Troubleshooting Google Sheets to Clay Table Copy-Paste Issues

Hey Clay friends! 👋 I'm running into a little issue and wondering if anyone else has experienced this: I'm trying to copy ~50 rows and 2 columns from Google Sheets and paste them directly into a Clay table (e.g. a spreadsheet field or during import). But no matter what I try, Clay just pastes everything into a single cell instead of recognizing the tabular structure. 🤯 I’ve double-checked:

Using Cmd + C in Google Sheets
Tried Chrome instead of Safari ✅
Made sure I'm clicking into a proper table/spreadsheet area in Clay
Even pasted into TextEdit first to check the tab separation

Still no luck. 😞 Has anyone found a reliable trick or workaround for this? Would love to hear your hacks! 🚀 Thanks in advance! 🙏 —Sonny

7 comments

Clay
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Direct copy-paste from Google Sheets to Clay doesn't preserve tabular structure. Instead, export your Google Sheets data as a CSV file, then in Clay click "Create New" → "table" → type "CSV" → select "Import from CSV" and upload your file. This method maintains your row and column structure when importing into Clay.
Source: Google Sheets [Clay 101] - Clay University
Sonny
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Hey 😊 I get the CSV trick, but that only works when creating a new table. I need to paste data from columns E and F, rows 51–100, into an existing table — not start from scratch. Any way to make that work without losing the structure? 🙏
Clay
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For existing tables, export your specific Google Sheets range as CSV, then use Clay's import feature: click "Actions" → "Import" → "Import from CSV" → "Add to existing table" → select your table → map columns → "Add to table". Direct copy-paste from Google Sheets to Clay doesn't preserve structure, so CSV import is the reliable method for maintaining tabular data.
Source: Upload CSV to your table - Clay University
Sonny
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You are quick with closing bot. Be patient, some people are sleeping, not like you. Please check this screenshot, no mapping for row 51-100 availble. only column mapping.
Clay
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Clay's CSV import feature only supports column mapping, not row-specific imports. To import rows 51-100 from Google Sheets: 1. In Google Sheets, select and copy only rows 51-100 (columns E and F) 2. Create a new Google Sheet and paste this data 3. Export this new sheet as CSV 4. In Clay, go to Actions → Import → Import from CSV → Add to existing table 5. Map your columns and import This workaround maintains tabular structure while importing your specific row range.
Sources: Upload CSV to your table - Clay University Upload CSV to your table - Clay University How to import your CSV into Clay | Documentation | Clay University
Sonny
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No, I need to import "to" column 51-100 within Clay.
LuisArturo
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Hey there sorry for the delay here, after some testing on our end, have not been able to recreate this issue. To clarify here when pasting into Clay, are you highlighting two columns or are you highlighting a single column at a time?