Hello @nagi ,
Regarding your issue with leading blank columns or rows, a similar issue and solution to this problem has already been discussed here.
As for this question:
Does upgrading to a newer Spreadsheet version improve this behavior, or is adding a placeholder value in Excel the only recommended solution?
I recommend checking out the sheetStubs property introduced in the latest versions. This property allows you to keep the styles in empty cells when loading Excel files, which might resolve the layout issues you’re experiencing.
You can try this example to see if it helps with your problem: Code Snippet