Get data from a SQLite file into Google Sheets
Open your SQLite database in Google Sheets and refresh it whenever you like. No CSV uploads, no Apps Script, no copy-paste. About ten minutes the first time, and the Free plan covers it.
What you’ll end up with
A Google Sheet showing the live results of a SQL query against your SQLite file, with a button that pulls the latest rows whenever the data changes. Like this:
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | customer_id | first_name | last_name | country | total |
| 2 | 1042 | Maria | Alvarez | USA | 1,284.50 |
| 3 | 1043 | Daniel | Okafor | USA | 612.00 |
| 4 | 1047 | Priya | Nair | USA | 2,090.75 |
| 5 | 1051 | Thomas | Berg | USA | 338.20 |
| 6 | 1056 | Lucía | Ferreira | USA | 1,455.00 |
| 7 | 1060 | Kenji | Sato | USA | 874.10 |
| 8 |
SQLite databases are single files, usually ending in .db, .sqlite, .sqlite3. Google Sheets can’t open them at all, and the usual workaround is exporting a CSV and uploading it again every time the data changes. Query Streams skips that: a small helper program reads the file where it already sits, and a Google Sheets add-on asks it for the rows you want. The two do not need to be on the same computer. The file can be on the office computer and you can be anywhere: any browser on any device.
What you’ll need
The Agent on a computer that can open the file
A small program that runs in the background and reads the file when Google Sheets asks. Step 2 below shows where to get it.
Your SQLite file
Know where it is, for example C:\Data\sales.db or \\server\share\sales.db. If it lives in OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive, make sure it is synced to the Agent’s computer.
Which computer gets the Agent? The one where the file is, or one that can open it from a network share (see Reaching a file on a network share below). That computer needs to stay on. Google Sheets can be anywhere: it runs in your browser, so nothing at all gets installed where you read the data.
Connect it in five steps
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Create your account
Go to my.querystreams.com and sign up. Pick the Free plan. It is a real plan, not a trial, and it covers connecting your SQLite file and running queries from Google Sheets.
Install the Agent on a computer that can open the file



Sign in, open Download, and install the Agent for your system on the computer where the file is, or on one that can open it from a network share. It takes a minute and starts on its own from then on.
Why a small program instead of a driver? The Agent is one install for Windows, Mac or Linux (about 85 MB on Windows, a little over 100 MB on Mac and Linux) that runs quietly in the background. It makes one outbound, encrypted connection to Query Streams, the same way a browser does, so you open no firewall port and set up no VPN. The file stays where it is, and the rows travel to wherever you are, across the internet if need be. The only thing on your side is the add-on.
The Download page shows Your Access Key. Paste it into the Agent when it asks, and wait for the badge to read Connected to Query Streams. That is the only thing you do on the Agent itself.
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Point it at your SQLite file
Back in your browser, open Data Agents (under Data in the top menu). Your Agent is listed there. Click Add connector, choose SQLite, and fill in:
- Connection name
- Any name you will recognise later, like Sales database.
- Database File Path
- Where the SQLite file is: a path on the Agent’s computer, like C:\Data\sales.db, or a network path, like \\server\share\folder\sales.db, never a mapped drive letter such as S:. Use Browse to pick it.
Click Test connection. When it reads Connected, click Save. The connection reaches your Agent within a few seconds.
Test failed? Usually the path has a typo, or it uses a mapped drive letter such as S:, which the Agent cannot see. Open the folder, copy the path from the address bar, and paste it in again. For a file on another computer, see Reaching a file on a network share below.
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See your data in Query Builder Optional
You can look at your SQLite file before Google Sheets is involved at all. Open Query Builder in the portal and pick the connection you just made. The Schema tab lists your tables and columns, and clicking one puts its name in the editor, so you can write a query without remembering exact names. Click Run and the rows appear under Results. Query Builder is on every plan, Free included.
On Business plans you can also ask Nova in plain English (“show me customers in the USA”) and it writes the SQL for you. When the query looks right, save it: from Personal Core up it shows in the add-on’s Saved Queries list, and on any plan you can copy the SQL into the next step.
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Add Query Streams to Google Sheets
Open any Google Sheet, go to Extensions → Add-ons → Get add-ons, search for Query Streams, and click Install. Or install it straight from Query Streams on the Google Workspace Marketplace. Google will ask you to allow the add-on; that is normal.
