We ❤️ Notion. It is likely one of the best ways to store structured data without going full-database. In fact—and this is going to ruffle a few feathers—I prefer Notion over Airtable to store all our data. This helps us keep pages, content, and databases together in the same location.
But there is one thing Notion can’t do well.
Analysis.
If you have a lot of data on your Notion database, you will want to analyze the data for insights at some point. Even formulas we have learned to love on Excel and Google Sheets don’t work the same way on Notion.
In those cases, it is easier to simply download everything on to your Google Sheet than to try and make sense of Notion formulas. We will look at a quick and easy way to import Notion data into your Google Sheets and run any analysis you want with traditional spreadsheet formulas.
Here are some common uses:
- Preparing a list of pending tasks from your project plan on Notion. Finding the % of tasks completed.
- Identifying your most successful sales people by analyzing your deal pipeline on Notion.
For this article, we will take a Notion database: our Content Calendar, and import a list of the topics that have already been published so that we can report on the progress. These are the steps we will take:
- Step 1: Connect your Notion Database to Google Sheets.
- Step 2: Select the Notion database to import from.
- Step 3: Select the columns you wish to import. Add a filter if you want to.
Here is the content calendar we will import from:
Step 1: Connect your Notion Database to Google Sheets.
To begin your import from Notion, you have to first connect your Notion databases (or workspace, if you are the Admin) to Google Sheets. We do this using our Google Sheet extension, Airnotion. If you haven’t installed Airnotion already, get it here. Airnotion is a Google Sheets extension that allows you to connect to, and import, data from a wide range of sources.
After you’ve installed Airnotion, launch it on any Google Sheet by going to Extensions → Airnotion → Launch. Give it any permissions needed. Once you are on the Home Screen, click on Import and then on the Add button next to Notion.
If you are the Notion workspace admin:
The admin is usually the one who created the workspace. They can also grant admin access to other team members. As an admin, you are able to select all the Notion pages within the workspace to be connected to Airnotion (you may be asked to provide access to Airboxr for GSheets, which is our backend).
(If you have Groups set up, make sure that you are also added to the Admin group.)
If you are not the Notion workspace admin:
If you don't have admin access, you can still connect the relevant databases using the search tool. Simply type the name of the page(s) you want to add, and it will show up as 'Manually Added'. If you have a lot of tables, it may take Notion a few seconds to find your database.
Click Allow access to connect your Notion account with Airnotion.
Great, your Notion database/workspace is now connected. You need not repeat this process.
Step 2: Select the database to import from.
The query builder is simply an interactive menu that allows you to import the data you need. After you have connected Notion, simply click on the Import button on the Home Screen again. This will allow you to select the table that you wish to import data from.
We will select the Calendar table that we want to import from.
Step 3: Select the columns you wish to import. Add a filter if you want to.
You have the choice to import all (or some of) the columns within the table. For our example, we will select all the columns. Next we will filter the import using the Filter section of the query builder—remember, we need to import a list of only the topics that have already been published.
That’s it!
Just hit the red Import button and the filtered data will be imported into your spreadsheet! Now you can run your analysis and create visualizations on Google Sheet.
You can save your Notion queries and run them from any spreadsheet. Or schedule them and keep a spreadsheet updated automatically. My colleague, Salima goes over the process in this short video.
If you have not installed the Notion query builder yet, just download Airnotion from the Google Workspace Marketplace using the button below.
