How to turn a spreadsheet into an app

But every successful team hits a spreadsheet ceiling. What starts as a quick solution for tracking inventory or managing a process eventually becomes a liability. You find yourself debugging broken formulas that propagate errors across the entire sheet and worrying about who has access to sensitive data.

So, what do you do? Create a new, better spreadsheet. The true one, just for you. And your problems start all over again.

What you really should do is shift from spreadsheet thinking (cells, rows, and fragility) to application thinking (databases, workflows, and governance).

In the past, making that shift required a dedicated engineering team or weeks of frontend development. Today, it just needs your data and an idea. With Retool’s AI-powered building capabilities, you can transform error-prone, ungoverned spreadsheets into secure, production-grade applications in minutes, no frontend expertise required.

The hidden cost of spreadsheets

There is a reason spreadsheets are everywhere: they are flexible, visual, and require zero setup time. But the very qualities that make them so popular, such as their ease of use and lack of constraints, are precisely what lead to their downfall in complex operational environments.

For most teams, the risks aren't always headline news, but they are constant drains on productivity and data integrity. As your data grows, spreadsheets hit hard technical limits.

Technical limits of spreadsheets

Version Control:

Managing a "single source of truth" is impossible when files are emailed, copied, and saved locally. You inevitably end up with file names like Inventory_Final_v2_UPDATED.xlsx. Even when spreadsheets are in the cloud, people copy, change, and share the copies, sending you right back to 1995 file-naming wars.

Fragility

A single misplaced decimal or overridden formula can propagate silent errors across an entire dataset.

Security

Spreadsheets lack granular permissions. You usually can't hide specific columns or rows based on who is viewing the file.

Automation

Processes that run on spreadsheets rely on humans to manually input data, copy rows, and double-check figures.

While spreadsheets are excellent for individual analysis, they are terrible backends for business workflows. To solve this, you don't need a better spreadsheet; you need an app. But how do you get an app without knowing code or having an engineering team at your disposal?

With a single prompt.

From spreadsheet to app: A step-by-step guide

To see how this works in practice, let's look at a common scenario: assume you’re an inventory manager responsible for tracking stock across three warehouses.

Currently, you rely on a master spreadsheet that looks like this:

id,product_name,sku,category,warehouse_location,stock_count,reorder_threshold,status,notes
101,Industrial Drill 20V,DR-20V-X,Tools,Warehouse A,45,10,In Stock,
102,Safety Goggles (Standard),SG-STD-01,Safety,Warehouse A,12,50,Low Stock,Shipment delayed
103,Safety Goggles (Standard),SG-STD-01,Safety,Warehouse B,200,50,In Stock,
105,Metric Wrench Set,WR-MET-12,Tools,Warehouse B,8,15,Reorder Now,Discrepancy in count
...

This file is static. If a warehouse worker makes a typo in the stock_count or overwrites a formula in the status column, the data is compromised. You’ll have to spend hours manually reconciling different versions and checking for errors.

What can you do?

1. Import your data

The first step is moving the data from a flat file into a structured format. In Retool, you can upload your Excel file or CSV directly to the Retool Database.

Just head to your Retool dashboard, click Resources > Create new > Retool Database. Then, click on the + > Import from CSV. Upload your spreadsheet:

Retool automatically detects column types (e.g., stock_count as a number and warehouse_location as text) and generates a proper database schema.

Click Create table and you’ll have a complete table of your data:

This is now ready to serve as the basis for your entire application.

2. Describe your app

Let’s head back to our dashboard, select Create > App. You’re presented with a blank canvas. Instead of manually dragging and dropping components onto our canvas, you can use Retool’s AI AppGen to precisely describe what you needs.

In the bottom-left, it says “Ask Assist - use @ to reference components, logic, or resources.” This is where you can add your prompt.

Build an inventory dashboard that groups items in the inventory table in @Retool Database by Warehouse Location and highlights any item where stock_count is below reorder_threshold.

3. Let the AI cook

That is the limit of your work. Retool will now start planning and building an app based on this prompt:

This’ll take a few minutes, but Retool will update you as it goes, telling you the plan, and giving you the option to revert to an earlier state if you think it's going wrong:

You don’t just get text updates; you can see what is being created in real-time. Here’s the wireframe it created:

When it comes to manipulating the data, Retool won’t run any queries without you approving them first, providing a built-in safety layer that confirms your intent before writing to the database.

You can change this behavior if you want, but it’s a great safeguard against accidental deletions or instant, irreversible mass updates in a spreadsheet.

As Retool builds out the app, you can see more and more of the design (and can stop at any time if it's not what you want). Here, Retool has added some mock data initially so you can start to see what the dashboard looks like:

Eventually, Retool will decide when it has built the app you requested, and summarize the build for you:

Let’s take a moment to think about what has been built. From that single, one-sentence prompt, Retool has built:

The UI: It created a table for viewing data and a form for editing it.
The Logic: It connected the form directly to the database, ensuring that updates happen in real-time.

4. Your production-grade tool

Here’s the final app, without any human editing:

This is a great start! This workflow has transformed from a fragile file into a robust system with:

Real-time visibility: You no longer need to merge emailed files—instead seeing updates the instant a worker submits them.
Data integrity: Dropdown menus and validation rules prevent bad data from entering the system.
Scalability: As the company grows, this app can handle thousands of SKUs without crashing or slowing down.

There’s also still so much more you could do, like:

Render images: Add an Image_URL column to display actual product photos, making it easier for staff to visually identify parts in the warehouse.
Add action buttons: Add a "Reorder" button to the table that connects to the Gmail API, automatically drafting a purchase order for the supplier when stock gets low.
Track history: Add an audit log sidebar that shows exactly who changed a stock count and when to solve the mystery of "ghost inventory."
Go mobile: Enable the barcode scanner on the mobile view so warehouse staff can scan a SKU to look it up instantly instead of typing.

How might a worker submit an update? Well, we can create another app for warehouse staff using a different prompt:

Create a mobile-friendly view with a list of items. When I click an item, open a form to update the stock_count and notes. Add a validation rule that prevents the user from submitting a negative number for stock_count.

Or maybe the procurement team needs a way to order new inventory:

Create a table filtered to only show rows where stock_count is less than reorder_threshold. Add a button to each row labeled 'Send Reorder Request' that drafts an email with the sku and product_name in the subject line.

By shifting from spreadsheet cells to application logic, you have a tool that solves the problem permanently, without needing a team of engineers to do it for him.

Because this is now an app rather than a spreadsheet, you can also add guardrails that were previously impossible. You can set permissions so that warehouse staff can edit stock counts, but only you can delete rows. You can even hide sensitive financial fields, such as unit_price or total_inventory_value, from temporary staff while keeping them visible to the procurement team, ensuring data privacy without maintaining two separate spreadsheet files.

Go from spreadsheet chaos to operational efficiency

Transitioning from spreadsheets to purpose-built apps isn't just about efficiency–it's about transforming your business's operations. By embracing AI-powered development in Retool, companies can rapidly develop custom applications that address their unique operational needs without burdening their engineering teams.

With AI AppGen, the barrier to entry is lower than ever. You don't need to learn a frontend framework or wait for engineering resources—you simply need to describe the tool you need, and let AI handle the rest. This approach solves immediate problems and sets the stage for an operational infrastructure that is more agile, secure, and scalable.

By leaving spreadsheets behind and adopting purpose-built apps, organizations can unlock new levels of productivity, accuracy, and insights—turning operational headaches into strategic advantages.

Ready to make your operations more efficient? Sign up for a free Retool account and start building custom internal software with AI today.