How to use VSTACK in Google Sheets and Excel guide

Picture this: it’s month‑end, and your team is chasing numbers across five ad accounts, three CRMs, and a pile of CSV exports. You don’t need more interns; you need a better way to stack data.

VSTACK is that way. And once you combine it with automation and an AI agent, the whole pipeline runs on rails.

Below are three levels of mastery.

1. Manual methods: getting comfortable with VSTACK

1.1 Basic VSTACK in Excel

VSTACK appends ranges vertically into a single dynamic array.

Goal: Stack two small tables into one.

1. Open your workbook and place the cursor where the combined table should start (e.g., D2).
2. Suppose your first table is in A2:C5 and the second in A7:C10.
3. Enter: =VSTACK(A2:C5, A7:C10)
4. Press Enter. Excel “spills” the result down and across.

Any change in either source table feeds directly into the combined result.

Official doc: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/vstack-function-a4b86897-be0f-48fc-adca-fcc10d795a9c

1.2 Basic VSTACK in Google Sheets

Google Sheets supports the same idea: stack ranges vertically into a dynamic result.

Goal: Combine weekly performance tabs into a single summary.

1. Go to the tab where you want the master table.
2. Assume Week 1 is Week1!A2:D100, Week 2 is Week2!A2:D100.
3. In A2, type: =VSTACK(Week1!A2:D100, Week2!A2:D100)
4. Hit Enter. Sheets fills the grid with a continuous table.

Official doc: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/12435649

1.3 Handling different column widths with IFERROR

Real data is messy: one team uses three columns, another uses five.

1. In Excel, stack two ranges of different widths, e.g. B2:C20 and E2:G20: =VSTACK(B2:C20, E2:G20)
2. You’ll see #N/A where columns don’t exist in a smaller range.
3. Wrap with IFERROR to hide noise: =IFERROR(VSTACK(B2:C20, E2:G20), "")

Same pattern works in Google Sheets.

1.4 Using named ranges or tables

For live pipelines, avoid hard‑coded A1-style references.

Excel:

1. Turn each source range into a Table (select range → Ctrl+T).
2. Give them clear names: Leads_Q1, Leads_Q2.
3. Use: =VSTACK(Leads_Q1, Leads_Q2)
4. As Tables expand, VSTACK updates automatically.

Google Sheets: Use named ranges (Data → Named ranges) and reference names inside VSTACK.

1.5 When you still copy‑paste

Sometimes you just paste once and move on. But as soon as you update the source twice, you’re in “Excel Groundhog Day.” That’s the signal to switch to a VSTACK formula.

2. No‑code automation around VSTACK

Manual VSTACK is powerful, but you’re still the coordinator. No‑code tools help wire everything together so VSTACK always sees fresh data.

2.1 Google Sheets: IMPORTRANGE + VSTACK

For agencies running dozens of client files, keep each client in their own sheet and centralise reporting.

1. In a master Google Sheet, use IMPORTRANGE to pull data: =IMPORTRANGE("<CLIENT_SHEET_URL>", "Leads!A2:F")
2. Give each import its own range: Client1, Client2, etc.
3. In your Summary tab: =VSTACK(Client1, Client2, Client3)
4. When client sheets update, IMPORTRANGE refreshes and VSTACK re‑stacks automatically.

Docs: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093340

2.2 Excel + Power Automate

If your team lives in Microsoft 365, Power Automate can feed Excel tables that VSTACK consumes.

Example: log new CRM leads into an Excel file in OneDrive, then stack them.

1. Create an Excel file with a Table Leads_All.
2. In Excel, build a report tab using: =VSTACK(Leads_All)
3. In Power Automate, build a cloud flow:
   • Trigger: “When a row is added, modified or deleted” (for your CRM or Dataverse).
   • Action: “Add a row into a table” (Excel Online connector) → map CRM fields to Leads_All.
4. Each new row flows into Excel automatically; your VSTACK‑based view updates without you opening the file.

Docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/power-automate/

2.3 Zapier/Make + Sheets or Excel Online

Use Zapier or Make to move data from tools like HubSpot, Stripe, or Facebook Ads into Google Sheets or Excel Online.

1. Create a raw "Data_Inbox" sheet/table that receives all incoming rows.
2. Apply a VSTACK formula on a "Clean_View" tab that stacks (and maybe filters) ranges from different tabs or files.
3. Your no‑code automation just appends new rows; VSTACK handles the consolidation.

Pros of no‑code layer

• Always‑on syncing from apps into your sheet.
• VSTACK stays simple: just stack the prepared ranges.

Cons

• You still maintain formulas, schemas, and quality checks.
• Complex workflows can become hard to visualize.

3. Scaling with an AI agent (Simular) doing the work

At some point, your nightmare isn’t writing =VSTACK(); it’s everything around it: logging in to tools, downloading CSVs, cleaning headers, pasting into the right sheet, fixing broken formulas, checking row counts.

This is where a Simular AI agent shines.

Simular Pro runs like a power user sitting at your Mac: it can open browsers, navigate CRMs, download reports, open Excel or Google Sheets, type formulas, and verify results. Every action is visible and editable, so you stay in control.

3.1 Method 1 – Desktop Excel workflow with Simular Pro

Scenario: Your sales ops manager currently:

• Downloads weekly CSVs from Salesforce and a billing tool.
• Opens Excel, pastes them into Raw_SF and Raw_Billing tabs.
• Updates =VSTACK(Raw_SF, Raw_Billing) in Master_Leads.
• Filters out errors and emails the file.

You can instruct a Simular Pro agent:

1. Open browser, log into Salesforce, export leads.
2. Export billing data from Stripe or your billing platform.
3. Open the Excel template on desktop.
4. Paste CSVs into the correct Tables.
5. Ensure Master_Leads tab’s VSTACK formula is present and unbroken.
6. Save the file and send it via email or upload to SharePoint.

Pros

• Zero code; you describe the workflow, agent executes like a human.
• Works with legacy desktop Excel and complex corporate environments.

Cons

• Requires a dedicated machine or VM for the agent to run.

3.2 Method 2 – Browser‑native Google Sheets workflow

Scenario: A marketing agency reports on performance across dozens of Google Sheets.

A Simular agent can:

1. Open each client’s Google Sheet in the browser.
2. Insert or update that client’s VSTACK formulas (e.g., stacking per‑channel tabs into one "All Traffic" tab).
3. Open the agency’s master Sheet and refresh cross‑sheet VSTACK references.
4. Sanity‑check row counts between source and stacked ranges.
5. Export PDFs or CSVs and file them into Google Drive or email them.

Pros

• Great for Google‑first teams.
• Transparent: you can watch the agent work in the browser.

Cons

• Heavy UI changes (renamed tabs, moved ranges) may require small prompt tweaks.

3.3 Method 3 – Hybrid, webhook‑triggered workflows

For recurring tasks—say, every Friday at 5 p.m.—you can use webhooks or schedulers to trigger Simular Pro:

1. A scheduler (Cron, Make, or a backend) hits Simular’s webhook.
2. The agent wakes up, executes the full data‑refresh routine across Excel and Google Sheets.
3. It updates VSTACK formulas, validates for errors (no unexpected #N/A in key metrics), and pushes final outputs where your team works.

Pros

• Fully hands‑off after setup.
• Production‑grade reliability for long workflows with thousands of steps.

Cons

• Requires slightly more upfront design of the end‑to‑end pipeline.

Once you reach this stage, VSTACK stops being a small formula and becomes the backbone of a live reporting system, maintained not by human interns but by an AI agent that faithfully clicks, types, and checks exactly the way you’d do it—just without getting tired.