# Paste from a spreadsheet

> Copy cells in Excel and paste them into the grid to fill many records at once; lines past the last row become new drafts.

Source: https://www.speclatch.com/guide/records/paste-from-a-spreadsheet
Who: Admin or Engineering. Plan: Every plan.
Last verified: 2026-11-11

When the values for many records already sit in a spreadsheet, copy them and paste them into the grid instead of typing cell by cell. One paste can fill a column for twenty records, and an Undo takes it back. For hundreds of rows, or a file you want checked before anything changes, use [Update existing records from a file](/guide/import-export/update-existing-records) instead.

## How a paste lands

- The cell you click receives the top-left value you copied. The rest fills to the right and downward, in the order the grid shows its columns and rows. So the grid must line up with your spreadsheet: the same columns in the same order, and the records in the same order.
- Only Draft records take values. Rows in the way that are In review or Published are skipped, and the message after the paste counts them.
- Calculated, Files, Link to records and From linked records columns keep their values. Pasted cells that land on them are left out.
- A number lands in the unit shown under the column name. A cell that names its unit, such as `32 m³/h`, converts into the column's unit.
- Lines that run past the last row become new drafts, as long as they include the *Name* column. SpecLatch asks before creating them.

## Before you start

- You need the Admin or Engineering role.
- The grid shows everything you can see. Editing is off while the view menu's *Preview as* shows a lower tier.

## Fill values for existing records

1. Arrange the grid like your sheet. Click **Columns** to hide the columns your sheet doesn't have, and drag column headers into its order.
2. Click **Sort** and sort the grid the way the sheet is sorted, for example by *Model #*.
3. In your spreadsheet, select the cells without their header row and press Ctrl+C.
4. In the grid, click the cell where the top-left value belongs.
5. Press Ctrl+V. A message counts the updated records and names anything skipped.
6. If the paste landed in the wrong place, click **Undo** on that message, or press Ctrl+Z.

> **Tip:** When the sheet's columns come in another order, copy and paste one column at a time. Then only the rows have to line up.

## Add new records

Lines past the last row become new drafts. To add records without overwriting others, filter the grid down to one draft that your first line belongs to, then paste from there. Say the draft pump HC 5x4-10 still needs its line, and two new sizes come with it.

1. Click **Filter**, then **Add condition**, and set *Model #* *is* `HC-5X4-10-17-CI`.
2. Copy the three lines in your spreadsheet, starting with the *Name* column. The draft's line comes first.
3. Click the draft's *Name* cell and press Ctrl+V.
4. Check the counts in the dialog, then click **Paste — create 2**.
5. Remove the filter to see the two new drafts.

![The Paste creates new records dialog: this paste updates 1 existing record and creates 2 new drafts, with Cancel and Paste — create 2 buttons.](https://www.speclatch.com/guide/records/paste-from-a-spreadsheet-1.png)

*Lines past the last row become drafts; SpecLatch counts them and asks first.*

> **What Undo puts back.** Undo restores the values a paste changed in existing records. New drafts stay, so move them to the trash if you don't want them. A paste takes up to 500 lines.

## What happens after

The pasted values save at once, and calculated fields recompute. Each changed field's history records the change under your name. New drafts start with what you pasted; open each one to fill in the rest.