Ctrio Lab · Updated 2026-10-24

Google Sheets and Apify: export a dataset to a sheet, import a sheet to JSON

Q: Do I need a Google key to read a sheet?

Not for a sheet shared as Anyone with the link can view. Import works without a key, and the #gid= part of the URL picks the tab. Private sheets and every export need a Google service account JSON key.

Our Google Sheets Import & Export Actor on Apify does two jobs. Export writes an Apify dataset (for example the results of another Actor run) or inline JSON rows into a Google Sheets tab. Import reads a tab or an A1 range into the run's dataset, one JSON object per row.

Short answer: to read a sheet shared as "Anyone with the link can view", set mode to import and paste the sheet URL. No key is needed. To write to a sheet, or to read a private one, paste a Google service account JSON key and share the sheet with the key's client_email.

Inputs

Field	What it does
`mode`	`import` (sheet to dataset) or `export` (dataset or JSON rows to sheet).
`spreadsheet`	Sheet URL or ID. Without a key, the `#gid=` part of the URL picks the tab.
`serviceAccountKey`	The whole JSON key file of a Google Cloud service account. Stored encrypted. Needed for export and private sheets.
`sheetName`, `range`	Tab name (needs a key; export creates the tab if missing) and an optional A1 range for import, such as `A1:F500`.
`datasetId`, `rows`	What to export: an Apify dataset ID (in an integration, `{{resource.defaultDatasetId}}`) or inline JSON rows.
`writeMode`	`append` adds rows below the existing data; `replace` writes the new table from A1, then clears the rest of the tab.
`dedupeKey`	On append, skip rows whose value in this column already exists in the sheet. Skipped rows are not charged.
`columns`, `columnNames`	Keep only some columns in your order, and rename them.

Example: import a public sheet

{
  "mode": "import",
  "spreadsheet": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BxiMVs0XRA5nFMdKvBdBZjgmUUqptlbs74OgvE2upms/edit#gid=0",
  "range": "A1:F31"
}

This reads Google's sample class data sheet. On 2026-10-24 the run returned 30 rows in about 3 seconds. The first two:

[
  { "Student Name": "Alexandra", "Gender": "Female", "Class Level": "4. Senior",
    "Home State": "CA", "Major": "English", "Extracurricular Activity": "Drama Club" },
  { "Student Name": "Andrew", "Gender": "Male", "Class Level": "1. Freshman",
    "Home State": "SD", "Major": "Math", "Extracurricular Activity": "Lacrosse" }
]

With "columns": ["Student Name", "Major", "Home State"] and "columnNames": {"Student Name": "name", "Major": "major", "Home State": "state"} the same rows come back as {"name": "Alexandra", "major": "English", "state": "CA"}.

Example: export another Actor's results

Add the Actor as an integration to your scraper and set the dataset to {{resource.defaultDatasetId}}. Every finished run then lands in the sheet:

{
  "mode": "export",
  "spreadsheet": "https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<ID>/edit",
  "serviceAccountKey": "{ ...contents of your JSON key... }",
  "sheetName": "Leads",
  "datasetId": "{{resource.defaultDatasetId}}",
  "writeMode": "append",
  "dedupeKey": "url"
}

Nested fields become columns with /: {"address": {"city": "Paris"}} becomes the column address/city. On append, rows are matched to the existing header by name, and new fields are added as new columns at the right end.

Service account key in four steps

In Google Cloud Console, pick a project and enable the Google Sheets API.
IAM & Admin, Service Accounts, Create service account. No roles are needed. Then Keys, Add key, Create new key, JSON.
Paste the whole JSON file into the Actor's key field.
In Google Sheets, share the sheet with the client_email from the file: Editor for export, Viewer for import.

Coming from lukaskrivka/google-sheets

Old input	Here
`mode: "append"` or `"replace"`	`mode: "export"` with `writeMode: "append"` or `"replace"`
`mode: "read"`	`mode: "import"` (rows go to the dataset)
`spreadsheetId`	`spreadsheet` (ID or URL)
`deduplicateByField`	`dedupeKey`
`columnsOrder`	`columns`
Google account connection	`serviceAccountKey`

Not included: modify, load backup and the custom transform function.

Limits

A spreadsheet holds at most 10,000,000 cells across all tabs. The Actor checks this before writing anything.
Google allows about 60 write requests per minute per user. The Actor writes up to about 1.5 MB per request and retries on HTTP 429.
Cells longer than 50,000 characters are cut, and the log says how many.
Apify input is limited to 9 MB, so put large data in a dataset rather than inline rows.
Only real Google Sheets. An .xlsx file in Drive must first be saved as Google Sheets.

Price

$0.05 per 1,000 rows read or written, plus $0.002 per run. Rows skipped as duplicates are free. A daily export of 2,000 rows costs $0.102 per run. Higher Apify plans get up to 30% off the row price.

Open Google Sheets Import & Export Merge and deduplicate Apify datasets

FAQ

Do I need a Google key to read a sheet?

Not for a sheet shared as "Anyone with the link can view". Import works without a key, and the #gid= part of the URL picks the tab. Private sheets and every export need a Google service account JSON key.

Why a service account key instead of signing in with Google?

A service account key does not expire like a browser sign-in token, so scheduled runs keep working. You share the sheet with the client_email from the key file.

Sources: Google Sheets API usage limits; Google Drive file size limits; our own run on 2026-10-24.