I’m having trouble with dates when I export my Google Sheets to PDF format. The weird thing is that the date gets changed by one day during the conversion process. For example, when I have December 29, 2021 selected in my spreadsheet, it shows up as December 28, 2021 in the final PDF document. This is really frustrating because I need the dates to be accurate. I already tried adjusting the locale settings and timezone configurations in my sheet but that didn’t fix the issue. Does anyone know what could be causing this date shift problem? Also, is it possible to fix this issue using Google Apps Script? I would really appreciate any suggestions or solutions that might help resolve this timezone or date formatting problem.
Sounds like a timezone conversion bug during PDF export. I hit this same issue last year - Google Sheets treats dates as datetime objects with midnight timestamps, then shifts them based on your browser’s timezone vs the sheet’s timezone when you export to PDF. Two fixes that worked for me: First, format your date cells as plain text before exporting (add an apostrophe before the date or use the TEXT function). Second, temporarily change your browser timezone to match the sheet’s locale before exporting. It’s annoying but Google still hasn’t fixed this bug.
i totally feel your pain! i had a similar issue with my reports too. what worked was going to File > Page Setup and checking the paper size. exporting as PDF can mess with formats, so also try Ctrl+P to print as PDF instead of just downloading it. good luck!
I experienced a similar issue with reports in Google Sheets. The date conversion to PDF can indeed be problematic due to hidden time components. One effective method I found was to create a separate column utilizing the TEXT function or format the date explicitly, like using =DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1),DAY(A1)), which removes unwanted time details that cause discrepancies. It’s also worth noting that exporting at different times can impact results, as I’ve observed more issues during late hours, possibly tied to UTC conversions. While Google Apps Script can help with automation, exporting via the Drive API might be necessary for a successful result.