Getting started

Set up the Excel Distance Matrix Calculator workbook, then run a small example to check that everything works.

Video walkthrough #

The video includes Google’s pricing at the time of recording. Check Google’s current allowances and rates before running a large job; Google API usage is billed separately from your product license.

Open the workbook #

1. Download the ZIP from your purchase email and extract it. Open the extracted folder rather than running the workbook from inside the ZIP.
2. On Windows, right-click the downloaded .xlsm workbook and choose Properties. If Unblock appears, select it and click Apply.
3. Open the workbook in desktop Excel. If Excel displays a macro warning for this downloaded product file, click Enable Content.

Enter your keys #

1. On the Settings sheet, paste the license key from your purchase email into License Key.
2. Click Get your API KEY here to open Google Cloud. Create or select a project, link an active billing account, and enable the Routes API in that project.
3. Create or copy an API key for that project and paste it into Google Maps API Key in the workbook. The license key and Google API key are two different keys.

Run your first example #

1. On Settings, choose whether to show distance, travel time or both, then set the units and travel mode.
2. Open Calculator. In the standard layout, enter the From addresses across the top and the To addresses down the left. Start with the supplied examples if you want to test the setup.
3. Click Calculate Distances and wait for the matrix to fill. Each intersection contains the result for that address pair.
4. If a cell shows N/A, hover over it for the error details. Check the address and whether the selected travel mode has a route between those locations.

Save the workbook to keep your settings and results.

Google Maps API not working? Follow the step-by-step API troubleshooting guide to check your key, billing and required APIs.