> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cfo.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connect a Google Sheet or Drive file

> Connect a Google Sheet, or an Excel or CSV file in Google Drive, so Ari imports it into your Model and updates the Model when the file changes.

Connect a Google Sheet when numbers you still keep in a spreadsheet should feed your Model, such as a hiring tracker or a pricing table. Ari imports the whole file, rebuilds it in your Model, and re-reads it every night, so a change you make in the sheet reaches cfo.ai without a new upload. Use Google Drive to connect an Excel workbook or a CSV file the same way.

## Before you start

* A Google account that can open the file.
* A started trial or an active plan with a free connection slot. Every Google Sheets connection in a workspace shares one slot; each Google Drive connection uses its own. See [Standard and premium integrations](/reference/integrations.md#standard-and-premium-integrations).

cfo.ai can open only the files you pick in Google's file picker, nothing else in your Drive. You can remove its access from your Google account at any time.

## Connect the file

**Ask Ari**

In a chat, ask Ari to connect the sheet and say what it holds:

> Connect our hiring tracker from Google Sheets and use it for the headcount plan.

Ari opens the connection manager with Google Sheets. Select **Connect**, sign in with Google, and pick the file. Ari imports it in this chat, so it can ask you about the sheet while it works.

**By hand**

**1. Open the connection manager**

In the sidebar, point at **Connections** and select **+** (**Add integration**).

**2. Choose Google Sheets or Google Drive**

On the **Integrations** tab, select **Connect** on **Google Sheets** for a spreadsheet, or on **Google Drive** for a Google Sheet, an Excel workbook (`.xlsx`), or a CSV file. Both are listed under **Data upload** when you filter the directory by type.

**3. Sign in and pick the file**

Sign in with Google. Google's file picker opens; choose one file. The card reads **Opening Google authentication…**, **Choosing in Google…**, **Completing connection…**, and then **Connected**.

**4. Watch the import**

Ari imports the file in the background. The connection's row reads **Waiting for the first sync to read this file…**, then **Ari is importing this file…**. When the import is done, it reads **Imported to** and the Page Ari built, with **Ari updates the model when the file changes.**

If you close Google's picker without choosing a file, the connection stays unfinished and reads **Setup not finished**. Select **Finish setup** on it to pick the file.

## What Ari builds from the file

Ari reads every tab of the spreadsheet with its formulas, values, and number formats. It rebuilds the file in your Model the way it [imports a spreadsheet model](/guides/import-a-spreadsheet-model.md): tabs become Pages, repeated sections become Dimensions, and formulas become cfo.ai formulas. A file of plain data, such as a list of transactions, is imported as data.

## Keep the file in sync

cfo.ai re-reads the file every night, and when you ask Ari to refresh it. When a value, a formula, a tab, or a defined name changed, Ari updates the parts of your Model that came from the changed sections. Edits you made in cfo.ai to sections that did not change stay. A sync that finds the same content starts no update and uses no AI usage, and the row adds **The last sync found no change.** A change to formatting alone, such as colors, column widths, or comments, starts no update either.

Where the update happens follows where you connected the file. A file connected from a chat updates in that chat. A file connected from the connection manager updates in the background, and Ari opens a chat with you only when it needs you.

## Limits

* One file per connection. The same file cannot be connected twice in a workspace.
* A Google Sheet can be up to 50 MB when exported as an Excel workbook. An Excel or CSV file in Drive can be up to 10 MB.
* A larger file shows **This file is too large to import. Make it smaller and the next sync imports it.**

## If something goes wrong

* **Ari stopped before finishing this import. The next sync tries again.** The next nightly sync resumes it, or ask Ari to refresh the connection now.
* **Ari stopped before finishing this import. Continue in the chat that connected it.** Open that chat and ask Ari to continue.
* If either import stopped to ask you a question, the question waits in a chat, and answering it continues the import. [Messages about uploaded files](/reference/connection-statuses.md#messages-about-uploaded-files) says which chat for each message.

For other problems, see [Fix a connection that needs attention](/guides/fix-a-connection.md).

## Related

* [Import an existing spreadsheet model](/guides/import-a-spreadsheet-model.md)
* [Upload a CSV as a data source](/guides/upload-a-csv.md)
* [Refresh data or change when it refreshes](/guides/refresh-data.md)
* [Integrations directory](/reference/integrations.md#google-sheets)


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