Google Sheets — Troubleshooting
Error: "Google authorization error. Log in to your account again"
Message: Google authorization error. Log in to your account again.
What it means: The Google access token issued when connecting Google Sheets to Lightlead has become invalid or was revoked.
Possible causes:
- You signed out of your Google account or changed the password
- You revoked Lightlead's access in Google's security settings
- The maximum refresh token lifetime expired (usually 6 months of inactivity)
- Google Workspace security settings were changed by the domain administrator
What to do:
- Go to "Integrations" → "Google Sheets"
- Click "Reconnect" or "Refresh authorization"
- In the Google window that opens, log in and grant all requested permissions
- Wait for the "Google Sheets successfully connected" message
- Restart the report or export
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: yes
When to contact support: If authorization succeeds (green checkmark), but the error reappears when trying to write to the sheet.
What to send: Name of the connected Google account, error time, time of the last successful authorization, screenshot of the error.
Error: "The spreadsheet doesn't exist or was deleted"
Message: The spreadsheet doesn't exist or was deleted.
What it means: The Google Sheets file referenced by the report or integration was not found. Or you lost access to it.
Possible causes:
- The spreadsheet was deleted from Google Drive (by you or a collaborator)
- The spreadsheet was moved to trash and more than 30 days have passed
- Your access to the spreadsheet was revoked
- The spreadsheet was transferred to a different owner, and permissions changed
- The link contains a typo or references a non-existent file ID
What to do:
- Open Google Drive and check the trash — the spreadsheet can be restored if less than 30 days have passed since deletion
- If the spreadsheet exists but is inaccessible — request access from the owner
- Check whether the spreadsheet was moved to a different folder — search for it by name in Google Drive
- If the spreadsheet is permanently lost — create a new one and update the link in Lightlead's settings
- Make sure no extra characters were pasted along with the link
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: no (if the issue is only the link)
When to contact support: If the spreadsheet definitely exists, you have access, the link was copied correctly, but the error persists.
What to send: Link to the spreadsheet, your access level to it (screenshot), error time, screenshot of the error.
Error: "Google Sheets API quota exceeded. Try again later"
Message: Google Sheets API quota exceeded. Try again later.
What it means: The request limit to the Google Sheets API, set by Google for your account or project, was exceeded in a short period.
Possible causes:
- Too many reports are exporting to Google Sheets simultaneously or at short intervals
- Frequent automatic updates (schedule every 5–15 minutes)
- A large number of sources in one report generates many separate write operations
- Other integrations and scripts are using the same Google account at the same time
What to do:
- Wait 1–2 minutes — Google quotas reset quickly
- Increase the interval between report runs to at least 30 minutes
- Merge several reports into one to reduce the number of write operations
- Stagger the report run times so they don't overlap
- Check whether other services are using the same Google account to write to spreadsheets
Retry the run: yes (after a pause)
Reconnection required: no
When to contact support: If the error occurs even on a single run once per hour, and no other services are using the Google Sheets API.
What to send: Number of reports exporting to Google Sheets, scheduled run interval, error time, screenshot of the error.
Error: "Row limit exceeded. Reduce the data volume or split across multiple sheets"
Message: Row limit exceeded. Reduce the data volume or split across multiple sheets.
What it means: The volume of data you're trying to write to Google Sheets exceeds the maximum allowed row limit on a single sheet (the available limit depends on the sheet's current state and existing data).
Possible causes:
- Too large a date range or too many metrics generate more than 10 million data cells
- The sheet already has data, and there isn't enough free space
- The report contains highly granular detailed data (e.g., hourly breakdown for a year)
What to do:
- Narrow the date range (e.g., quarterly instead of yearly)
- Reduce the granularity (e.g., daily instead of hourly)
- Split the export across several separate sheets or files
- Create a new blank sheet for the export
- Delete old data from the target sheet if it's no longer needed
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: no
When to contact support: If you've reduced the data to a reasonable volume but the error persists, or if the sheet is empty and the limit error still occurs.
What to send: Report name, date range, number of output rows and columns, volume of existing data on the sheet, error time, screenshot of the error.
Error: "The sheet is write-protected. Remove protection or change access permissions"
Message: The sheet is write-protected. Remove protection or change access permissions.
What it means: The Google Sheets sheet selected for export has active range or sheet protection that prevents Lightlead from writing to it.
Possible causes:
- The spreadsheet owner set protection on the sheet or specific ranges
- The spreadsheet is open in "Viewer" (read-only) mode
- You have view rights but not edit rights
- The sheet is protected by a password or by a Google Workspace corporate policy
What to do:
- Open the spreadsheet in Google Sheets
- Go to "Data" → "Protected sheets and ranges"
- Check which sheets and ranges are protected
- Remove the protection or add the Lightlead account to the list of allowed editors
- Check the overall access level: "File" → "Share" — you should have "Editor" access
- Save the changes and restart the export
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: no
When to contact support: If you removed the protection and have editor access, but the error persists.
What to send: Link to the spreadsheet, your access level (screenshot of "Share" settings), screenshot of the list of protected ranges, error time, screenshot of the error.
Error: "Failed to create a new sheet in the spreadsheet"
Message: Failed to create a new sheet in the spreadsheet.
What it means: Lightlead tried to automatically create a new sheet in the specified Google Sheets spreadsheet for the export, but the operation failed.
Possible causes:
- The limit on the number of sheets in one spreadsheet has been reached (usually 200)
- The new sheet's name conflicts with an existing one
- Insufficient permissions to create sheets (access level is "Viewer" or "Commenter")
- The spreadsheet is in restricted access mode
What to do:
- Check the number of sheets in the spreadsheet — if it's close to 200, delete unneeded ones
- Check whether there's already a sheet with the same name that Lightlead is trying to create
- Make sure you have "Editor" access to the spreadsheet
- Manually create a blank sheet with the needed name and specify it in the report settings
- If it's a corporate spreadsheet — contact your Google Workspace administrator
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: no
When to contact support: If there are fewer than 200 sheets, you have editor rights, the name is unique, but the error persists.
What to send: Link to the spreadsheet, number of sheets in it, your access level, the name of the sheet expected to be created, error time, screenshot of the error.
Error: "Invalid Google Sheets spreadsheet link"
Message: Invalid Google Sheets spreadsheet link. Check the URL.
What it means: The URL entered in the report settings is not a valid link to a Google Sheets spreadsheet.
Possible causes:
- A link to a different Google Drive resource was pasted instead of a spreadsheet (a document, folder, or presentation)
- The link was copied incompletely or contains extra characters
- A shortened URL is used instead of the direct one
- The link points to a spreadsheet the connected account doesn't have access to
What to do:
- Open the spreadsheet in Google Sheets
- Copy the full URL from the browser's address bar
- Make sure the URL starts with
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ - Paste the link into the settings field in Lightlead and save
- Make sure the connected Google account has access to this spreadsheet
Retry the run: yes
Reconnection required: no (if access exists)
When to contact support: If you've pasted a correct link to the spreadsheet, have access, but the error persists.
What to send: Full spreadsheet URL, your access level to the spreadsheet, error time, screenshot of the error.