Moving an Excel workbook to Google Sheets requires more than confirming that the file opens. Preserve the original and compare the calculations, structure, and outputs that make the workbook useful before adopting the converted version.
Create a separate conversion
Upload or locate the approved Excel file in Drive, open it with Google Sheets, and use the documented Save as Google Sheets workflow. Confirm that the result is a new native file and that the Excel original remains identifiable.
Check current size and cell limits before converting. Google’s storage guidance also warns that Excel cells containing more than 50,000 characters are removed during conversion, so a successful file creation is not proof that every long-text value survived.
Compare a meaningful sample
Check tab names, row and column counts, key totals, dates, identifiers with leading zeros, and formulas that use product-specific functions. Compare several known records and exceptional cases, not only the first visible sheet.
Inspect charts, pivot tables, validation, protected areas, and external connections separately. VBA macros do not become working Apps Script automation merely because the workbook was converted. Record unsupported or changed behavior before anyone relies on the new version.
Approve the operational cutover
Review the converted file’s sharing and ownership. If it replaces an existing workflow, confirm which file collaborators should edit and update the approved links. Keep a recoverable original and the comparison results.
Do not silently overwrite a production workbook with a conversion that only passed a visual check. If a required feature remains incompatible, retain an appropriate Excel workflow or redesign that specific feature with authorization. Any exported copy intended for Excel also needs a separate target-application check; round-trip conversion is not a guarantee of equivalence.
References
- Use both Excel & Sheets: Best practices
- Differences between Excel and Sheets
- Files you can store in Google Drive
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 3, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.