How to Merge Two Spreadsheets into One Data Source...

FerdyanH

Hi AppSheet Community,

I have two separate spreadsheets:

Admin 2024
Admin 2025

Both have the same column structure: admin_id, admin_name, and admin_phone.

I have already imported both spreadsheets into my AppSheet app as two separate tables. My question is: is it possible to combine the data from both spreadsheets into a single view or table within AppSheet, without having to merge them directly in the spreadsheets (Google Sheets)?

My goal is to be able to see all data from Admin 2024 and Admin 2025 together in a single view in the app.

Is there any recommended solution or approach for this? Perhaps using a slice or virtual table?

Thank you in advance!

Kirk_Masden

First of all, I think this post is in the wrong category: "Tips" is for giving tips to others, not asking for help. This should have been posted in Q&A.

My impression is that AppSheet does much better at splitting than merging. I think you would be far better off to merge your data into a single sheet on the spreadsheet side and then split that with slices. That's what I had to do at an earlier stage of an app I'm working on now. Here's a tip I wrote a while back about this design issue:

App Design: Multiple tables vs. Single table + multiple slices
https://www.googlecloudcommunity.com/gc/Tips-Tricks/App-Design-Multiple-tables-vs-Single-table-multi...

As far as I know, you can't merge two tables on the AppSheet side. Even if there is a way to do it, I suspect that merging the data on the spreadsheet side will be preferable for you.

FerdyanH

Thanks for your insight @Kirk_Masden , I really appreciate the explanation and reference to your previous tip on app design strategies using slices vs. multiple tables.

You’re absolutely right that merging the data in a spreadsheet first and then splitting it using slices is generally easier and more efficient. However, in my case, the reason I chose to separate the spreadsheets (Admin 2024 and Admin 2025) was because of the large number of rows involved. If I were to merge everything into one sheet, it could potentially hit AppSheet’s performance limits or cause slowdowns, especially given the hard 500,000 cell limit in Google Sheets.

That’s why I’m looking for a way to merge the data on the AppSheet side, rather than at the spreadsheet level.

Thanks again for your feedback it helps clarify the considerations and I really appreciate your experience.

Kirk_Masden

I see. That's very reasonable. Perhaps others here have some words of wisdom. Good luck!

Apelinado

You can try adding a table in the appsheet database with the same structure, then create an action to import a CSV file for each spreadsheet you have(Admin 2024 and Admin 2025). You must Export each spreadsheet as a CSV file first. The action will add any new row and update all existing rows that already exists in the appsheet database

FerdyanH

Thank you for your response @Apelinado.

However, if we use an action to import CSV files, wouldn't that mean both data sets (Admin 2024 and Admin 2025) will be merged into a single spreadsheet? That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid, since it could cause the spreadsheet to grow too large and potentially hit the row limits.

What I’m looking for is a solution to combine the data only at the AppSheet level (for display/view purposes), without physically merging them in the spreadsheet. Is there any other way—perhaps using slices, security filters, or other techniques—that allows me to show data from two separate tables in a single view, while still keeping the spreadsheets separate?

Thanks in advance!

Apelinado

Both Spreadsheets would be merged, but not in the original database. You can keep your Google sheet database as is and use the Appsheet database for visualization only. You would have to manually save the CSV files and use a bot to import everytime the data changes though.

yasarcan

idea

FerdyanH

Hi @yasarcan ,

Thank you so much for the idea! The image you shared is really helpful and gives a clear overview.

If you don’t mind, could you please explain in more detail how to create that kind of structure in AppSheet? Should I use a virtual column, a slice, or is there a specific technique for it?

Thanks in advance 🙏

Cubaine

Hi there,

I believe this is exactly what data partitioning is for: https://support.google.com/appsheet/answer/10105383?hl=en

FerdyanH

Hi, thanks for the suggestion @Cubaine !

If I’m not mistaken, isn’t the data partitioning feature only available for Enterprise plan users? I’m currently on the Core plan, so unfortunately I don’t have access to that feature.

Is there an alternative method to achieve a similar result using the Core plan?

Thanks again!

How to Merge Two Spreadsheets into One Data Source in AppSheet