Afterwards it is in every Google Sheet you open: a Query Streams icon in the side panel on the right, also listed under Extensions. There is no separate sign-in. It recognises the Google account you are already using, so that email needs to be the one on your Query Streams account.
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Pull in your first table
Click the Query Streams icon in the side panel on the right of the sheet (or find it under Extensions). Choose Query Streamer and pick the connection you just made.
Type the query you want to run. This one pulls a few columns from a customers table:
Example · SQLSELECT customer_id, name, city FROM customers ORDER BY name LIMIT 100;
Under Destination Sheet pick the tab the rows should land in, then click Run Query. The rows land in that tab in a second or two. Click Run Query again any time the data has changed and the tab updates in place.
Don’t know SQL? Build it in Query Builder first and paste it here, or pick it from Saved Queries if you saved it.
Reaching a file on a network share
The Agent opens files as a background service, not as you, so a file on another computer needs one extra step. Which step depends on the computer the Agent runs on.
If the test cannot get to the share, look for these words in its result: unreachable means the Agent’s computer got no answer from the server. On Linux or a Mac, not mounted means the share still has to be mounted, and that message includes the exact mount command for your server.
SQLite file on a share? Leave Read-Only (Immutable) ticked, as it is by default; reads then take a point-in-time view of the file without locks. SQLite cannot use its WAL mode over a network, so with that box unticked a WAL-mode database on a \\server\share path is refused, and the test says it is a WAL-mode SQLite database.
Test failed on a share?
A Windows Agent signs in to the file server itself, so its test result can also say:
| Message | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Access denied for the agent’s service account under the path, or access denied in the test result | The share lets in named people only, and the Agent’s own Windows account is not one of them. Or the login stored for that server may not read this share. | Click Service identity under the path and store a login that can read the share. If one is stored already, ask whoever runs the server to give that account read access. |
| the credentials were refused | The server turned the stored login down: a typo, the wrong domain, or a password changed since it was saved. | Click the account name under the path and type the login again; for an account made on the server itself, leave Domain blank. were refused moments ago means the Agent waits a minute before it tries that same login again, so the account is not locked out; saving a corrected password tries again straight away. |
| Another connector on this agent already signs in to, or Windows already holds a sign-in to | This Windows computer already signs in to that server as a different account, through another connector or another program. Windows allows one account per server. | Store the login the other connector uses, or change it on every connector that reads that server. After Windows already holds a sign-in, the rest of the message says which account it is and what to do. |
| This agent build cannot sign in to | The Agent is an older version that cannot use stored share logins. | Update the Agent, then test again. |
That’s it. Your data is in the sheet and stays current with one click. Nothing left your network except the rows you asked for.
Good next moves
- Save the query in the portal so you can run it again with one click, from Google Sheets or Excel.
- Add a filter such as a date range, so the same query can answer “this month” without editing.
- Share the results with a colleague. They see the rows, not your file and not your file path.
Questions people ask
Does your SQLite file have to be on the computer I use Sheets on?
No. Only the Agent has to be able to open your SQLite file. Google Sheets runs in your browser on any device. Open the add-on with the same Google account and your connections are there.
Does my database file get uploaded anywhere?
No. The Agent reads the file where it sits and sends only the rows your query asks for. The file stays where it is.
Can the file be in OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive?
Yes, as long as it is synced to the computer where the Agent runs, so the Agent sees it as an ordinary local file. Point the connection at the synced copy.
Does the Free plan really cover this?
Yes. Free is a plan you keep, not a trial that expires. See exactly what it includes on the pricing page.
Does the sheet refresh by itself?
Click Run Query again whenever you want the latest rows. For a sheet that refreshes on a schedule without anyone pressing anything, set up an Automation in the Query Streams portal (Streams → Automation). It is on every plan.
Related guides
Every guide for SQLite
Not quite your setup?
- Got a folder of SQLite files instead of one? SQLite Folder merges tables that share a name into one table and tags every row with the file it came from → SQLite Folder
Setup trouble?
- Agent says the file or folder does not exist, or access is denied? Mapped drives, network shares, OneDrive and Linux home folders each need one fix → Where the Agent can read files from
- Agent shows Offline, or Test connection and Browse are greyed out? Check that the Agent is online → Is the Agent online?

