Can I bring in data from outside Insights, like targets, benchmarks, or any data other table?
Yes — paste the data directly into any cell in the spreadsheet tab, the same way you would in Excel. This is the right approach for static inputs: a target ADR, a commission rate, a budget figure, or a small reference table you want to use alongside your live Insights data.
⚠️ The important thing to understand is that this data lives only within the spreadsheet tab. You can use it in formulas and reference it across sheets, but it does not become a queryable data source in Insights and will not power other query tabs or dashboards independently.
Can dashboard viewers enter their own values into the spreadsheet while viewing in a dashboard?
Yes, by unlocking specific cells. By default, spreadsheets are read-only on dashboards. To make specific cells editable for viewers:
Open Dashboard Settings and enable Allow cells to be unlocked for editing
In the workbook, right-click the cells you want viewers to be able to edit
Select Unlock range
Only the cells you unlock become editable; everything else stays read-only. This is useful when viewers need to adjust a single assumption (a commission rate, a budget target, an ADR input) and see the downstream calculations update without having access to the full spreadsheet.
My formulas are showing wrong results after I changed a query. What happened?
When a connected query changes structure (a column is added, removed, or reordered), the query sheet in the spreadsheet updates automatically. But formulas and references in other sheets that point to specific column positions do not update automatically.
For example:
If your formula references column D and a column was removed from the query, your reference may now point at the wrong column
If a new column was added, hardcoded range references won't expand to include it
After any structural change to a connected query, review your formulas and update any references that point to specific column positions.
Can I use data I've entered in the spreadsheet in other queries or dashboards?
No. Data you type, paste, or calculate with formulas inside the spreadsheet tab stays within that tab. It cannot be used as a source for other query tabs or dashboards in Insights.
If you need external data to be queryable alongside your Insights data (for example, to join a budget table to your bookings), that requires a separate data upload flow outside the spreadsheet tab.
My changes didn't save. What happened?
Spreadsheet tabs do not autosave. You need to click Save Sheet in the Home tab to persist your changes. The button turns blue when there are unsaved changes.
If you navigated away without saving, your layout and formula changes will have been lost. Connected query data is not affected; that refreshes from the source whenever the workbook runs.
Do I need to save my spreadsheet before editing a connected query?
Yes. Save your spreadsheet tab before navigating to a connected query to make changes. Click Save Sheet in the Home tab first. If you navigate away without saving, any unsaved changes in the spreadsheet may be lost.
Once you have saved and updated the query, the connected sheet updates automatically. Your other sheets, formulas, and formatting stay as you left them.
I use Insights to prepare a formatted Excel file I can download and distribute. Is that the right way to use this?
Yes, and it is one of the most common workflows. Connect your Insights queries to the spreadsheet, add your formatting and any manual inputs, then download when you need to distribute. Because the query data refreshes automatically, the download is always based on current figures without the manual export, paste, and reformat cycle.
To download: hover over the spreadsheet tile on a dashboard, click the ⠇ (three-dot menu), and select Download XLSX. The file includes your formatting, conditional formatting, and formulas. The data reflects the figures at the moment of download.
If some stakeholders need to view figures directly in Insights, you can also display the spreadsheet on a dashboard in read-only mode alongside the download option.
Will this replace my team's main Excel file?
Probably not entirely, and that is expected. Spreadsheet tabs work best for focused, individual or small-team tools that sit close to live Insights data: a displacement analysis, a group rate calculator, a pickup tracker. Large company-wide files with cross-file dependencies, multiple editors, or complex PMS data integrations are harder to replicate here.
The practical approach is to use spreadsheet tabs for the workflows where the live data connection makes the biggest difference, and keep existing Excel for everything else.
My XLOOKUP formulas are running slowly. Is there a workaround?
XLOOKUP and other lookup formulas across large query datasets can cause noticeable lag. If your spreadsheet feels slow, the most effective workaround is to replace dynamic lookups with direct cell references where possible. For example, instead of using XLOOKUP to match a property name across the full query range, reference the specific row directly (=C5 instead of =XLOOKUP("Property Name", A:A, C:C)).
This trades some flexibility for speed, and is worth considering if you have a lookup-heavy sheet that you download frequently as a report.
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