Import File

Uploading a spreadsheet file to InstaCharts is the fastest way to turn raw data into a chart. Once uploaded, InstaCharts automatically detects column types, builds an initial chart, and makes your data ready to explore.

InstaCharts supports a wide range of spreadsheet file types:

Format	Extension(s)
Comma-separated values	.csv
Pipe-separated values	.psv
Tab-separated values	.tsv
Delimiter-separated text	.dsv, .txt, .log
Microsoft Excel	.xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb
OpenDocument Spreadsheet	.ods, .fods
Apple Numbers	.numbers
JSON	.json, .jsonl
Web and rich text tables	.html, .rtf
Legacy data formats	.dif, .dbf, .eth

To sync a live spreadsheet that updates automatically, check out the Import from Google Sheets guide instead.

Tip

A good chart starts with well-structured data. See Formatting Data for Import for how to lay out rows, columns, header names, and data types before you upload.

New Sheet Dialog

To import a new spreadsheet, from your workspace, click New -> New Sheet in the upper left corner.

The New Sheet dialog offers three ways to get data into InstaCharts:

• Upload a file imports a CSV, Excel, JSON, or other spreadsheet from your device.
• Connect a data source syncs live data from Google Sheets or Google Drive.
• Blank sheet starts from scratch by typing or pasting your own data into a spreadsheet editor.

To load a spreadsheet file click the left option, Upload a file.

Choose from loading a file from your device, connecting an outside data source, or typing your data into a blank sheet

Import Options

After you pick a file, InstaCharts parses it and opens the Import - File Preview window. The left side holds the import options, and the right side shows a live preview of the data those options produce. Changing an option reloads the preview, so you can see the result before you commit.

Import Options on the left, live data preview on the right. Adjust an option and the preview refreshes.

1. Name this sheet

The Sheet Name box is filled in from the file name. Type over it to give the new sheet a more descriptive name. The name you enter here is the name that appears in your workspace, so it is worth setting before you import.

For a workbook with several pages, this box is labeled Base Name instead, and the name is used for every sheet the import creates.

2. Detect headers

Two checkboxes control how InstaCharts finds the header row and the start of your data. Both are turned on by default.

Find first data row looks through the first few rows to find a row that contains numbers or dates. Blank and incomplete rows at the top of the sheet are removed. Turn this on when your spreadsheet has a title, a note, or a few empty rows above the actual table, because that extra text can stop a column from being detected as a number or a date.

Use first row as header treats the first row of the sheet as the column names. Uncheck it when your spreadsheet has no header row, and the columns are given generic names such as A, B, and C instead.

Note

The Detect headers step is not shown for JSON files. JSON records already carry their property names, so InstaCharts reads the column names directly from the data.

3. Columns

By default every column in the file is imported. Turn on Choose columns to import to pick a subset, then use the Columns dropdown to toggle individual columns on and off. The dropdown also has Select All and Deselect All buttons for working with wide spreadsheets.

Columns you leave out are hidden in the preview and are not imported into the sheet.

4. File encoding

Some kinds of files (like .csv, .psv, .tsv) don’t contain their file encoding types, which help provide the correct character set for the file.

Use the File Encoding Type dropdown to change your spreadsheet’s encoding if the character set doesn’t look correct in the preview.

Tip

The most common modern character encoding is Unicode UTF-8. If Auto doesn’t work for your spreadsheet, try UTF-8 next.

Data Preview

The preview grid shows the first 100 rows of the file so you can confirm the data was read the way you expect before importing.

Column headers are color coded by the type InstaCharts detected:

• Green columns are dates, which can be split apart into parts like month and year when charting.
• Blue columns are numbers, which can be plotted on a value axis and aggregated.
• Pink columns are text, which become the labels and groups in your charts.

If a column you expect to be a number or a date is showing as pink text, a stray value is usually the cause. Edit the spreadsheet to remove the extra text from the column, then import again. See Formatting Data for Import for the rules InstaCharts uses to detect each type.

Row and column limits

If the file is larger than your plan allows, a warning appears under the preview telling you how many of the file’s rows and columns can be imported, along with an Upgrade Plan link. The rest of the file is not imported, so trim the source file or raise your limits before importing if you need the full data set.

Note

Free accounts are limited to files 2MB or less and will only process up to 500 rows per spreadsheet

Workbooks with Multiple Pages

Excel and OpenDocument workbooks often hold several pages. When InstaCharts finds more than one page in a file, the import options open with a Workbook heading that names the file and lists how many pages it contains. Each page becomes its own sheet in InstaCharts.

1. In the Pages dropdown, choose which workbook pages to import. Every page is selected by default, and Select All and Deselect All are available for large workbooks.
2. Enter a Base Name. It is used to name the sheets created from the pages you selected.
3. Click a page tab above the preview to review that page, then set its Detect headers and Columns options. These options are stored per page, so each page can be imported differently.
4. Click the X on a tab to drop that page from the import, or clear the whole selection from the Pages dropdown.

A multi-page workbook. The Pages dropdown selects which tabs to import and each selected page gets its own tab above the preview.

Tip

Splitting related tables into separate workbook pages is a clean way to import several data sets at once, because each page arrives as its own sheet with its own charts.

Generate AI Charts on Import

Next to the Import button is a Generate AI charts checkbox. Leave it checked and InstaCharts analyzes the sheet as soon as it finishes uploading and creates three recommended charts for you, then opens the first one.

Generating charts this way uses 1 AI credit, and the chip under the checkbox shows how many credits your workspace has left for the month. Generation can take a few minutes, and you can click Open sheet on the progress window to start working while the charts finish in the background.

See AI Chart Recommendations for generating recommendations later from inside a sheet.

Imported Spreadsheet

Once your sheet has been imported, it will automatically open to a chart created with your data.

A chart is instantly created from the uploaded spreadsheet

Check Formatting

Click the Data tab to view your processed spreadsheet data. Column types are autodetected based on the data each contains. Column names are pulled from the header row of the spreadsheet.

To edit column names, click Edit Column from each column’s header menu on the data tab.

View spreadsheet data on the Data Tab on the Full Dataset view

Next Steps

Need to do some light editing of the data? View how to edit individual data cells or replace all values within a column.

There are also several Data Transformations available in InstaCharts to reshape your data.

Add a trend line to your chart.

Export your chart as an image file.