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Hello,

I would like to know if the "New or Updated Google Sheet Row" Google Sheet Trigger can be applied to previous rows/data.
Meaning that once the Zap is published, I'd like the modification of a pre-existing row to be recognized and trigger an action (sending an email).
Up to now, only very recent rows have been recognized, but not older ones.
I've tried adding a column to trigger an cell's update but the modification is not detected.

Thanks in advance!

Hi @Elliott LCS 

Good question.

Yes, that GSheet Zap trigger can be used for existing rows.

 

The "Updated Spreadsheet Row" trigger stopped triggering

If you're watching for changes to a column, we only see new values in that column. If you update the column of an existing row to a value that Zapier previously saw in that column, in that row, we won't see the new value. You will need to either choose a column that will only have unique values, or make a new one which will.

For example, if you had X in the Trigger column, then changed it to Y, the Zap would trigger. If you then changed it back to X it would not trigger again, because the Zap has already seen X in that column.

 

The Google Sheets trigger is marked "instant," but it still takes a few minutes to trigger

The triggers for Google Sheets are unique among Zapier triggers. When there is a trigger event in the spreadsheet, Zapier gets a notification webhook from Google about this. After that, Zapier sends Google Sheets a request for new data, so it uses both the polling and instant trigger methods. This process takes about 3 minutes overall.

While not being "instant", these triggers are faster than regular polling ones, as they don't depend on the polling interval of the plan your account uses.

 

“New or Updated Spreadsheet Row” trigger behavior

If you’re using the New or Updated Spreadsheet Row trigger and choose Any column to monitor, any change to a row will trigger your Zap. If you select a specific column, then the Zap will only trigger when there are changes on that column.

miscEye icon Note

Zaps using New or Updated Spreadsheet Row will also trigger for any new rows in the spreadsheet, even if the specified column is blank. To avoid triggering in those cases, add a Filter step to your Zap.

 


Thank you for your reply @Troy Tessalone 

Would you then know why modifying a pre-existing row does not trigger the Zap?

Is it necessary to Transfer the data for each Zap.

 


@Elliott LCS 

This may be why…

The "Updated Spreadsheet Row" trigger stopped triggering

If you're watching for changes to a column, we only see new values in that column.
If you update the column of an existing row to a value that Zapier previously saw in that column, in that row, we won't see the new value.
You will need to either choose a column that will only have unique values, or make a new one which will.

For example, if you had X in the Trigger column, then changed it to Y, the Zap would trigger. If you then changed it back to X it would not trigger again, because the Zap has already seen X in that column.


Thanks again for your help @Troy Tessalone 

 

My spreadsheet looks like this. 

The idea is that modifying a cell in column J via a pull-down menu sends an e-mail.
The default cell is empty, and when I modify it will inevitably result in a different fill than the previous one.
Maybe I'm wrong but according to the previous example, it should trigger the Zap.

 


@Elliott LCS 

Have you reviewed the other available help articles for using GSheets in Zaps?

https://zapier.com/apps/google-sheets/help


@Elliott LCS 

An alternative is to use Airtable instead of GSheets.

Airtable has Views, which are segments of data. (sort, filter, group, show/hide fields, reorder fields)

Views can be used to trigger Zaps.


Thanks for those answers @Troy Tessalone 

I’ll take a look at the link you provided me regarding the use of GSheet in Zapier.


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