An Overview of Unito’s Integration for Microsoft Excel Online

Ready to start syncing Microsoft Excel spreadsheets from your browser with automated updates? Here's what you need to know.

• How does Unito sync data fields to and from Microsoft Excel?
• How to install the Unito add-in for Microsoft Excel
• Setting rules in Unito to manage your Excel spreadsheets
• Finding your Excel workbook
• What this integration doesn’t support (yet!)
• Watch a video demo of this Excel integration

Unito's integration for Microsoft Excel enables you to pull crucial data out of your other tools and into a spreadsheet, or vice versa when you create a flow.

To sync Excel with Unito, you'll also need to add Unito's add-in for Microsoft Excel. This add-in tells Unito which columns to sync and must be added to each spreadsheet you'd like to sync.

How does Unito sync data fields to and from Microsoft Excel?

To connect Microsoft Excel and/or another tool through Unito Sync Platform, users create flows. Flows represent the connection between Excel and other tools comprised of four steps:

• Connect Excel and/or another tool

• Choose a flow direction

• Set up rules to filter items from syncing

• Link fields between tools

Any text or number field(s) in your other tools will appear in Excel Online synced to your columns. That’s why the first row of your spreadsheet (also known as a table header or header row) should clearly identify the data in each column.

Unito syncs rows as individual work items. So if you were to sync tasks to a spreadsheet, then those tasks would become rows, while the task fields would become columns.

What counts as an item in sync?

For Microsoft Excel, Unito counts every synced row as an item in sync.

How to install the Unito add-in for Microsoft Excel

To use this integration, you’ll need to install the Unito add-in for Excel. Add-ins let you do more with your spreadsheets, and you need to install this for Unito to work. 

1. Start by going to the top of your spreadsheet. Click on File, then Get Add-ins.
2. In the next screen click STORE and type Unito into the search box.
3. Click Add and follow the on-screen instructions to install the Unito add-in. 

How to use the Unito add-in for Excel

Once the Unito add-in is installed, you can access it at any time.

1. Select Home
2. Click the ellipsis (three dots) on the right-hand side of the ribbon and select Open Unito.
   1. Note: you'll need to be using a single-line ribbon. If you're using the classic ribbon, expand your window first until you see the Open Unito button.
3. Now, select Insert Two Columns Into This Sheet.

Unito will automatically add columns called UnitoID and Last Modified. Without these columns, your data will stop syncing with Unito. If you'd like, you can hide them, but don't modify or delete those columns.

Setting rules in Unito to manage your Excel spreadsheets

You can set clear rules in Unito to filter information out of your flow. For this integration, you can build two types of rules:

• Sync column if it has a value: e.g., create a rule in Unito to only sync rows with "any value" in a column you've called "Priority." This would mean only rows with text in that column would sync. 

• Sync column if it's empty: The exact opposite of the previous rule. Taking that Priority example again, a row will not sync if it has anything in the Priority column.

Finding your Excel workbook

When it's time to connect your Excel spreadsheet, all you have to do is click Select a workbook then pick the Excel workbook you want to sync.

What this integration doesn’t support (yet!)

Since this is a lite connector, Uniot's Microsoft Excel integration doesn’t do everything a full integration can. Here are some of these limitations.

• Live sync: Due to limitations in Excel’s API, there can be a bit of a delay in sending information over once created in Excel. If your row is taking a bit longer to sync, try manually saving your spreadsheet.

• Syncing workbooks that use desktop-only features: A limitation in Excel's API means that workbooks and spreadsheets that use features only available in the desktop version of Excel can't be synced with Unito. Not sure if you're using these features? Check Microsoft's documentation here.

• Attachments: Not currently supported for this integration.

• Rich text: That means bold and italic text won't sync over.

• Hyperlinks: These are considered rich text, so they're not supported by this integration. Note: If you try to sync a hyperlink from one spreadsheet to another, the link might get deleted in the destination spreadsheet.

• Webhooks aren't supported yet. This means that an Excel flow will check for changes every few minutes rather than syncing changes in real-time.

• File storage: Unito's Excel connector currently only supports Excel Online with spreadsheets stored in OneDrive. SharePoint storage and desktop Excel files are not yet supported.

Watch a video demo of Unito's Excel integration with Jira