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Best answer

Issue with Zapier Formatter: current time is not updating correctly in Google Sheets

  • 31 May 2023
  • 7 replies
  • 55 views
growth.land

I am having an issue with the Formatter's Date / Time feature in one of my Zaps. The Zap is designed to create a new row in a Google Sheets spreadsheet every time a certain trigger event happens. I added a step with the Formatter by Zapier to generate a timestamp of the current date and time for each new row.

In the Formatter setup, I have used 'Now' as the input and 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss' as the 'To Format'.

However, I've noticed that even though the date is correct, the time always remains the same and does not reflect the current time when the Zap runs.

Any ideas?

icon

Best answer by ken.a 1 June 2023, 06:50

View original

7 replies

chanelle
Userlevel 7
Badge +8

Hmm @growth.land this is interesting, can you please provide a screenshot of your Formatter set up? From my knowledge, this isn’t the intended outcome and I’d like to take a closer look at what’s going on. 

growth.land

Hola @chanelle 

Thx for answering.

Here they go:

 

 

 

 

ken.a
Userlevel 7
Badge +6

Hi there @growth.land,

I’m jumping in to see if I can help!

I replicated the Formatter setup that you’re using. After looking into it, it appears that the issue lies with the typed data in the “Input” field. It seems that the typed “Now” value isn't being recognized by the Formatter. To resolve this, I recommend using the {{zap_meta_human_now}} data instead. This should provide the desired result.

Here’s what it’ll look like:

1c516b061e35f8c591ce6f0b0a939bf4.png
(view larger)

2f54abaab742a0fd3ca008bc56633271.png
(view larger)

Hopefully, this helps! 😊

Troy Tessalone
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @growth.land 

Try testing with the Zap ON, then check your Zap Runs to see the DATA IN/OUT for each Zap step, as sometimes the Zap Editor test data can be inaccurate.

OR

Help article about inserting system timestamp formats: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496275717261

⚡ Troy Tessalone - AutomationAce.com | Premier Certified Zapier Expert | #1 Zapier Community Contributor
growth.land

Hi there @growth.land,

I’m jumping in to see if I can help!

I replicated the Formatter setup that you’re using. After looking into it, it appears that the issue lies with the typed data in the “Input” field. It seems that the typed “Now” value isn't being recognized by the Formatter. To resolve this, I recommend using the {{zap_meta_human_now}} data instead. This should provide the desired result.

Here’s what it’ll look like:

1c516b061e35f8c591ce6f0b0a939bf4.png
(view larger)

2f54abaab742a0fd3ca008bc56633271.png
(view larger)

Hopefully, this helps! 😊

Gracias @ken.a. It worked perfectly!

growth.land

Hi @growth.land 

Try testing with the Zap ON, then check your Zap Runs to see the DATA IN/OUT for each Zap step, as sometimes the Zap Editor test data can be inaccurate.

OR

Help article about inserting system timestamp formats: https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8496275717261

Thx @Troy Tessalone.

@ken.a solution worked perfect. 

ken.a
Userlevel 7
Badge +6

Hi @growth.land,

You are most welcome! I’m glad it worked!

If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in the Community. We’re always happy to help! 😊

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