Insert Columns
Description
Inserts one or more columns into a Google Sheet.
Existing columns are shifted to the right to accommodate the newly inserted columns.
Common settings
Use Process Data to bind supported inputs to workflow values or upstream outputs. See Common Activity Features for shared execution, error-handling, and output-persistence settings. Availability depends on the activity.
Design-Time Configuration
Display Text
A user-defined name for the activity, displayed on the workflow canvas to help identify its purpose.
Connection Name
The configured Google Sheets connection used to access Google Sheets resources.
Spreadsheet
The spreadsheet where the columns will be inserted.
Sheet Name
The name of the sheet where the operation will be performed.
If not specified, the currently active sheet is used.
Selection Type
Determines whether a single column or a range of columns will be inserted.
Column Letter
The column at which the new column will be inserted.
Required when Selection Type is set to Single.
From
The starting column of the range to insert.
Required when Selection Type is set to Multiple.
To
The ending column of the range to insert.
Required when Selection Type is set to Multiple.
Inherit Previous Formatting
Determines whether newly inserted columns inherit formatting from the column immediately preceding them.
When enabled, formatting such as cell styles, fonts, colors, borders, number formats, and alignment is copied to the inserted columns.
For details about selecting spreadsheets and sheets, see Google Sheets Data Selection.
Execution settings
Configure Wait All Incoming when execution paths converge, and On Error for failure handling. Select Inherit where available to use the workflow-level error policy.
Output
Result
A Boolean value indicating whether the insert operation completed successfully.
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| True | The specified columns were successfully inserted. |
| False | The insert operation was unsuccessful. |
Remarks
- The authenticated Google account must have permission to modify the spreadsheet.
- Inserting columns shifts existing columns to the right.
- When multiple columns are inserted, all columns within the specified range are created.
- When Inherit Previous Formatting is enabled, formatting from adjacent columns is applied to the inserted columns.
- Existing formulas, references, charts, and dependent calculations may be adjusted automatically by Google Sheets.
Example: Select a contiguous group
Choose Multiple and set From to B and To to D. This selects three columns, including both endpoints. New columns are inserted at the selected positions and existing columns shift to make room.
At the first row or column, Inherit Previous Formatting cannot use a preceding position; the operation uses the following position instead. A successful operation returns Result = True. Validation, permission, and service failures raise activity errors; handle them with On Error rather than relying only on a False result.