Generate Documents from Google Sheets and Google Docs

If you’ve ever had to create onboarding letters one by one, you know how quickly it turns into busywork. The real win is not just generating a document — it’s turning a repetitive task into a clean, repeatable process where your data and template do the heavy lifting.

That’s exactly what this setup does. It uses Google Drive to connect a Google Sheet full of employee data with a Google Doc template, then generates polished documents automatically.

In this case, the output is a PDF onboarding package letter, but the same approach works as long as your data and placeholders line up.

View video demo here.

Start with the two pieces: data and template

The workflow begins with two files:

• a Google Sheet with the data
• a Google Doc with the letter template

The spreadsheet holds the fields you want to merge into the final document. In the sample setup, those fields include company name, address, date, employee name, and a few others.

The template is formatted with placeholders, and the transcript makes an important point here: the placeholders use underscores and stay as single words. That matters because clean, consistent field names make mapping much easier later. If your template says company_name, your data should use something close to that. The closer the names match, the less manual cleanup you’ll need.

That small decision saves time. It also reduces the chance of generating a letter with missing or mismatched fields.

Choose Google Drive as the source

Once the sheet and template are ready, the next step is to go to the document generation page and switch the source from the default device upload to Google Drive.

From there, the process is straightforward:

1. Open Google Drive
2. Authenticate your Google account
3. Select the spreadsheet as the data source
4. Authenticate again if needed
5. Select the Google Doc template

The important shift here is that you’re no longer uploading files manually from your computer. You’re connecting directly to the files already living in Google Drive. That keeps the workflow cleaner, especially if your team already works in Google Workspace.

Let the system map the fields, then check the details

After selecting the spreadsheet and template, the tool automatically detects field mappings when the names are similar enough.

That’s one of the most useful parts of the workflow. If your spreadsheet uses company_address and your template uses something close to that, the tool can often connect them without much effort. When the naming is slightly off, though, you may need to adjust the mapping manually.

This is where the setup either stays smooth or gets messy. A quick review now is better than discovering later that the employee name landed in the wrong place or a date field came through empty.

The goal is simple: make sure every placeholder in the template points to the right column in the sheet before you generate anything.

Set the output format and file naming

After mapping the fields, choose the output format. In the demo, PDF is selected because the final goal is to create PDF files.

That choice makes sense for onboarding letters. PDFs are easy to send, harder to accidentally edit, and look consistent across devices.

Then comes another practical detail: the file name. Instead of leaving the generated files with generic names, you can build a custom file naming pattern. In the transcript, the naming includes:

• company name
• employee name
• date or start date

That’s a small step with a big payoff. When you’re generating multiple letters, file names that include key fields make it much easier to find the right document later without opening every file.

Preview before you generate everything

Before generating the full batch, preview the first document.

This step is worth slowing down for. The preview lets you confirm that:

• the placeholders are filling correctly
• the formatting still looks clean
• the document reads the way you expect

In the demo, the preview looks good and all fields appear in the right places. That’s the signal to move forward.

Skipping the preview is tempting when you’re in a hurry, but it’s the fastest way to waste time if something is misaligned. One preview can save you from generating a whole batch of documents that need to be redone.

Generate, then decide where the files go

Once the preview checks out, generate all documents. The system asks for one more confirmation and then processes the files.

You don’t have to sit there waiting for it to finish. The generation runs in the background, and the finished documents are also sent by email. That gives you two ways to retrieve them: stay in the app and download, or check your inbox.

After that, you can either:

• download the file to your computer
• save the files to cloud storage

In the demo, the files are saved to a folder in the cloud called on boarding Friday. That makes the output easy to organize if you’re generating letters in batches or managing multiple onboarding events.

Why this setup works

The strength of this workflow is that it removes friction without making the process complicated.

You keep the important parts under control:

• the source data stays in a spreadsheet
• the letter stays in a template
• the output stays consistent
• the final files are easy to name, review, and store

That combination matters. It turns onboarding letters from a manual task into a repeatable system. Once the sheet and template are set up correctly, the rest becomes a few deliberate clicks instead of a long copy-and-paste routine.

FAQ

Can I use files from Google Drive instead of uploading from my computer?

Yes. In this workflow, you select Google Drive as the source and connect both the spreadsheet and the Google Doc template directly from your account.

What file type can I generate?

In the demo, the output format is PDF.

Do I need to map every field manually?

Not always. If the field names in your spreadsheet and template are similar, the tool can detect the mappings automatically. If something doesn’t match, you may need to adjust it yourself.

Can I preview the document before generating everything?

Yes. You can preview the first document to check formatting and field placement before generating the full set.

Where do the finished documents go?

You can download them to your computer or save them to cloud storage. The generated files are also sent by email.

Final takeaway

If you want onboarding letters that are fast to produce and still look professional, the key is simple: keep your data clean, name your fields consistently, preview before you generate, and use cloud storage to keep everything organized.

Once that’s in place, document generation stops being a chore and starts behaving like a system.