Bringing your spreadsheets into Superhuman Docs just got a lot more convenient. With our XLSX importer, your Excel tables land in Docs as real, working tables - formulas, lookups, and summaries included. No more falling back to CSV and losing the work you’ve already done. Continue reading to learn how it works.

Initiate an XLSX import

To get started with your XLSX import, just follow these steps:

1. Type /import or /XLSX into any blank line on the canvas of your doc, then select Excel/Sheets from the list of options (under the Import heading).

   • Alternatively, click the Insert & explore button in the upper-right corner of your doc, search for XLSX, then select Excel/Sheets from the import options.

2. Once the importer has opened, you’ll start by clicking Upload XLSX file, then select the XLSX file you’d like to import from your file system. Then hit Next.

   • Note about file size: Superhuman Docs supports XLSX files up to 50MB. If your file is larger than that, try splitting it into smaller workbooks or removing unused sheets before importing.

3. Use the dropdown to select which sheets you want to import from the file, then click Next.

4. Choose whether to import the data as a structured table or a grid.

   • If you choose the structured table option, you’ll see a Use first row as headers toggle. If you leave this toggled on, Docs will automatically convert that row into column names. If your file doesn’t have headers, toggle this off - the columns will be named Column 1, Column 2, and so on instead.

5. Under Import location, use the dropdowns to choose where you’d like each sheet of data to go:

   • Current page: the worksheet is added as a table on the page you’re working in

   • New page: the worksheet is added to a newly created page in the doc

   • An existing table: map the incoming columns into an existing table using automated column-matching

6. Once you’re ready, click Import to complete the import.

What to expect after import

One of the biggest advantages of importing XLSX (rather than CSV) is that Docs preserves much more of your original spreadsheet.

Formulas

• Row-level formulas - arithmetic (+ - * / ^ % and functions like ROUND, ABS, MOD, POWER), logical (IF, AND, OR, NOT), text (CONCATENATE, LEFT, RIGHT, UPPER, TRIM, &), date (TODAY, DATE, DATEDIF, YEAR, MONTH, DAY), and percentages - are converted into Docs column formulas.

• Aggregate formulas like SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, and MAX map to a column’s summarize setting. Conditional versions (SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF, and their multi-criteria counterparts) map to a filtered summarize, or an equivalent formula.

• VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and INDEX/MATCH formulas that reference another range or table become a relation column (linking the two tables).

• Columns whose formulas don’t follow a consistent pattern (for example, mixing SUM and AVERAGE in the same column) come through as a canvas column, with each cell keeping its own formula. This applies to up to 20 columns and 100 rows per import.

Formatting and column types

• Font color and background color carry over.

• When every value in a column shares the same type, Docs imports it with a matching column type: dropdowns become select lists, checkboxes stay checkboxes, and dates remain dates. Columns with mixed types import as plain text.

• Merged cells are split into individual cells, with empty cells filling the gap. Merged header cells default to Column 1, Column 2, and so on.

What’s not supported yet

• Charts and images aren’t imported.

• Pivot tables come in as regular tables, rather than as Docs Pivots or Groups.

• Conditional formatting and table filters aren’t retained.

• Formulas that go beyond the above - either because they exceed the canvas column limits, or use a function Docs doesn’t support - come through as their computed value instead, with the original type and format kept, so nothing breaks or shows an error.

FAQs

Related resources

• Overview: Import data into Superhuman Docs

• Import CSVs into Superhuman Docs

• Overview: Tables