How do I fill a web form from an Excel sheet automatically?
The idea is simple. You fill the form by hand one time while Izly records. Then you tell Izly that the text you typed should come from a column of your table instead. Run the automation and it repeats the same clicks and typing for every row: row one goes into the form, the form is submitted, the page is ready again, and row two follows.
There is no formula, no macro and no script to write. The whole set-up is done on the Izly site after the recording, with menus, and the table is pasted straight from Excel or Google Sheets (a CSV file works too).
This guide uses the practice form so you can try every step without touching a real system. It is a customer request form with Full name, E-mail, Phone, City (a dropdown: London, Berlin, Madrid, Istanbul, Toronto, Sydney), Request type (three radio buttons: Quote, Support, Other), a newsletter checkbox and a Note. Nothing typed there is stored, and after Submit a confirmation page lists exactly what was sent, with a reference number.
What are the steps, from recording to results?
- Record the form once. Open the practice form, start a recording with the Izly extension, fill in one customer completely, press Submit and finish the recording. Use realistic values, such as the first row of your sheet.
- Open the guide on the Izly site and make it an automation. The recording is a list of steps. The typing steps are the ones you will connect to your table.
- Add a saved value for each column. Choose “Comes from a column of the table” as its source and type the column heading from the first row of your sheet (upper and lower case do not matter). Full name, E-mail, Phone and Note each get one.
- Type with saved values. On each typing step, change “Text” from “As recorded” to “Type with saved values” and put the saved value where the recorded text was.
- Paste the table. When you run the automation, the run window asks for the table. Copy the cells from Excel or Google Sheets including the header row, or load a CSV file.
- Try the first 3 rows. The run window offers “Try the first 3 rows only” before the whole table. Check the confirmation pages. If the form needs one more wait or a skipped step, fix it now, not after two hundred rows.
- Run the whole table. Start the run from the extension’s side panel or from the guide’s page on the site, and confirm. A Chrome tab plays it. You can pause, stop, try a step again, skip a step or skip a row. If the window is narrower than when you recorded, the run widens it and puts it back afterwards.
- Read the result table. Each row gets a line with its status. Download it as CSV or copy it back into your sheet.
Izly fills the form once for every row on its own. Bigger forms with several pages and waits take longer per row. On the Free plan a table run takes at most 5 rows, and the run window offers to run only the first 5.
Which column in the sheet goes into which field on the form?
The practice sample table of 12 customers has five columns: Full name, E-mail, Phone, City and Note. This is how they meet the form in the walk-through.
| Column in the sheet | Field on the form | How it is filled |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Full name | Typed from the table column |
| Typed from the table column | ||
| Phone | Phone | Typed from the table column, leading zeros kept |
| Note | Note (multi-line) | Typed from the table column |
| City | City (dropdown) | Not from the column: the city picked while recording is replayed |
| none | Request type (Quote, Support, Other) and the newsletter checkbox | The choices made while recording are replayed |
Only typed text (and the address of a “go to” step) can take a value from a column. Choices in dropdowns, radio buttons and checkboxes are replayed exactly as recorded, so they cannot differ per row. The City column of the sample table is there on purpose, to show this: it does not set the dropdown, and every row gets the city you picked while recording. If your real job needs a different choice for each row, one recording cannot do it. Record the form once per choice, or make those rows by hand.
Can I type more than a plain column value?
Yes, a typing step can use other saved values as well. You can combine them into one text, for example “Order {row number} - {name}”, use today’s date, a fixed value that is the same in every row, or a value you are asked for once at the start of the run (“Asked for before the run”), such as a campaign name.
You can also read something back from the page. The confirmation page shows a reference number: set the step to “Copy from page”, copy it into a saved value and keep it for the results, and every line of the result table carries the number the site gave that row. That is useful proof when someone asks what was sent.
What does the result table show?
