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  • Will a formula that updates from an XLOOKUP trigger an updated cell in Google Sheets?

I have a ZAP that triggers when any row is updated on a Google Sheet. The sheet being watched for updates has XLOOKUPs in it which update based on a different sheet. If the resulting value of the XLOOKUP changes, does that trigger as an updated row or no?

. . . it doesn’t seem to, but I’m not certain.

Hi @BFSABen 

Help links for using GSheets in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/google-sheets/help

 

Symptoms

When using Google Sheet triggers in your Zap, the Zap does not run even though the spreadsheet was updated. Your Zap is turned on, but there is no corresponding Zap run in your Zap history.

Causes

This happens when you make any of the following structural changes to your spreadsheet:

  • Delete existing rows or columns.
  • Add rows anywhere other than to the bottom of your sheet.
  • Sort your worksheet.
  • Rename, add, or rearrange columns.
  • Rename your spreadsheet or worksheet.
  • Add frozen, hidden, or protected columns or rows.

Any of these changes will break the connection between Zapier and your spreadsheet.

How to fix it

To fix this:

  • Turn your Zap off. 
  • Update your spreadsheet.
  • Re-test your Google Sheets triggers or actions in any connected Zaps. Depending on the changes you made, you may need to remap fields.
  • Turn the Zap on again. 
  • Before making any structural changes to your spreadsheet, you must repeat this process every time you or a teammate updates the spreadsheet.
  • Alternatively, you could switch to using another spreadsheet app such as Zapier Tables. Zapier Tables lets you use your table in the following ways without affecting your Zaps:
    • Create views or filters to display subsets of a table’s data. 
    • Trigger and continue Zaps from records, either manually or automatically when a record is created or updated. 
    • Add rows anywhere within a table.
    • Delete rows within a table. However, deleting a column used in your Zap will cause it to break.

Hi @BFSABen, welcome to the Community! 😁

With formula values that update based on changes made in columns of the same spreadsheet it would trigger the Zap. But I believe that with XLOOKUP formulas the Google Sheets spreadsheet needs to be open for the values in the cells to be refreshed. So that would mean that the Zap will only trigger when the spreadsheet containing the XLOOKUP formulas is open and the values in the cells are refreshed. 

It might be worth looking at something like Tables for this instead. It’s possible to link records from other tables so you could have two separate tables (for your current spreadsheets) and link the records to pull the necessary values from another table: Create linked records in tables. 

Hope that helps to get you pointed in the right direction. If you run into any issues or have further questions do let us know!

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