9 Ways to Fix Google Sheets Not Working (2024)

Whether you are trying to open a file or import external data, Google Sheets may sometimes stop working. In some instances, Google Sheets may fail to open or take forever to load and return an error such as “A loading error occurred.”

Since Google Sheets is an online editor, most problems originate due to internet or browser-related issues. In such cases, you just need to wait for some time or reload the webpage.

However, if you are unable to open a particular Google Sheets document, make sure you have the necessary view or edit permissions.

In this article, we go through various solutions to fix the most common Google Sheets issues you might come across and resolve them.

Re-login to the Google Account

As Google Sheets is part of the Google apps, any issue relating to your Google account can prevent it from working as expected.

In these cases, simply signing out and logging back into your Google account can resolve the issue.

Check Your Internet Connection

Unless you have set up offline access, you must have an Internet connection to open and edit files on Google Sheets.

However, when your network connection is too slow or unavailable, you can experience loading issues and get an error message such as “Reconnecting” or “Trying to connect.”

To fix such issues, make sure you have a stable Internet connection. You can either switch to another available network or reset the network settings.

Check the File Permission

If you aren’t able to make changes on a Google Sheets document that someone shared, chances are the owner hasn’t provided the edit access to you. In that case, request him/her to assign the edit permission for the file shared with you.

Also, check if you are using the Google account that contains the shared document and switch the account.

However, if you aren’t able to edit your own file, your Google Drive storage is possibly running out. So, you need to clear some Google Drive space since all your Sheets files are stored there.

For this, go to your Google Drive. Delete and remove files that are no longer necessary. Start by removing large files like videos and audio to quickly declutter the storage.

Update the Browser

If you use an outdated browser, some features may not be supported by Google Sheets.

Also, such browser applications contain unresolved bugs which are patched in the newer versions. Therefore, update your browser to avoid issues.

1. Click the three-dot icon in the top right corner and select Help > About Google Chrome.
   
2. Wait for Chrome to install the latest available updates. Then, relaunch the browser.
   
3. Open Google Sheets and see if it’s working.

Note: If you are still getting the error, consider switching the browser or reinstalling it to resolve unknown issues. For mobile users, update the Google Sheets app from the Play Store or App Store.

Clear the Browser Cache

The browser cache can add up pretty quickly and sometimes become corrupt. In that case, it could prevent Google Sheets from working or even opening. So, to resolve such issues, consider clearing the cache.

However, note that clearing cookies will sign you out of currently signed-in sites and require you to sign in again.

1. Click the three-dot icon in the top right corner.
2. Select More tools > Clear browsing data.
   
3. On the next window prompt, select the Advanced tab.
4. Then, enable the Cached images and files checkbox and Hosted app data at the bottom.
   
5. Click Clear data.

Note: If you are using the Google Sheets app on Android, go to Settings > Apps > Sheets Storage and tap Clear cache.

Disable the Browser Extensions

If you have installed several extensions on your browser, it’s possible that one of them might be conflicting with the browser and hindering Google Sheets too. Therefore, you need to disable or even remove such extensions.

To check if an extension is causing the issue, open Google Sheets inside the Incognito mode.

1. Click the three dots icon in the top right corner.
2. Then, select Extensions > Manage Extensions.
   
3. Next, click the toggle button next to the extension you want to disable.
   
4. Alternatively, click Remove to completely uninstall the extension from the browser.

Work with Fewer Google Sheets Tabs

In case you are working with multiple sheets at the same time (possibly containing thousands of rows with data) or importing large datasets, Google Sheets may become slow and unresponsive.

This can also happen if you have opened too many browser tabs.

So, work with fewer Sheets tabs and browser tabs whenever possible to prevent sheets from slowing down.

Resolve Formula Errors

While using multiple formulas, you’ll sometimes run into different formula errors like #N/A, #REF!, #VALUE!, #NAME?, #DIV/0!, #ERROR!, etc.

Most of the time, these errors occur due to incorrect formula syntax. So, look up the correct syntax and their spelling, and check if you have entered an invalid input/value that doesn’t exist. Doing so should help you resolve most formula errors.

Even if it doesn’t, Google Sheets will prompt you with a popup about what went wrong in the formulas and what you should do to correct it.

Check the Server Status

If the issues persist, Google Sheets is likely suffering from an outage.

Although it’s rare, Google services can sometimes become operational, and there’s nothing much to resolve the issue from your side.

But, you can still check out Google’s official status site to know when the Google services are up and running again.