IMPORTHTML for web tables in Google Sheets - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

📊 Formula Result

intermediate

What does this IMPORTHTML formula return?

Given the formula =IMPORTHTML("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)", "table", 1) in cell A1, what will be the output in the first row of the imported table?

A A blank cell because the table index is incorrect

B The first country's name and population data only

C An error because the URL is invalid

D The header row with column titles like 'Country or area' and 'Population (1 July 2023)'

💡 Hint

IMPORTHTML imports the entire table including headers, not just data rows.

The IMPORTHTML function imports the entire HTML table specified by the index. The first row is usually the header row with column titles.

❓ Function Choice

intermediate

Which formula correctly imports the second table from a webpage?

You want to import the second table from https://example.com/data. Which formula will do this correctly?

A =IMPORTDATA("https://example.com/data", "table", 2)

B =IMPORTHTML("https://example.com/data", "list", 2)

C =IMPORTHTML("https://example.com/data", "table", 2)

D =IMPORTHTML("https://example.com/data", "table", 1)

💡 Hint

The third argument is the table index starting at 1.

IMPORTHTML with type 'table' and index 2 imports the second table on the page. 'list' is for lists, IMPORTDATA is for CSV/TSV files.

🎯 Scenario

advanced

You want to import a table but get a #N/A error. What is the likely cause?

You used =IMPORTHTML("https://example.com/page", "table", 1) but the cell shows #N/A. What is the most likely reason?

A The webpage does not have any tables or the table index is wrong

B The formula syntax is incorrect

C Google Sheets does not support IMPORTHTML

D Your internet connection is offline

💡 Hint

Check if the webpage actually contains tables and the index matches.

IMPORTHTML returns #N/A if the specified table index does not exist or the page has no tables. Syntax errors cause different errors.

📊 Formula Result

advanced

What happens if you use IMPORTHTML with a list type on a page with no lists?

Formula: =IMPORTHTML("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)", "list", 1)
What will be the result?

A #N/A error because there are no lists on the page

B The first table on the page is imported instead

C An empty range with no data

D The entire webpage content is imported as text

💡 Hint

IMPORTHTML requires the specified element type to exist on the page.

If the page has no lists, IMPORTHTML returns #N/A because it cannot find the requested element.

❓ data_analysis

expert

How many rows will be imported by this formula?

You use =IMPORTHTML("https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_(United_Nations)", "table", 1). The first table has 235 rows including the header. How many rows will appear in your sheet?

A 234 rows excluding the header row

B 235 rows including the header row

C 236 rows because an extra empty row is added

D Only the first 100 rows due to Google Sheets limits

💡 Hint

IMPORTHTML imports the entire table as is, including headers.

IMPORTHTML imports the full table including the header row, so all 235 rows appear.