Our 'Automatically Import CSV' automation can help you synchronize data from, for example, Google Sheets or Dropbox into Airtable. This is a one-way sync, meaning that it will only import changes. To export CSV files from Airtable, have a look at this automation.
To set this up, you need to have a publicly available URL for your CSV file, which you then set in the CSV File URL field in your automation's configuration.
You will also need one field/column that contains a unique ID for each record. This is used to identify records when importing, so that changes can be applied to the appropriate records. A single-line text field is a straightforward choice for storing stable IDs.
Please carefully watch the instructional video. It guides you step-by-step on how to set up this automation.
Written setup instructions
Prepare a small test CSV with a header row. Use column names that match the Airtable destination fields, including a unique ID column with a stable, non-empty value for each row.
Place the file at a public, direct CSV URL. The automation must be able to download the CSV itself without signing in.
Create the Automatically Import CSV automation in the correct workspace and base, then select your destination Table.
Under Setup, paste the direct file link into CSV File URL. Select the matching Airtable field under Unique ID Column Name. Each ID must be unique in both the CSV and Airtable so the correct record can be updated.
Existing Data Action is Overwrite: matching records are updated with the non-empty CSV values. Review the processing rules below before importing.
In Import CSV, enable Test Mode for your first run if available, then run the import. Check the destination record and field mapping before importing the full file or scheduling future runs.
How Records are processed
If the record exists in the CSV AND Airtable, the matching record is updated using the non-empty values supplied in the CSV, matched by the configured unique ID field. Fields omitted from the CSV and empty CSV values do not clear existing Airtable values.
If the record exists in the CSV, but NOT in Airtable, a new record will be created.
If the record does NOT exist in the CSV but exists in Airtable, the record will remain in Airtable. It won't get deleted.
You can use a field/column to indicate that a record should be treated as if it were deleted, for example a single select field or checkbox field. An update to that field would then be synced to Airtable, where you could filter out records with a certain value.
Formatting Considerations
To fill several values in the same field (e.g. more than one multi-select option, or more than one linked record), you'll need to separate the values with commas, and wrap the entire field's value in quotes:
For example, if you want to fill the values "First" and "Second" in a field, your CSV file should contain:
"First,Second"(including the quotes)
Using the Automation with Google Sheets
To learn how to get a shareable CSV from a Google Sheet, have a look at the video on this page.
Using the Automation with Dropbox
When using Dropbox, uploading a new version of a CSV file will change the last part of its share URL. However, that part of the URL is not needed for this automation, so it can be removed. For example, for this share URL https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fj9ade7h99630hts0ljau/base22.csv?rlkey=8gukr1d95rv3vh3pmla31rr12=glfhkp4x=0
you would only use this part in the CSV File URL field:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fj9ade7h99630hts0ljau/base22.csv?rlkey=8gukr1d95rv3vh3pmla31rr12 (i.e. without the =gl... part)