How to Export Non-Exportable Google Sheets

Published on September 14, 2025

Sometimes you find a useful Google Sheet (like a list of the best savings account rates in Australia) but the owner has disabled copying, downloading, and exporting. This can be frustrating if you want to filter or analyze the data yourself.

The Problem

File owners can restrict these actions: Make a copy, Download, Print, Email.

For example, see this sheet — you can't make a copy, download or print it.

When trying to print or export a Google Sheet, you might encounter messages such as:

• "Options to download, print, and copy have been disabled on this file"
• "You need access" — This appears if you try to use an export URL (like https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/<spreadsheet-id>/export?format=csv) for a restricted file.

If you see these messages, the workaround described below will likely help you access the data.

Workaround

You can still get the data for personal/research use:

1. Open the sheet in your browser.
2. Press Ctrl+U (or right-click → View Page Source) to open the HTML source.
3. Search for "<table" — copy everything from the first "<table ...>" to the first "</table>".
4. Paste this into a new .html file and open it in your browser.
5. Select all (Ctrl+A), copy (Ctrl+C), and paste into Excel or Google Sheets.

• The formatting won't be perfect, but the data should be usable.
• You can now sort, filter, and analyze as needed.

Disclaimer

This method is for research and educational purposes only. Please respect the data owner's rights. Do not use or redistribute the data for commercial purposes.

Simple, but effective if you just need to analyze the data for yourself.

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