Python script to export Google Sheets as CSV

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1

I’m trying to fetch data from a public Google Sheet using Python. Although wget does the trick, my Python script just returns the Google login page. Here’s a different approach I’ve attempted:

import requests

url = 'https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/SOME_SHEET_ID/export?format=csv'
headers = {'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0'}

response = requests.get(url, headers=headers)
content = response.text

print(content)

Can anyone explain what’s going wrong and suggest a proper method for downloading the CSV using Python? Thanks in advance.

2

hey, i’ve had similar problems before. the issue is google sheets needs authentication, even for public sheets. instead of using requests, try gspread library. it handles the auth stuff for you.

You’ll need to set up OAuth creds in Google Cloud Console first. then use gspread to access the sheet. it’s worked great for me on multiple projects. just keep those creds safe!

3

I’ve encountered similar issues when trying to fetch data from Google Sheets. The problem is that even public sheets can require authentication, which is why a direct request returns the login page. Instead of using the requests library directly, I switched to using gspread because it handles the authentication process smoothly.

To get it working, I first set up OAuth credentials in the Google Cloud Console and installed the required libraries, gspread and oauth2client. After authorizing with the credentials, I accessed the sheet using its key and then retrieved the data. This method has worked reliably for several projects. Just remember to keep your credentials secure.

4

I’ve dealt with this issue before, and the key is proper authentication. Google Sheets, even public ones, often require it. Instead of using requests directly, I’d recommend using the gspread library. It handles the authentication process seamlessly.

First, set up OAuth credentials in the Google Cloud Console. Then install gspread and oauth2client. Use these to authorize your script and access the sheet. Here’s a basic structure:

import gspread
from oauth2client.service_account import ServiceAccountCredentials

scope = ['https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds', 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive']
creds = ServiceAccountCredentials.from_json_keyfile_name('your_credentials.json', scope)
client = gspread.authorize(creds)

sheet = client.open_by_key('SOME_SHEET_ID').sheet1
 data = sheet.get_all_values()

This approach has worked reliably for me across multiple projects. Just remember to keep your credentials secure and never share them publicly.