# How Syncing Works

## Overview

Connecting to Google Sheets allows you to easily sync changes between your spreadsheet and the map's locations. Once linked, changes from the spreadsheet will be reflected in your map's respective locations. Likewise, changes from Boldmapper will reflect in the spreadsheet on the next sync.

Locations are automatically synced about every hour, but can also be manually synced via the "Sync Now" option on the settings page.

{% hint style="info" %}
If the same location is updated in both the spreadsheet and Boldmapper, the spreadsheet's change is given priority during sync.
{% endhint %}

## The Sync Template

When you connect a new spreadsheet, you will clone from a sync template. The template includes the following columns:

| Column name | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| ID          | Used internally by Boldmapper to track locations in the spreadsheet. As a location is imported to Boldmapper it will be assigned an alphanumeric ID and will be stored in this column. **Do not edit these values directly.** |
| Name        | The location's name.                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
| Address     | The address of the location.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Latitude    | The location's latitude (allowed values: -90.0 to 90.0).                                                                                                                                                                      |
| Longitude   | The location's longitude (allowed values: -180.0 to 180.0).                                                                                                                                                                   |
| Description | The location's description field.                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| Phone       | The location's phone number.                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
| Email       | The location's email address.                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| URL         | The location's URL value.                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| Tags        | A comma-separated list of the location's tags (e.g. Free WiFi, Open Late). Only tags that have been configured for your map will be applied during sync.                                                                      |

{% hint style="info" %}
Any cells which have been colored gray in the spreadsheet should not be edited (e.g. headers, internal columns, etc.). Modifying these cells runs the risk of breaking the sync functionality for your map.
{% endhint %}

## Auto-Sync

By default, your map is automatically synced to the spreadsheet every hour. If you want more granular control of when syncs are performed, you can disable auto-sync from the location sync settings page (**Settings > Location Sync > click the clock icon**).

![](/files/qSDmfTcXIDzeuUoNFQQg)

To enable auto-sync again, simply click on the same icon.


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