Run SQL in Google Sheets Without Apps Script JDBC

Google Sheets · SQL without Apps Script

Run SQL in Google Sheets without writing Apps Script JDBC

Apps Script’s JDBC service works, and this page shows you the honest version of it: the code, the six-minute limit, the IP ranges, the password in the script. Then it shows the other way: a small Agent next to your database runs the SQL, and a Google Sheets add-on pulls the rows into your sheet. No JavaScript, no firewall changes, and the Free plan covers it.

About 15 minutes SQL only, no JavaScript Password stays on your network MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server and more

If you still want Apps Script JDBC, here is the honest version

Google’s JDBC service connects Apps Script to MySQL, Google Cloud SQL for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. The smallest working script that fills a sheet looks like this:

function loadCustomers() {
  const props = PropertiesService.getScriptProperties();          // keep the password out of the code
  const conn = Jdbc.getConnection('jdbc:mysql://db.example.com:3306/sales',
                                  props.getProperty('DB_USER'), props.getProperty('DB_PASS'));
  const rs = conn.createStatement().executeQuery('SELECT customer_id, name, city FROM customers LIMIT 1000');
  const rows = [];
  while (rs.next()) rows.push([rs.getString(1), rs.getString(2), rs.getString(3)]);
  rs.close(); conn.close();
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName('Customers');
  sheet.clearContents();
  sheet.getRange(1, 1, rows.length, 3).setValues(rows);
}

The sample uses MySQL. For the other engines only the connection string changes: jdbc:postgresql://, jdbc:sqlserver:// and jdbc:oracle:thin:@ follow the same shape, and Cloud SQL uses jdbc:google:mysql://. Before that runs, your database has to accept connections from Google’s servers. Google publishes the address ranges as a JSON file that you add to your database firewall and keep in step with, and the database must listen on a port of 1025 or higher. The limits that bite in practice come from Google’s quotas page:

Two things the sample above hides. Google’s own examples pass the user name and password as plain strings in the code, and most scripts in the wild copy that; the script properties trick keeps them out of the source but anyone who can edit the script can still read them. And every row has to fit in the script’s memory and finish inside the six minutes, so a slow query or a wide table means chunking the work by hand. If your table is small, your database is already reachable from the internet, and one developer owns the script, JDBC is fine. The rest of this page is for everyone else.

What you’ll end up with instead

A Google Sheet that holds the result of a SQL query against your database, with a Run Query button in the side panel that pulls the latest rows whenever you want them. Like this:

Sales Saved to Drive

FileEditViewInsertFormatDataToolsExtensionsHelp

	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

+ customers Sheet1 Live from your database

The difference is where the query runs. With JDBC, Google’s servers open a connection into your database, so your firewall has to let them in and the script has to hold the password. With Query Streams, a small program called the Agent runs on a computer that can already reach the database, makes one outbound connection to Query Streams, and runs the SQL there. The Google Sheets add-on asks for the rows and only the rows travel. Nothing is opened on your firewall, and the password never leaves the Agent.

What you’ll need

A Query Streams account

The Free plan is enough for this guide. Sign up at my.querystreams.com.

The Agent on a computer that can reach the server

A small program that runs in the background and queries the database when Google Sheets asks. Often the database server itself, or any always-on computer on the same network.

Your own connection details

The server name, the database name, and a username and password that can read it. If someone else manages the database, this is the bit to ask them for.

Set it up in four steps

1. Create your account

   Go to my.querystreams.com and sign up with the Google account you use for Sheets. Pick the Free plan. It is a real plan, not a trial, and it covers two connections and ad-hoc SQL from Google Sheets.

2. Install the Agent on a computer that can reach the server

   Sign in, open Download, and install the Agent on a machine that can already reach your own database: often the database server itself, or any always-on computer on the same network. 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. Your database stays on your network, 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.

   Full walkthroughs if you want them: Windows, Mac, Linux.

3. Add your database connection

   In the portal open Data → Data Agents, click Add connector on your Agent, choose the database type and fill in the host, port, database and a read-only login. Click Test connection, then Save. The connection reaches the Agent within a few seconds. Each database has its own walkthrough with the exact fields: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle. Cloud SQL, Amazon RDS and Azure databases connect the same way; the Agent just needs to be able to reach them.

   No IP allowlist. The Agent connects to your database from inside your network and to Query Streams outbound over HTTPS. There is no list of Google addresses to add to the firewall and nothing to keep in step with.

4. Run the SQL from Google Sheets

   Open your spreadsheet and install the Query Streams add-on from the Google Workspace Marketplace if you have not yet. It recognises the Google account you are already signed in with; there is no separate login. In the side panel click Query Streamer, pick your connection, and paste the same SELECT you would have put in the script:

   Example · SQL

   SELECT customer_id, name, city
   FROM customers
   ORDER BY name
   LIMIT 1000;

   Choose the tab under Destination Sheet and click Run Query. The rows land under your column headers. Click Run Query again whenever you want the latest data. To have the sheet refresh on its own, save the query in Query Builder and set up an Automation, which runs it on a schedule from every five minutes to weekly.

Side by side, only what holds up

What the plans allow

Ad-hoc SQL from the Google Sheets add-on is on every plan, including Free. Free includes two connections and a monthly data allowance of 5 MB of results, enough for a table like the one above refreshed many times a day. Running queries you saved in Query Builder from the add-on starts at Personal Core; queries a colleague shares with you run on every plan. See the pricing page for the allowances by plan.

Questions people ask

Related guides

• How to connect MySQL to Google Sheets
• How to connect PostgreSQL to Google Sheets
• How to connect SQL Server to Google Sheets
• Sync MySQL to Google Sheets on a schedule
• Install the Google Sheets add-on
• Power Query for Google Sheets