Google Sheets
Import any Google Sheets spreadsheet directly into TotalApp's built-in editor — one-way, secure, and ready to analyze with AI.
Overview
TotalApp's Google Sheets integration lets you bring data from any Google Sheets spreadsheet directly into My Spreadsheets — TotalApp's built-in spreadsheet editor. The import is one-way: data flows from Google Sheets into TotalApp. Changes you make inside TotalApp do not sync back to the original Google Sheet, keeping your source data safe and untouched.
Once imported, the spreadsheet is fully editable inside TotalApp. You can modify cells, rearrange rows and columns, apply formatting, and use the built-in AI Assistant to analyze the data — all without leaving the platform.
One-Way Import — What This Means
When you import a Google Sheet into TotalApp, a snapshot of the data is taken at that moment. TotalApp stores its own copy. Any edits you make in TotalApp stay in TotalApp; they will never be written back to Google Sheets. If you update the original Google Sheet later and want those changes in TotalApp, simply import it again.
Also Available from My Spreadsheets
This feature is also accessible directly from the My Spreadsheets screen — you can import Google Sheets without navigating to Document Management first. See the My Spreadsheets documentation for details.
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| Direction | One-way: Google Sheets → TotalApp only. No write-back. |
| Authentication | Secure Google OAuth 2.0. TotalApp never stores your Google password. |
| File picker | Visual Google file picker lets you browse and select any spreadsheet you have access to. |
| Editing | Imported data is fully editable inside TotalApp's spreadsheet editor. |
| AI Analysis | The built-in AI Assistant can analyze imported data — summaries, insights, formulas, and more. |
| App Integration | Imported spreadsheets are available to other TotalApp modules for further processing. |
How to Import a Google Sheet
Follow these steps to bring a Google Sheets file into TotalApp:
Step-by-step
- Navigate to My Spreadsheets — Find it in the Documents section of the sidebar, or access it via My Workspace.
- Click "Import from Google Sheets" — The button is in the top toolbar of the My Spreadsheets screen.
- Authorize with Google — A Google sign-in popup appears. Sign in with the Google account that owns the spreadsheet. TotalApp requests read-only access to your spreadsheets via a secure OAuth 2.0 consent screen. You only need to do this once per session; the access token is stored temporarily in memory and is never written to disk.
- Select your spreadsheet — Google's file picker dialog opens, showing your Google Sheets files. Browse or search for the one you want and click Select.
- Review the imported data — TotalApp fetches all sheets and loads the first sheet's data into the editor. You can switch between sheets using the tab bar at the bottom of the editor.
Tip — Large Spreadsheets
TotalApp imports up to the first 1,000 rows per sheet. If your spreadsheet is larger, consider filtering or trimming it in Google Sheets before importing, or split it into multiple sheets and import the relevant one.
What Each Tool Card Does
The Google Sheets service in Document Management has five tool cards. They are not all interchangeable — two are not yet wired up and are marked "Soon" because they need a specific spreadsheet already open to make sense.
| Card | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Opens the Google Sheets picker and imports the selected spreadsheet into My Spreadsheets — the standard import flow described above. | Available |
| New | Creates a brand-new, blank spreadsheet directly in My Spreadsheets — no Google account or sign-in involved. | Available |
| Upload Sheet | Opens a modal with two options: upload a local file (e.g. .xlsx or .csv), which is converted to a native Google Sheet and imported into My Spreadsheets — or pick one of your existing TotalApp spreadsheets to push to Google Drive as a native Google Sheets file (write-back). See below for details on both directions. | Available |
| Sync | Re-opens the Google Sheets picker; when you re-select a file you previously imported, TotalApp overwrites that same spreadsheet with the latest data instead of creating a duplicate. Selecting a new file imports it as usual. | Available |
| Filter | Applying a filter requires a specific spreadsheet and specific columns already open — this belongs inside the spreadsheet editor itself, not as a standalone action from Document Management. | Soon |
| Pivot Table | Building a pivot table requires a specific spreadsheet and dataset already selected — same reasoning as Filter, it belongs inside the editor. | Soon |
How Sync Recognizes an Existing Spreadsheet
Every spreadsheet imported via Open, Upload Sheet, or Sync stores the source Google Sheets file's ID internally. When you use Sync and pick a file whose ID matches one already in My Spreadsheets, TotalApp updates that existing entry in place — its name, sheets, and cell data are refreshed, but its position in My Spreadsheets and any sharing settings are preserved. Picking a file that has never been imported creates a new entry, same as Open.
