# Working With Spreadsheet templates

> Using spreadsheet templates with Microsoft 365 and Excel activities when reading ranges, building DataTables, and filtering.

Spreadsheet templates are available for use in the following activities that involve working with spreadsheets or workbooks:

* Microsoft 365:
  + [Read Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-read-range-connections)
  + [Write Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-write-range-connections)
  + [For Each Row in Workbook](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-for-each-row-connections)
* Google Workspace:
  + [Read Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/google-workspace-sheets-read-range-connections)
  + [Write Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/google-workspace-sheets-write-range-connections)
  + [For Each Row in Spreadsheet](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/google-workspace-sheets-for-each-row-connections)

## Why use templates?

When do you need templates? For example, if the workbook or spreadsheet you need in your automation is not yet available at design time. Instead of selecting a specific spreadsheet in an activity, you select the output variable from a previous activity, and use a template to indicate what data to look for.

Consider the following example:

Every day at 11:00 am, an.XLSX file is uploaded to your OneDrive. This spreadsheet contains a list of incoming products and always has the same structure, with the following columns: Product code, Product, Qty, Price/Kg, Total Price, Shipping Date. At the end of each day, you need to read content from this file and write it in a new spreadsheet.

The challenge? At design time, you don't have the `.XLSX` file you need, because it's not yet available. This is where templates come in handy. You can use a template.XLSX file as a placeholder for future files, because it has the same structure as the files you process with your automation: same sheet names, same column names, etc.

## Example

1. Add a [For Each File/Folder](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-drive-for-each-file-folder-connections) activity to your workflow.
   * **Product list** is the folder in your OneDrive where an .XLSX file is uploaded daily at 11:00 am:

![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/activities/activities-docs-image-181160-727c3e96.webp)

2. In the Body of the **For Each** activity, add a [Read Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-read-range-connections) activity.
   * For the **Workbook** field, add the **CurrentItem** variable. This represents each item (file) identified through the **For each** activity.

![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/activities/activities-docs-image-180468-ea800716.webp)

   * Use **Workbook sample** to add a template file that has the same structure as the files you need to process daily. In this example, the following column names:

![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/activities/activities-docs-image-185490-8d163125.webp)

3. Add a [Create Workbook](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-create-workbook-connections) activity.

![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/activities/activities-docs-image-182489-fed2b704.webp)

4. Add a [Write Range](https://docs.uipath.com/activities/other/latest/productivity/office365-excel-write-range-connections) activity.
   * For **Workbook**, select the output variable of the **Create workbook** activity.
   * For **What to write**, select the output variable of the **Read Range** activity. This populates the new workbook with content read from the files uploaded daily to your OneDrive:

![docs image](https://dev-assets.cms.uipath.com/assets/images/activities/activities-docs-image-181012-c7cbcc49.webp)

### Errors

If the data available in the template file doesn't correspond to the data found in the read files, an error message indicates what went wrong. For example: `Error: UiPath.MicrosoftOffice365.Excel.ExcelException: Column names or order do not match. Individual errors: at index 3: expected: Product ID but got: ID.`