OCR Invoices from Google Drive to Google Sheets (n8n)

OCR invoices from your Google Drive—automatically filled into Google Sheets (n8n)

This n8n workflow watches a folder for invoice/receipt files, runs OCR recognition, and saves the extracted data into a Google Sheets document—so you can turn messy uploads into a structured spreadsheet without manual copy/paste.

What this workflow does

• Monitors a Google Drive folder for new receipt/invoice files and also supports manual execution via the “Test workflow” button.
• Recognizes files in .pdf, .png, or .jpg format (make sure your documents are saved in one of these formats).
• Uses an OCR API via RapidAPI to recognize the invoice/receipt content.
• Writes the OCR results into Google Sheets using the provided sheet template.

Quick setup notes (important)

• n8n import glitch: after importing, the trigger node for “Test workflow” may be disconnected. Connect it using 2 arrows to Google Sheets1 and Google Drive nodes (you’ll have two triggers: one via button, one via the Google Drive “new file” event). See: https://ocr.oakpdf.com/n8n_fix.png
• RapidAPI HTTP auth: create an “HTTP header” credential and add your RapidAPI key from RapidAPI, then ensure the HTTP Request node uses it.
• Google OAuth: set up Google credentials for Google Drive and Google Sheets.
• Sheets template: copy the provided Google Sheets document to use with the workflow.

Use cases

• Drop scanned receipts into a Google Drive folder and have them OCR processed into line items/fields in Google Sheets.
• Maintain an always-up-to-date bookkeeping spreadsheet from recurring invoice uploads.
• Automate OCR invoice intake for SaaS operations teams and automation engineers using n8n.

Technical details

• Tech stack / nodes: code, merge, sticky note, Google Drive, HTTP Request, Google Sheets
• OCR provider: Receipt and Invoice OCR API on RapidAPI (HTTP header credential)

Video demo: https://youtu.be/mGPt7fqGQD8