a cheat sheet of the differences that trip people up the most.

Key Differences Cheat Sheet

Common Pain Points and How to Address Them

• "It's slower than Excel." For spreadsheets under 100,000 rows, performance is comparable. Lag usually comes from excessive IMPORTRANGE calls, volatile functions like NOW(), or complex conditional formatting. Simplify where possible.
• "I can't find my formulas." Most Excel functions exist in Sheets under the same name. Notable exceptions: XLOOKUP was added to Sheets in 2023, and TEXTJOIN works identically. Point team members to our import Excel into Google Sheets guide for formula compatibility details.
• "I need offline access." Install the Google Docs Offline Chrome extension. Files marked for offline access sync automatically when you reconnect.

Step 4 — Handle Large Files and Complex Data

This is where most migration guides stop — and where most teams actually hit walls. Google Sheets' 10 million cell limit and browser-based performance ceiling mean that large datasets need a different strategy.

For Large CSV and Excel Imports

If your team regularly works with CSV exports over 100,000 rows — think CRM data dumps, e-commerce transaction logs, or financial records — browser-based uploads will crash or time out. SmoothSheet solves this by processing large file imports server-side, so your browser doesn't do the heavy lifting. At $9/month, it's significantly cheaper than most data pipeline tools and purpose-built for Google Sheets.

For Analytics-Scale Data

If your Excel power users rely on Power Query and Power Pivot for data modeling across millions of rows, Google's answer is Connected Sheets linked to BigQuery. This lets you query massive datasets from within the Sheets interface without loading all the data into cells. It's a different workflow than Power Query, but the analytical capability is comparable for most business intelligence use cases.

Hybrid Approach

Not every file needs to migrate. Some teams keep Excel for:

• Financial models with complex VBA automation that would take months to rewrite
• Workbooks exceeding 10 million cells that can't be restructured
• Files requiring ActiveX controls or advanced charting (3D pyramids, sunburst)

Run these files through OneDrive or SharePoint, and use tools like Zapier or Sheetgo to sync key data points into Google Sheets for the rest of the team. A 90% migration with 10% intentional exceptions is better than a 100% migration that breaks critical workflows.

Migration Timeline Template

Here's a realistic four-week plan you can adapt to your team size. Smaller teams (under 20 people) can compress this into two weeks. Larger organizations may need to extend Phase 3 and 4.

Pro tip: Don't delete the original Excel files for at least 90 days. You'll inevitably discover a formula or macro that someone forgot to mention during the audit phase.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to migrate a team from Excel to Google Sheets?

Most teams complete the migration in 2-4 weeks depending on size and complexity. The file conversion itself takes hours, not days — it's the training, validation, and workflow adjustment that takes the most time. Teams with heavy VBA usage should budget extra time for rewriting macros in Apps Script.

Will I lose data when converting Excel files to Google Sheets?

Standard data (numbers, text, basic formulas) converts without loss. The risk areas are VBA macros (which won't run), cross-workbook references (which break), advanced charts (which may lose formatting), and files exceeding Google Sheets' 10 million cell limit (which won't fully open). Always keep backups and spot-check converted files.

Can I use Excel and Google Sheets at the same time during migration?

Yes, and most teams should. A phased approach where you run both platforms for 2-4 weeks reduces risk. You can sync data between Excel and Sheets using IMPORTRANGE, Zapier, or Sheetgo. The goal is to avoid a "big bang" switchover that disrupts everyone at once.

What happens to Excel files larger than Google Sheets' limits?

Files exceeding 10 million cells won't fully open in Google Sheets. Your options are: split the file into smaller chunks (by department, date range, or category), use BigQuery with Connected Sheets for analytics-scale data, or keep the file in Excel and sync summary data into Sheets. For importing large CSV and Excel files without browser crashes, SmoothSheet processes them server-side and writes directly to your spreadsheet.

Start Your Migration With Confidence

Migrating from Excel to Google Sheets isn't about abandoning a tool that works — it's about gaining real-time collaboration, automatic version history, and cloud accessibility that Excel's desktop-first design can't match. Start with the audit, follow the four-step process, and give your team a realistic timeline.

For the large-file piece of the puzzle, try SmoothSheet — it handles the CSV and Excel imports that Google Sheets struggles with, so your team can work in Sheets without hitting browser limits.