Upload Sheet — Two Directions
Upload from local (Google Sheets can't open a local .xlsx or .csv directly, so this handles the conversion for you):
Upload an existing TotalApp spreadsheet (the write-back direction — sending a TotalApp spreadsheet out to Drive):
Either way, the resulting native Google Sheets file remains in your Drive afterward (the same as if you'd used Drive's own "Open with Google Sheets"), so Sync can find and refresh it later.
Editing Imported Data
Once a Google Sheet is imported, TotalApp treats it exactly like any other spreadsheet you create natively. You can:
- Edit cell values — Click any cell and type to change its content.
- Add or delete rows and columns — Right-click for context menu options.
- Apply formatting — Bold, italic, alignment, number formats, and more via the toolbar.
- Enter formulas — Type
=SUM(A1:A10)or any standard spreadsheet formula. - Rename sheets — Double-click a sheet tab to rename it.
- Save changes — Changes are auto-saved to TotalApp's storage. The original Google Sheet is never modified.
Remember — No Automatic Write-Back
Edits made in TotalApp stay in TotalApp. They are never automatically written back to the original Google Sheet. If you need to update the Google Sheet itself, open it directly in Google Sheets and make your changes there — or use the Upload Sheet card to manually push the current TotalApp version to Drive as a new native Google Sheets file. To pull updated data from Google Sheets back into TotalApp, use Sync.
AI Assistant Analysis
After importing a Google Sheet, you can use TotalApp's built-in AI Assistant to analyze the data. The AI Assistant understands spreadsheet structure and can help you extract insights without writing any formulas yourself.
Summarize Data
Ask the AI to give you a plain-language summary of what the spreadsheet contains — totals, averages, outliers, and key trends.
Explain Columns
Ask "What does each column represent?" and the AI will describe the purpose of each column based on the header names and data it contains.
Find Trends
Ask the AI to identify patterns, compare periods, or highlight the top and bottom performers in any numeric column.
Generate Formulas
Describe what you want to calculate in plain English and the AI will write the spreadsheet formula for you — just paste it into a cell.
Filter Guidance
Ask "Which rows match condition X?" and the AI will describe how to filter or highlight the relevant rows, or provide a formula to do it automatically.
Answer Questions
Ask any natural language question about the data — "What was the highest value in Q3?" or "Which product had the most returns?" — and get an instant answer.
How to Open the AI Assistant
With a spreadsheet open in the editor, click the AI Assistant button in the top-right corner of the screen (look for the sparkle icon). The AI panel slides in from the right. Type your question in the chat input at the bottom of the panel and press Enter or click Send. The AI reads the current sheet's data as context for its answers.
Integration with Other TotalApp Apps
Spreadsheets imported from Google Sheets become first-class citizens inside TotalApp, making them available to other modules and features within the platform.
| Integration | How It Works | Status |
|---|---|---|
| My Documents | Imported spreadsheets appear in your personal document library alongside uploaded files. | Available |
| AI Document Analysis | Select an imported sheet in My Documents and use the AI Assistant to cross-analyze it with other documents. | Available |
| Finance Module | Use imported budget or transaction data as the basis for financial analysis and reporting. | Planned |
| Project Management | Import project tracking sheets and map rows to tasks, milestones, or resources in the PM module. | Planned |
| HR & Payroll | Import employee data sheets and use them as a source for HR workflows or payroll calculations. | Planned |
| CRM | Import a contacts or leads spreadsheet and use it to populate or enrich CRM records. | Planned |
Current Integration Point
Right now the primary integration is with My Documents and the AI Assistant. Deeper connections to Finance, HR, CRM, and PM modules are on the roadmap and will be added in upcoming releases. When those integrations ship, imported spreadsheets will automatically be available as data sources in those modules — no re-import needed.
Privacy & Security
TotalApp's Google Sheets integration is designed with security as the top priority:
- OAuth 2.0 only — TotalApp never asks for your Google password. Access is granted via a secure OAuth token that can be revoked at any time from your Google Account settings.
- Read-only scope — TotalApp requests the
spreadsheets.readonlyanddrive.filescopes. It can read spreadsheets you select; it cannot create, modify, or delete files in your Google Drive. - Token not persisted — The Google access token is held in memory only for the duration of your session. It is never written to disk or stored on TotalApp's servers.
- Tenant-scoped storage — Imported data is stored in your private tenant workspace and is not accessible to other users or tenants.
- Revoke access anytime — Go to myaccount.google.com/permissions and remove TotalApp to instantly revoke any previously granted access.