# How to get a computed column in spreadsheets

**URL:** <https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809>\
**Category:** Ask for Help\
**Created:** [March 18, 2022, 7:50am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809 "2022-03-18T07:50:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sidney\_Kunst](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/sidney_kunst/32/603_2.png) [@Sidney\_Kunst](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Sidney_Kunst)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 7:50am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809/1 "2022-03-18T07:50:27Z")

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Hi guys,

Is there a way to bring a computed column to the google spreadsheet?

I specifically want this because glide has distance calculations. But need to bring this distance calculation specifically in the spreadsheet in my use case.

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 8:36am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809/2 "2022-03-18T08:36:32Z")

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You can use an action that takes the value in the computed column and writes it to a basic column with Set Column Values.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Sidney\_Kunst](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/sidney_kunst/32/603_2.png) [@Sidney\_Kunst](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Sidney_Kunst)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809/3 "2022-03-18T21:24:16Z")

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Yeah from an action its possible, but how about without an action 🤔  
Or to be specific, without a human action!

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**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\
**Post date:** [March 18, 2022, 9:56pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-to-get-a-computed-column-in-spreadsheets/39809/4 "2022-03-18T21:56:39Z")

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You don’t. The only way is with an action triggered by a user interaction. But, for a row of data to be altered, it would require a user doing something in the app anyway. Even a custom action to view the details of a list item could contain a Set Column action that would be enough to populate basic columns in the sheet.

The only alternative is to build similar logic with an arrayformula in the google sheet.

It might help to better understand your use case to see if this could be achieved easily.