A spreadsheet is the top-level container in Google Sheets. It corresponds to a single file and can contain multiple sheets (tabs).
Structure
A spreadsheet is identified by a unique spreadsheet ID (also called a spreadsheet key), which appears in URLs as:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/SPREADSHEET_ID/edit
Each spreadsheet contains:
- One or more sheets (individual tabs)
- Named ranges that span across sheets
- Spreadsheet-level properties (title, locale, time zone, etc.)
- Developer metadata
Terminology
WARNING
The term “spreadsheet” can cause confusion:
- In the Google Sheets UI and casual usage, “spreadsheet” often refers to the entire file
- In Google Apps Script, the equivalent object is called
Spreadsheet(with a capital S)- In the Google Sheets API, this is the
SpreadsheetresourceSee Sheet for the individual tabs within a spreadsheet.
Properties
Spreadsheets have various properties including:
- Title — the file name
- Locale — determines number and date formatting defaults
- Time zone — affects date/time interpretation
- Recalculation settings — controls when formulas update
- Iterative calculation settings — for circular references
API Reference
For complete API documentation, see Spreadsheet resource.