Google Sheets: triggers unexpectedly or too soon

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Updated at August 20th, 2025

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Causes How to fix it

If your Zap, which uses a Google sheet trigger, runs too soon or expectedly, the subsequent steps might receive missing or incomplete information from the latest created or updated row.

Causes

This can happen for a few reasons:

“Any column” monitoring: Selecting “Any column” for monitoring with the New or Updated Spreadsheet Row trigger causes the Zap to execute with every row edit, even minor cell edits, such as filling a blank cell.
Incomplete row data: The New Spreadsheet Row trigger can send incomplete data to subsequent Zap steps if Google Sheets autosaves while a row is still being populated.
Mid-spreadsheet modifications: Adding or removing a row within the spreadsheet while the Zap is turned on can disrupt the Zap’s data processing.

How to fix it

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

- Update the “Trigger column” field. Selecting a specific column to monitor will trigger the Zap only when that column changes.
  - (Optional) Add a column called "Send to Zap" to your spreadsheet and specify it as your column to monitor. Update that column to run the Zap.
- Enter data for the entire row at once. This prevents Google Sheets from autosaving while you are still filling it out the row.
  - If you cannot enter the entire row at once, switch to the New or Updated Spreadsheet Row trigger and specify a trigger column.
- Turn off the Zap while making changes to your spreadsheet, such as adding or removing rows. Once you’ve completed your changes, turn your Zap back on.
  - Learn more about spreadsheet updates that can affect your Zaps.

Tip

You can add a filter to avoid the Zap triggering on blank rows.

Google Sheets: triggers unexpectedly or too soon

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Causes

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