All Collections
Features
Destination features
How do I use Append to keep previous data entries?
How do I use Append to keep previous data entries?

Learn how to append data to the destination sheet. Ideal for creating data logs and historical reports.

Eugenia Langen avatar
Written by Eugenia Langen
Updated over a week ago

Sheetgo's Append feature adds new data to the destination sheet below previous data entries every time there is an update. Instead of replacing past data entries, a new row appears underneath. Over time, this will create a log or list of data.

Append enables you to:

  • Keep old data entries.

  • Track changes to a dynamic data set over time.

  • Create historical charts and reports.

  • Monitor constantly changing values such as stock prices or sales figures.

append_1

How to create a new connection with append?

  1. Open Sheetgo. Create a New workflow and start connecting.

  2. Select your source file and source tab.

  3. Select your destination file and destination tab

Under Append data, slide the button to enable the setting.

Note: To use append, your source file must contain a header.

chrome_WS8HJWP4Sp

Tip: If your source sheet has a "date" column, use append and filter together to transfer specific data related to a period of time, such as the current day or month.

How to enable append on an existing connection?

  1. Open Sheetgo. Create a New workflow and start connecting.

  2. Find the connection you want to change, click the three dots menu (⋮) and select Edit.

  3. Go to Destination.

  4. Enable Append data.

  5. Click Finish and save.

  6. Run the workflow to update all the connections and enable append.

How to avoid duplicates when appending data?

When using Append, check how often your source file changes and schedule automatic updates accordingly.

If the same data appears multiple times in the destination sheet, you may be updating the connection more frequently than you need. Try reducing the frequency of automatic updates.

We also recommend that you apply filters to your source data, to avoid duplicates being appended.

Let’s take a look at how the append feature works

In our case, as the month goes on, we want to track the spending of team members in a department. Each user is given a Budget and we track their spending weekly.

chrome_8FzlHGmog0

Because we want to keep track of how much spending increases as the week goes on, we will use the append feature to track historical information on a weekly basis.


After a week, when we update the listing (and add more users) we can see that our spreadsheet looks like this:

chrome_8s85DqddRJ

With this feature, it makes a lot of sense to track the particular timestamp. You can do this by directly adding the TODAY or even NOW formula to your original sheet, where the live data is, or you can find, under Advanced Settings, the Identify Data option:

chrome_tu9CraTpf3

Once this is enabled, when the transfer happens, it creates a timestamp with the date and time so you can have a more detailed history of your data as it progresses! In the end, your spreadsheet will look like this:

chrome_Kkzo9SWhhV

Now, using this information we can manipulate the data by creating dashboards and more.

Need more help?

Contact us via chat, on our email ([email protected]), or send us a ticket!

Visit our Community for help, tips, tricks, and feedback for Sheetgo.

Did this answer your question?