PenguChart

Copy Google Slides — without breaking your linked charts

PenguChart duplicates your presentation and its Google Sheets files together, then relinks every chart to the new copies. Your original stays untouched.

Install for free Watch the demo

Free during public beta · Works with Google Slides™ · Available in 16 languages

PenguChart mascot
The problem

Why are your charts still linked to the old spreadsheet?

When you use File → Make a copy, Google Slides copies the slides - but every embedded chart keeps pointing at the original Google Sheets file.

✕

Edit the data in your copy and the original spreadsheet changes too.

✕

Share the copy and recipients can trace it back to your live source data.

✕

The manual fix means deleting and re-inserting every single chart - for every copy.

✓

PenguChart copies the presentation AND its spreadsheets in one run, then relinks every single chart to the fresh copies.

How it works

Three steps, one clean copy

1

Open the assistant

In Google Slides: Extensions → PenguChart → Start copy assistant.

2

Choose your options

Number of copies, destination folder, and how the linked Sheets are handled.

3

Done

Your copy opens with every chart linked to the new spreadsheets. The original is untouched.

Demo

See PenguChart in action

The video is hosted on YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode). It loads only after you click - see our Privacy Policy.

Try it yourself

Test-drive PenguChart on a live deck

Open our public demo presentation in Google Slides - it comes with two linked spreadsheets. Copy it with PenguChart and watch every chart relink itself.

Open the demo deck

Opens in Google Slides - you get your own copy to experiment with.

PenguChart Demo Deck open in Google Slides with the copy assistant
Features

Everything the copy needs to be perfect

🔗

True chart relinking

Every embedded Sheets chart in the copy points to a fresh spreadsheet copy - verifiable under Tools → Linked objects.

🗂️

Copy or merge spreadsheets

Duplicate each source file, or merge everything into one combined spreadsheet - including automatic tab renaming on name collisions.

🧩

Groups, layers & transforms

Grouped charts, stacking order, rotation and resizing all survive the copy exactly as designed.

🔁

Up to 10 copies per run

Need a version per client or per class? Create up to ten fully relinked copies in one go.

📁

Free choice of destination

My Drive, the original's folder, or any folder you pick - PenguChart checks write access first.

🌍

Speaks your language

The assistant automatically adapts to your Google language - 16 languages included.

Spreadsheet handling

Your Sheets, your way

Charts from several spreadsheets? Choose how their copies are created:

Individual copies

Each linked spreadsheet is copied on its own. The safe default.

One combined spreadsheet

All tabs from all linked spreadsheets are merged into a single new file.

Only used tabs

Just the tabs your charts actually need - including the tabs their data comes from.

Screenshots

A quick look at the assistant

The assistant walks you through a few simple steps - here is the whole flow.

Formatting effects are flagged before copying
Formatting effects are flagged before copying
Choose how your Sheets are copied
Choose how your Sheets are copied
Pick where the copy is saved
Pick where the copy is saved
Create up to 10 copies at once
Create up to 10 copies at once
Review everything, then start
Review everything, then start
Done - every chart relinked
Done - every chart relinked
One honest note

What Google's API cannot transfer

Chart effects applied inside Slides cannot be carried over to a copy - that is a Google API restriction, not a PenguChart one:

CroppingOutline borderRecolorDrop shadowBrightnessContrastTransparencyReflection

PenguChart detects these effects, warns you before copying and can optionally remove them from the original so that original and copy look identical.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Why do copied charts still point to the original spreadsheet?
Google's built-in copy (File → Make a copy) duplicates the slides but not the spreadsheets behind the charts, and there is no built-in way to change a linked chart's source afterwards. PenguChart solves this by copying the spreadsheets too and rebuilding every chart link against the new copies.
Does PenguChart change my original presentation or spreadsheets?
No. The copy process never modifies your originals. The only exception is the optional "Remove formatting" button, which - only when you explicitly click it - removes chart effects from the original so original and copy look identical.
Which chart effects are not carried over to the copy?
Cropping, borders, recolor, shadow, brightness, contrast, transparency and reflection. Google's API marks these as read-only, so no tool can transfer them. PenguChart lists the affected charts before copying so there are no surprises.
Can PenguChart merge several spreadsheets into one?
Yes. Choose "One combined spreadsheet" and all tabs land in a single new file. If two source files have tabs with the same name, PenguChart renames them automatically (for example "Data" and "Data (2)") and keeps every chart pointing at the right one.
Is PenguChart free?
Yes - PenguChart is completely free during the public beta. If paid plans are introduced later, there will always be a free tier.
Which permissions does PenguChart need, and why?
Access to your presentations and spreadsheets (to read the charts and create the copies) and to Google Drive (to save the copies where you choose). Everything runs inside Google's own infrastructure - PenguChart has no servers of its own. Details are in our Privacy Policy.

Ready to copy without breaking a single chart?

Install PenguChart from the Google Workspace Marketplace - free during the public beta.

Install for free