The result table has one line per row of your table. Its columns are your input columns, the values you read from the page, Status and Note. Status says “Done”, “Skipped”, “Failed” or “Done, a step skipped”, and the Note gives the reason or the note of a rule. Download it as a CSV file or copy it into a sheet next to your original data.
It is kept only in your browser. After you close the end card, the panel still offers the last run’s results until you dismiss them or start a new table run. Download or copy them before that if you need a record.
What happens if a row fails?
Before the run you choose one of two behaviours. Either Izly goes on with the next row and marks the failed one in the result table, or it stops and asks you what to do: try again, skip the step, or skip the row.
Typical reasons are a field that did not appear in time, a page that answered with an error, or a value that broke a rule you set. Two settings prevent most of them. “Wait first” gives a slow page time to load, and “Skip if not found” ignores a step that only appears sometimes, such as a cookie banner. A row with a skipped step ends as “Done, a step skipped”.
You can also write a rule, for example: if the page says “already exists”, skip this row with a note. The note appears in the result table so you can follow up by hand.
Does my spreadsheet data leave my browser?
No. The table, the values typed into the form and the result table stay in your browser. The Izly server only receives counts and statuses, such as how many rows ran and how many failed. It never receives the names, e-mail addresses or phone numbers in your sheet.
The values do go where you send them: into the web form you are filling, like any typing would. Passwords are never recorded, and you sign in to the site yourself. More in the security notes.
What can it not do?
- A person starts every run. There is no schedule, and no run happens while Chrome is closed or the computer is off.
- Chrome 120 or newer, on a desktop only. Other browsers, mobile browsers and desktop programs are out of reach for now.
- One automation at a time per browser. While a run is going, the tab ignores stray clicks and keys, and Chrome shows its debugging bar.
- It follows what was recorded. If the form is redesigned, the recording needs a touch-up or a new take.
- Menu choices stay as recorded. Dropdowns, radio buttons and checkboxes cannot differ per row.
- The Free plan runs at most 5 rows per table run. Pro has no row limit.
If the system you are filling offers an official bulk upload or an API, that is the better route for very large lists. And check a site’s terms before you automate it.
What do I need to run a table with Izly?
Izly is a Chrome extension that turns a task you do once in your browser into a step-by-step guide, a narrated video and a no-code automation that repeats the task. The table run is the automation part: you need the extension, an Izly account and a table to paste.
The Free plan includes 10 automation runs a month with at most 5 rows per table run, which is enough to try the whole method on the practice form. Pro costs 10 USD per creator per month with unlimited runs and no row limit, and has a 14-day trial without a card. See pricing or start free.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to know how to code to fill a form from Excel?
No. You record the form by doing it once, then pick table columns from menus on the Izly site. There are no formulas, scripts or macros to write. Simple rules, such as skip this row if the page says a certain text, are also set with menus.
How many rows can I run at once?
On the Free plan a table run takes at most 5 rows, and the run window offers to run only the first 5. That is enough to test a recording. Pro has no row limit. Long forms with several pages take longer per row than short ones.
Can the city dropdown come from a column of my sheet?
No. Values from a table go into typed text and into the address of a “go to” step. Dropdowns, radio buttons and checkboxes are replayed exactly as recorded, so the same choice is made in every row.
Can I paste straight from Google Sheets?
Yes. Copy the cells in Google Sheets or Excel, including the header row, and paste them into the run window. You can also load a CSV file. Use “Try the first 3 rows only” to check the result before you run the whole table.
Does the automation run while I am away?
No. A person starts every run and can pause or stop it. There is no schedule and no unattended server run, so Chrome must stay open on your computer until the table is finished.
Where do I find out which rows worked?
In the result table. Every row gets a line with its Status (Done, Skipped, Failed or Done, a step skipped), a Note and the values you chose to read from the page, for example a reference number. Download it as CSV or copy it. It is kept only in your browser.
Related pages
Record it once and let the guide write itself
With Izly you do the task once in the browser. Clicks and screenshots become a step-by-step guide that you edit, share, turn into a narrated video or run again for every row of a table.