Copy a table column from a web page into Excel or Google Sheets

Selecting a column in a web table with the mouse usually grabs the neighbouring columns too, and pasting the result into a spreadsheet often lands everything in one cell. Here is a faster way that keeps every value in its own cell.

Why dragging to select a column does not work

Browsers select text in reading order, left to right and top to bottom. To select one column you would have to drag across every row, and the selection still includes everything in between. The column is spread across many separate table rows, so there is no single thing for the browser to select.

Even when you manage to select the right cells, pasting into Excel or Google Sheets can fail. Spreadsheets expect tab-separated values, with a tab between cells and a new line between rows. Text copied from a styled page frequently arrives with extra formatting, hidden characters or all values merged into one cell.

Copy a column in one click

Install Table Column Copy, then open any page that contains a table.

1. Move your mouse over the header cell of the column you want. A small arrow button (↓) appears above it.
2. Click the arrow. A message at the bottom of the page confirms how many cells were copied, for example "Copied 1 column (5 cells)!".
3. Switch to Excel or Google Sheets, select the first cell you want to fill and paste with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).

The values arrive one per row, in the same order as on the page, with the header as the first cell. If you do not want the header, turn off Include Headers under Settings, Export.

Copy a row or the whole table

Hover over any row and click the arrow (→) that appears at its left edge to copy that row, with one value per column. For the entire table, use the copy button (📄) shown at the top of the table. Pasting a whole table into a spreadsheet keeps the rows and columns exactly as they appeared on the page.

Tips for cleaner pastes

• Pasting into Excel and Google Sheets works best with the default Plain Text (tab-separated) format. Use CSV when you plan to save the data as a file instead.
• If the table has stray spaces around values, enable Trim Whitespace in Settings, Data Cleaning.
• Large tables are fine: the copy buttons only appear when you hover, so pages with thousands of rows stay responsive.
• Prefer the keyboard? Alt+Shift+C copies the last column you hovered or right-clicked.

Related guides

• Export a web table as CSV, JSON, Markdown or HTML
• Copy only the cells you need and clean the data as you copy
• Automate table copying with shortcuts, a daily schedule and webhooks