Container-bound Scripts

A script is bound to a Google Sheets, Docs, Slides, or Forms file if it was created from that document rather than as a standalone script . The file that a bound script is attached to is called a "container." Bound scripts generally behave like standalone scripts except that they do not appear in Google Drive, they cannot be detached from the file they are bound to, and they gain a few special privileges over the parent file.

Note that scripts can also be bound to Google Sites, but these scripts are almost always deployed as web apps . Scripts bound to Google Sheets, Docs, Slides, or Forms can also become web apps, although this is uncommon.

Create a bound script

Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides

To create a bound script in Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides, open a document in Docs, a spreadsheet in Sheets, or a presentation in Slides and click Extensions > Apps Script. To reopen the script in the future, do the same thing or open the script from the Apps Script dashboard .

Google Forms

To create a bound script in Google Forms, open a form and click More more_vert > Script editor. To reopen the script in the future, do the same thing or open the script from the Apps Script dashboard .

Special methods

Bound scripts can call a few methods that standalone scripts cannot:

• getActiveSpreadsheet() , getActiveDocument() , getActivePresentation() , and getActiveForm() allow bound scripts to refer to their parent file without referring to the file's ID.
• getUi lets bound scripts access the user interface for their parent file to add custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars .
• In Google Sheets, getActiveSheet() , getActiveRange() , and getActiveCell() let the script determine the user's current sheet, selected range of cells, or selected individual cell. setActiveSheet(sheet) and setActiveRange(range) let the script change those selections.
• In Google Docs, getActiveTab() , getCursor() , and getSelection() let the script determine the user's current tab, position of the user's cursor, or selected text. setActiveTab(tabId) , setCursor(position) and setSelection(range) let the script change those selections.

For more information, see the guide to extending Google Sheets or the guide to extending Google Docs .

Custom menus, dialogs, and sidebars

Bound scripts can customize Google Sheets, Docs, and Forms by adding custom menus and dialog boxes or sidebars . Keep in mind, however, that a script can only interact with the user interface for the current instance of an open file. That is, a script bound to one document cannot affect the user interface of another document.

Add-ons

Add-ons run inside Gmail, Google Sheets, Docs, Slides, and Forms. If you've developed a bound or standalone script and want to share it with the world, Apps Script lets you publish your script as an add-on so other users can install it from the add-on store.

Triggers

Bound scripts can use simple triggers like the special onOpen() function, which runs automatically whenever a file is opened by a user who has edit access. Like all types of scripts, they can also use installable triggers .

Custom functions

A custom function is a function in a script bound to Google Sheets that you call directly from a cell using the syntax =myFunctionName() . Custom functions are thus similar to the hundreds of built-in functions in Sheets like AVERAGE or SUM except that you define the custom function's behavior.

Access to bound scripts

Only users who have permission to edit a container can run its bound script. Collaborators who have only view access can't open the script editor, although if they make a copy of the container file, they become the owner of the copy and can see and run a copy of the script.

To learn how to share a script's container file, refer to Share files from Google Drive .