Why this matters
Most people open n8n, see a blank canvas and stall. But whatever you want to automate, someone has probably already built it and shared it for free.
The n8n template gallery is full of ready-made workflows. Finding one that is close to what you need, importing it and pointing it at your own accounts takes minutes instead of hours.
In this module you help Hillside Pet Grooming find a template that logs booking requests to a Google Sheet and sends a Gmail confirmation. You import it, connect two accounts, point it at the right sheet, run a test booking and publish.
What you’ll build
A working booking workflow: a form feeds a Google Sheet row and a confirmation email, imported from a template and published.
You also learn the other ways in: Import from URL and Import from File in the workflow menu, for when someone sends you a workflow.
What you need
- Nothing to start the practicen8n, Google and the template are practice copies. The template and its creator are made up.
- An n8n account, to do it for realSign up with this link (affiliate link: I may earn a commission, at no cost to you).
- A Google Sheet with four columnsRow 1 needs Name, Email, Pet name and Submitted, spelled exactly like that. Use the CSV download below, then in Google Sheets choose File, Import, Upload.
- Google and Gmail connectionsYou connect these inside n8n on the Set up template screen by choosing Sign in with Google and allowing access. You never type a password or key into n8n.
Concepts
3 ideas you’ll use in the practice.
Search the gallery before you build
Open the n8n template gallery, pick a category such as Sales and search a word like "form". Each template page shows a preview, who made it, what it does and what accounts it needs.
Click Use for free to bring it into your workspace.
Set up template lists every account it needs
After you import, n8n shows a Set up template window. Under 1. Google Sheets, click Create new credential, choose your Google account and allow access. Do the same under 2. Gmail. Then click Continue and n8n fills the accounts into the right steps.
A credential is just a saved sign-in. You make it once and every step reuses it.
A template is a starting point, so check it
Pick your own spreadsheet and tab in the Append row in sheet step. Its columns must match the headers in your sheet.
Rewrite the email in your own words, run one test, and check the sheet row and the email before you publish. Nothing runs for real until you click Publish.
Practice
Do every step yourself in a practice copy of the real tool. It checks your work, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on.
Do it for real
Now repeat it in your own account. Tick each step as you go.
Downloads
- Booking requests sheet (CSV)Import it in Google Sheets with File, Import, Upload.
Quick check
3 questions to check you’ve got it.
1. What is the first thing to try before building a workflow from scratch?
- Search the template gallery for one that is close
- Write the code yourself
- Ask a colleague
Show the answer
Search the template gallery for one that is close. Someone has often already built it, and a template saves hours.
2. What does the Set up template window do?
- It publishes the workflow
- It lists every account the template needs, so you connect them in one place
- It deletes the template
Show the answer
It lists every account the template needs, so you connect them in one place. You connect Google Sheets and Gmail there, then click Continue, and n8n puts them into the right steps.
3. A colleague sends you a workflow file. How do you load it?
- Retype it
- Use Import from File or Import from URL in the workflow menu
- You cannot
Show the answer
Use Import from File or Import from URL in the workflow menu. The three-dot menu next to the workflow name has both options, and you can also paste onto an empty canvas.
n8n: Talk to Your Google Sheets with ChatGPT, from Zero (Free Credits or API Key, Google, Sheet, Chat)
You can start from a template. Next, use one of the most popular ones: ask a Google Sheet questions in plain English.
Start module 8 →