I ran into an issue where someone shared a Google Sheets file with me, but I can’t copy any of the content. The document owner seems to have disabled the setting that normally allows viewers to copy, download, or print the spreadsheet.
I’m curious about how this copy protection actually works in Google Sheets. When you look at the sharing settings, there’s an option that controls whether people can download, print, and copy the document. Even though Google doesn’t directly say it blocks copying, it definitely seems to prevent it.
Does anyone know if there are legitimate ways to work around this limitation? I need to use some of the data for my own project, but I can’t seem to select and copy anything from the cells. Are there any browser tricks or other methods that might help me access the content?
The restriction blocks normal browser copy functions, but there are workarounds. Browser extensions that capture page content can sometimes get around these blocks since they work differently than built-in copy protection. Try the browser’s print preview feature - even if printing is disabled, the preview might show the data in a format you can work with. You can also test different browsers or devices since these restrictions don’t always work the same way across platforms. Just make sure you’re allowed to access this data and aren’t breaking any agreements with the document owner.
so, here’s a thought! you can use Google Scripts to grab the data. if the permissions’re chill, you might just copy the sheet over. also, screenshots could help, but they ain’t great for actual data. hope this helps ya out!
Google Sheets blocks copying by disabling browser selection and right-click through JavaScript. I’ve hit this with client documents before. A few workarounds that sometimes work include opening developer tools and exploring the page source to locate the data structures, or temporarily disabling JavaScript, though that may disrupt other functionalities. If you have edit access to a different Sheet, consider using ImportRange to extract the data even if copying is restricted. Just ensure you’re not violating any sharing agreements in the process.