Google Sheets to OBS: graphics that fill themselves

When someone else keeps the data — a scorer at the side of the pitch, a producer with the guest list, a newsroom with the headlines — the easiest shared tool is a spreadsheet. This guide connects a Google Sheet to your OBS overlay so the graphics fill from it, while the operator still decides what goes on air.

How it works

CueFinch reads the sheet as a CSV file every few seconds — every 5 seconds at the fastest. When the content changes, the matching data in the panel updates: the score, the list of guests, the ticker lines. Nothing needs a Google account on the streaming PC, an API key or OAuth.

The sheet fills the panel; it does not fire graphics by itself. The operator still presses TAKE. If you want an on-air graphic to follow the sheet, switch on Auto-update while on air for that source and the score bug changes the moment the scorer types.

Connecting a sheet — step by step

1. In Google Sheets, share the sheet as Anyone with the link → Viewer. (Alternatively use File → Share → Publish to web as CSV.)
2. Copy the sheet’s normal address from the browser bar. CueFinch converts an edit link into its CSV export address itself, including the tab you were on.
3. In CueFinch open Prep → Connections and press New data source. Paste the address and choose the target: Score, Name straps, Ticker, Lineup or Poll.
4. Set the refresh interval and press Fetch now to check the result.

Column names

There is no mapping screen: the first row of the sheet names the columns, in English or Turkish. The common ones:

• Score: home · away · status (or minute) — one row.
• Name straps: name · title (or role) — one row per guest.
• Ticker: text (or message) — one row per line.

Rows that disappear from the sheet are not deleted from the panel, so a half-finished edit cannot wipe a list you are using on air.

When the sheet breaks

If Google is slow, the link stops being public, or the Wi-Fi drops, the source shows a yellow error badge and the last good data stays in place. The panel keeps working and you can type into it by hand — the spreadsheet is a convenience, not something the broadcast depends on.

Not only Google

Any address that returns CSV or a JSON array of objects works the same way: an export from your league management system, a file on a local web server, a small script of your own. For pushing commands rather than data, see the HTTP API used by Stream Deck and Companion.

Frequently asked questions

Related pages

• Football scoreboard in OBS
• Basketball scoreboard in OBS
• Stream Deck for OBS graphics
• OBS countdown timer
• Control graphics from a phone