Google Sheets is the best online spreadsheet program. To save a Google Sheet on your local drive, you need to go to the “File” tab of the main menu and select the “Download” option from the popup.
It automatically saves multiple copies of your spreadsheet online. You can view and restore them as per your requirements.
All your Google Sheets, including autosaved copies, are saved online in your Google Drive.
But if you wish to save a Google Sheet on a local drive, it is simple and can be done with a few simple steps.
This is a quick guide where we will learn to save a copy of your Google Sheets in various file formats such as XLSX, CSV, and PDF. Make sure to read the article till the end.
Click on the following links to jump to that particular section of the article:
- Save Google Sheets to Desktop
- How to save a Google Sheet to a folder in Google Drive
- How to download multiple Google Sheets
How to save Google Sheets to My Computer
Saving Google Sheets to your local drive doesn’t require special skills.
Often, you may feel like keeping a copy of your Google Sheets to My Computer as an offline backup.
Here are the steps,
- Open the desired Google Sheet
- Hover to the main menu and click on the “File” tab
- Select the “Download” option from the popup
- You will see a range of choices to save a Google Sheet on your local drive
- Click on “Microsoft Excel (.xlxs)”
The downloading will start immediately. You can view the progress by clicking on the download icon of your browser.
The steps are pretty simple. You can choose to save Google Sheets in PDF, HTML, and CSV format as well.
You can edit the downloaded Google Sheets if you have a compatible program on your computer. In my case, I have downloaded Google Sheets as an Excel and am using Microsoft Office 365 subscription on my computer to edit it.
How to save Google Sheets to a specific folder on your Google Drive
A Google spreadsheet is automatically saved to Google Drive.
They are called user-visible files by the developers, and they are accessible to you through the following URL.
In short, there is no folder on your Google Drive where you can locate them.
But if you wish to save a single or multiple Google Sheets in a Google Drive folder and share it with your teammates or friends, then it is possible.
There are two ways:
1. Moving the given Google Sheet to a specific folder
The following steps will guide you to move a Google Sheet to the desired folder so that all the users (colleagues or friends) with whom it is shared can locate it quickly.
- Open the Google Sheet
- Go to the main menu and click on the “File” tab
- Select “Move” from the popup
- A new dialog box will open
- Click on the “All locations” tab
- Select “My Drive”
- Chose the desired folder
- Click on the “Move” button in the blue
Now, you can share the Google Drive folder with your friends and colleagues, and they will be able to locate your Google Sheet quickly.
1. Using “Make a copy” tool
As the name suggests, in this method, we will create two separate files, and one of them will be available within the desired folder.
- Open the desired Google Sheet
- Hover to the main menu and click on “File” tab
- Click on the “Make a copy” option from the popup
- A new dialog box will open, as shown below
- Edit the name as per your preference
- To assign a destination folder, click on the “My Drive” button below the Folder option
- A new dialog box will open
- Click on the “All locations” tab
- Select the first option, “My Drive”
- Choose your desired folder and click on the “Select” button that appears after the folder name. Refer to the following image
- Click on the “Select” button in the blue
- You will be taken back to the Copy document dialog box
- Click on the “Make a copy” button
The steps are almost similar, but note that you have created two separate Google Sheets. Make sure to select the appropriate file while sharing it with your friends and colleagues.
How to download multiple Google Sheets
Suppose we have a Google Drive folder containing multiple Google Sheets, as shown below.
Let us learn to save them all to your local drive.
- Open the Google Drive by clicking here
- Go to the folder containing multiple Google Sheets
- Press and hold the CTRL button on your keyboard
- Select all the Google Sheets by left-clicking on them
- A toolbar appears at the top, as shown below
- Click on the Download icon
Downloading will start immediately. You will see a popup in the lower-rightmost corner of the screen.
FAQs
Q. How can I edit a Google Sheet after downloading it to my desktop?
You need a compatible program on your computer. As discussed above in this article, you can download Google Sheets in the following formats:
- Microsoft Excel (.xlxs)
- OpenDocument (.ods)
- PDF (.pdf)
- Web Page (.html)
- Comma Separated Values (.csv)
- Tab Separated Values (.tsv)
To edit a file in .xlxs format, you need Microsoft Excel installed on your computer.
Q. How do I add a Google Sheets shortcut to my desktop?
You can easily add a Google Sheets shortcut to your desktop or smartphone home screen.
Here are the steps,
- Open the Google Sheets dashboard by clicking here
- Go to the upper-rightmost corner of your browser and click on the three dots as shown below
- Select “Save and share” from the popup
- Choose “Create shortcut”
- A dialog box will open where you can name your shortcut
- Press “Create” button
Note that I am using Google Chrome browser. If you are using a different one, then steps remain the same. All you need to do is go to the View More Options button of your browser and select Create Shortcut.
Conclusion
That’s all about saving Google Sheets to Google Drive and the local computer.
You have made it to the end!
Let us know in the comment section if you are still stuck somewhere or having any particular issues while exporting or importing Google Sheets.
For more such tips and tricks for using Google Sheets like a pro, please explore our blog.