How-To

How to Share a Single Sheet in Google Sheets

By Ben Stockton

Published April 18, 2023

There isn’t a built-in way to share a single sheet in Google Sheets, but there are some workarounds. This guide explains how.

Google Sheets is a great tool for collaborating with others on spreadsheets. However, you may want to share only one sheet with someone without giving them access to the whole spreadsheet.

Unfortunately, there’s no direct option to share only one sheet in Google Sheets. When you click the Share button, you’ll share the entire spreadsheet with others.

However, some workarounds can help you achieve your goal. Here are some methods that you can try.

Why Should You Share a Single Sheet in Google Sheets?

You may want to share only one sheet in Google Sheets for many reasons. For example:

• There’s confidential data on other sheets you don’t want others to see.
• You have multiple sheets for different purposes or audiences, and you want to avoid confusion or clutter.
• You have a summary sheet that shows the main results or insights from your data analysis, and you’re looking to share it with others.
• There’s a template sheet that you want others to copy and use for their work.

How to Share a Single Sheet by Linking Someone to it

This method is the simplest and quickest way to share a sheet in Google Sheets. It doesn’t require creating a new file or changing any settings. You only need to copy and paste the URL of the specific tab you want to share.

There’s an obvious downside to this method. If you’re sharing a spreadsheet, you share all of the data. While the user who clicks the link will be brought to the specific tabbed sheet you’re using, it won’t stop them from looking around at your other bits of data.

To link someone to a specific sheet in Google Sheets:

1. Open your spreadsheet and select the sheet that you want to share.
2. Look at the URL of your spreadsheet in your browser’s address bar. It should look something like this: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz/edit#gid=0
3. Notice the part after #gid=. This is the ID of your active sheet. Each sheet has a unique ID number. The first sheet is always 0.
   
4. Copy this URL and send it to someone who has access to your spreadsheet. They’ll be able to open it directly on that sheet.

How to Share a Single Sheet While Protecting Other Sheets

This method is more secure than the previous one because it allows you to restrict what can happen to other sheets or cell ranges in your spreadsheet.

This doesn’t stop them from viewing the data but can stop them from editing it. You’ll add even more control over this feature by limiting access to the spreadsheet as a whole to Viewer only. That way, the user won’t be able to unlock the cells for editing afterward.

To protect other sheets in Google Sheets:

1. Open your spreadsheet and select any sheet except the one you want to share.
2. Go to Data > Protected sheets and ranges.
   
3. In the panel on the right, go to Add a sheet or range > Sheet.
4. Give a name to the rule (if you prefer).
5. Select a sheet from the drop-down menu, then click Set Permissions.
   
6. In the pop-up window, select Restrict who can edit this range, and select Custom from the drop-down list.
7. Confirm who will have access to edit, adding any additional names or email addresses in the Add editors box. Then, click Done to finish.
   

Repeat these steps for each sheet that you don’t want others to be able to edit.

How to Share a Single Sheet by Copying an Individual Sheet to a New File

If you want to limit access to a single sheet, your best method is to copy the sheet to a new Google Sheets spreadsheet. The new file will only contain the data from this single sheet—the other data won’t be copied along with it.

To copy an individual sheet in Google Sheets:

1. Open your spreadsheet and select the sheet that you want to share.
2. Right-click the sheet tab at the bottom and go to Copy to > New spreadsheet.
   
3. After a few seconds, click Open spreadsheet in the pop-up box.
4. Once you’ve opened the copied sheet, you can share it with others by clicking the Share button in the top-right.
   

The biggest downside to this method is that it breaks any links or formulas that might work across your spreadsheet. It’s also a copy, so any future changes you make to your original spreadsheet won’t appear in the new file (and vice versa).

Sharing Your Google Sheets Data

Sharing only one sheet in Google Sheets isn’t as straightforward as sharing an entire spreadsheet, but it’s possible with some tricks. The easiest way is to copy your sheet to a new file, but you can always use some tricks (such as locking down your data) to prevent unnecessary editing.

Curious to look under the hood at how your spreadsheet is working? You can show your Google Sheets formulas to help you improve your spreadsheet or fix any errors.

Finding it hard to see your data? You can always change your cell sizes to reflect larger (or smaller) bits of data. You can even insert images into your Google Sheets cells to present your data slightly differently, too.