What IMPORTHTML does, and when to try copying instead
Google’s IMPORTHTML function reads a table or list from an HTML page. It takes a URL, the type of structure, and its index. It is useful when the source is accessible to Sheets and exposes the expected HTML.
The page in your browser may be a different case: you have signed in, applied filters, or waited for an interactive report to load. Copying the table visible in that session is often simpler for a one-time snapshot. It does not create a live connection to the source.
Capture, copy, and paste into A1
Use the sample below for a first attempt. On your own page, finish loading the required rows before opening the extension. Choose a spreadsheet where you are allowed to store the source data.
- Open the table page in Chrome and select it in Table Capture & Extractor.
- Open Table Studio. Check the header, the number of rows, and any extra controls captured as text.
- Click Copy for tab-separated cell values. The Sheets button also copies the values and opens Google Sheets; you still need to paste them.
- In Sheets, select A1 or another empty starting cell and paste.
- Check the last row and confirm the columns line up before adding formulas.
Keep product codes from changing
In the sample, the SKU 00123 is an identifier. Before pasting, format its destination column as Plain text using Format > Number. You can also format the destination range as Plain text to keep all original spellings, then convert only the columns needed for calculations.
Check the delivery date as well. A date-looking string can be interpreted according to spreadsheet settings. If you need to compare dates, confirm the intended year, month, and day before converting the column.
If every value lands in one column
Copy again from Table Studio using Copy, rather than selecting visible text from an article or preview. Its clipboard output separates columns with tabs and rows with line breaks.
Paste into a selected cell, not while editing the contents of a cell. If the clipboard route still fails, download CSV and use the Sheets import dialog. Review separator and conversion options in the import preview before accepting the result.
A comma inside Cable, USB-C belongs to the product name. Do not split that column on commas after a TSV paste. The sample CSV quotes that field for a CSV-aware importer.
Does the sheet update when the website changes?
No. This workflow copies the current values. To update them, capture the source again and paste the new data into a suitable range. Keep formulas outside the range you overwrite, or use a separate raw-data tab.
Table Capture & Extractor currently opens Sheets for manual paste; it does not sign into your Google account or maintain a sync connection. Uploading or pasting into Sheets sends that data to Google through your own action, even though the capture itself runs locally.