How to connect airtable to google sheets?

[Christopher_Rya]

Hi,

Is there a way to connect airtable to google sheets such that it syncs completely? So every time any change is made to my airtable the corresponding google sheets file will also be updated?

Thanks,
Chris

[M_k]

Hi @Christopher_Ryan

You might be able to use an integration app, such as Integromat or Zapier, to do this process.

Mary Kay

[JonathanBowen]

Hi @Christopher_Ryan - have a look at this post here:

How to keep a table and a Google Sheet in perfect sync Ask the community

I’m curious – I know Zapier is useful for having AirTable talk to other platforms. But has anyone successfully used it to keep a table and a Google Sheet in perfect sync? In other words, when I add a row to one place, it appears in another. When I EDIT a row in one place, it changes in the other. I started to build it out but the further I got, the less faith i had that it would really work. So I thought I’d ask.

TL;DR - not possible to do a full sync in Zapier.

But…might be possible in Integromat:

Integromat

Create or update Airtable records from new rows in a Google Sheets spreadsheet

Every time a new row is created in your Google Sheets spreadsheet, Integromat will automatically create or update a record in a selected Airtable table.

JB

[Julian_Kirkness]

Hi

You’d almost certainly get further with Integromat compared to Zapier - but complete synchronisation isn’t really feasible for a whole host of reasons:

1. There is not trigger based on deleted records from Airtable - so no way to delete from Sheets automatically

2. There now seems to only be a new record trigger from Airtable - now way to trap an update as far as I can see at the moment. In V1, this was done with the New Record in view Trigger (as it is in Zapier) but this seems to be missing from V2. You cannot create a new scenario using V1.

3. what happens if both AT and Sheets are updated at about the same time, Integromat or Zapier runs - which update should win?

There are many other issues with this type of synchronisation - in practice it’s often best to consider one of the systems as the ‘master’ and then do a periodic update of one from the other - Integromat has the advantage here as you can go through multiple records easily.

Julian

[Justin_Barrett]

Julian_Kirkness:

There now seems to only be a new record trigger from Airtable - now way to trap an update as far as I can see at the moment. In V1, this was done with the New Record in view Trigger (as it is in Zapier) but this seems to be missing from V2.

@Elias_Gomez_Sainz mentioned in another thread that the New Record in View behavior has been rolled into the New Record trigger somehow.

Integromat - the Language for Airtable?

Also, the V2 has lost the “New record in view” trigger, is integrated with “New Record” or something?

Edit: Oh yes, the descriptions say it:

Runs when a new record is added in view . Please note that in order for the trigger to work, you need to have (or add) a Created Time field to your view.

[Julian_Kirkness]

Hi @Elias_Gomez_Sainz - that is what the description says - but the watch records trigger has nowhere to select a view - it is only triggered by new records in a table.

You can achieve much the same though using a timed Integromat Scenario which uses the Search Records option (which can filter using a View in AT or a formula). The only proviso is that you would need to update the records you process so that they don’t get selected the next time the Scenario runs. Actually this is much more flexible than the watch records process (and Zapier equivalent).

Still doesn’t help with @Christopher_Ryan’s question though because there is no simple way to see that a record has changed in AT and for this to then update Sheets. One thing that could help would be if AT records had a Last Updated field (as standard) - I think there are threads already requesting this.

Julian

[Elias_Gomez_Sai]

Ouch! I thought that the descriptions were right, cause there are very precise. V1:

V2:

[Peter_Steinberg]

Thanks all – and I’m glad my question sparked such a robust conversation. My two takeaways are:

1. What I ask isn’t full feasible and I should walk away.
2. I get the sense that Integromat is more robust that Zapier. Am I correct? Should I embrace one over the other?

-Peter

[Christopher_Rya]

Thanks everyone. It looks like there’s no obvious solution to my problem at the moment then. Although what Julian mentions at the bottom of his post may actually be of help to me.

in practice it’s often best to consider one of the systems as the ‘master’ and then do a periodic update of one from the other - Integromat 1 has the advantage here as you can go through multiple records easily.

My airtable is in effect the master source, are you saying there’s a way for Integromat to take a snapshot from AT periodically and then export that snapshot to Google sheets? If so, how exactly can I do that? In integromat I can only see a trigger for when a new record is created in AT.

[Julian_Kirkness]

Hi @Christopher_Ryan

Integromat is different to Zapier in that the first step doesn’t need to be a ‘trigger’ as such. You could use the Search records option and have it return all records (how feasible this is would depend on your volume). You could then either update rows in Sheets - or new ones.

You would then set the Scenario in Integromat to run periodically (say daily).

Julian