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I am having an issue with a Zap (that used to work and now doesn't seem to be working properly ...) and am hoping someone can help.

Context:
I have a GoogleSheet that gets automatically populated with new customer data. We have a column (BI) with "Yes" and "Email Again" as separate dropdowns. The zap is set up to be triggered when BI is updated (we select "Yes" or "Email Again" manually when we want it to trigger). The Filter in the Zap checks to see if it is either Yes or Email Again. If so, it proceeds. The action it is supposed to take is to pull in data from the spreadsheet and plug it into Mailchimp. When the zap runs, that piece all works fine. The issue we are having is getting the zap to run properly.

There are three issues that I am trying to solve for - I've listed them in order of priority:
1) "Email Again" not triggering

  • It seems that typically "Yes" triggers fine (>90% of the time). However, when we then try to flip it to "Email Again" the zap does not trigger again (even though we haven't ever had "Email Again" in that specific cell before)

2) New rows at the top of the spreadsheet not triggering

  • As I mentioned above, the spreadsheet is updated automatically with new customer data. This is done by formulas. However, sometimes we need to add customers manually. So to not mess up the formulas, we've left a section of the spreadsheet with a number of blank rows at the top so that we can manually add customer info
  • When I enter in new customer info (not adding a new row - just typing in an existing blank row), and then manually add "Yes" to BI, noting triggers at all. "Yes' only seems to work for rows that are populated by the formula (note that the formula applies to other columns, NOT BI - in any case, BI is updated manually)
  • We need the top rows to trigger the same as the bottom rows - not sure why it doesn't work on these rows

3) When I originally got a Zap Expert’s help, they had us insert a row into the top section (i.e. the space without formulas) and it triggered ALL of the rows in our sheet. They were held because of too much data, so I just deleted them, but wondering why that would have triggered all of the other rows (when I didn't change any info in those rows). --> this is more of a one off but would be helpful to understand in case we need to add more rows at some point to the top

Hi @Loren 

Good question.

Recommendation would be to use Airtable instead of GSheets to get around these issues.

We’d need more context with screenshots about the structure of the GSheet.

Make sure to review the available help articles for using GSheets in Zaps: https://zapier.com/apps/google-sheets/help

Okay - I will start with the first one. Would love to solve this in GSheets as it used to work and that’s where we’ve had everything set up for 1 year. It’ll be a pretty big lift for us to start from scratch.

The top is the gsheet - the yellow column triggers the zap when “Yes” is selected. It should do the same when “Email Again” is selected, but nothing happens.  


 



 



 

@Loren 

I suspect the way the GSheet has been reconfigured is what’s causing the issues. so it’s likely that whatever recent changes were made is what’s causing the new issues.

 

As I mentioned above, the spreadsheet is updated automatically with new customer data. This is done by formulas. However, sometimes we need to add customers manually. So to not mess up the formulas, we've left a section of the spreadsheet with a number of blank rows at the top so that we can manually add customer info.

This may be because those rows already had data in them and thus Zapier is seeing those rows as not new/unique thus a possible reason why the Zap is not triggering on these manual rows.

Instead you may want to consider using a different GSheet worksheet tab to add manual rows.

 

Make sure to reference the available Zapier help article for using GSheets in Zaps which list the limitations to be aware of:

https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8495978765965

https://help.zapier.com/hc/en-us/articles/8495995099533

 

The Google Sheets trigger on my Zap stopped working

If your Google Sheets trigger stops working suddenly, first check if you’ve accidentally inserted a blank row anywhere in the spreadsheet. Zapier interprets a blank row as the end of the spreadsheet and may have trouble finding any new rows below it.

In addition to this, making the following changes to your spreadsheet while the Zap is turned on can cause errors:

  • Deleting existing rows or columns.
  • Adding rows anywhere other than to the bottom of your sheet.
  • Resorting the sheet.
  • Renaming/adding/rearranging columns.
  • Renaming the sheet.
  • Filtering the sheet.

If you need to make any of those changes to your Google Sheet, turn your Zap off while you work on the spreadsheet, and then turn it back on again.

 

Do not add or delete rows to your spreadsheet, especially in the middle of data your Zap has already recognized. This can cause errors with your Zap.

There can be no completely blank rows before the end of your spreadsheet.

Hey @Loren! I can see you were able to open at open a ticket with my teammates in support.

Keep us posted with any solutions ya’ll discover! We and the community would love to know. 🙂

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