Is there a time limit for the IMPORTDATA function in Google Sheets?
I think there should be some kind of timeout, but I can’t find any official information about this in the help docs. Has anyone tested this or found where Google explains the time limits? I’m planning to do some testing on my own to figure it out.
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about timeouts with Google Apps Script or the Sheets API. I’m specifically asking about the built-in IMPORTDATA function and whether it stops trying to fetch data after a certain amount of time. This would be helpful to know when working with slow external data sources or when the function seems to hang without returning results.
Google Sheets does impose timeout limits for the IMPORTDATA function, though the exact duration can vary based on server performance and current load times. In my experience, I’ve seen it fail in significantly less time than the suggested 30 seconds, especially with sluggish servers. To mitigate this, using IFERROR around IMPORTDATA can help manage failures effectively. For persistently slow data sources, consider caching the information locally or utilizing Google Apps Script, which accommodates longer timeout periods.
yep, they do timeout! I think it’s around 30 secs but if the server’s slow it might fail faster than that. hope that clears it up!
I’ve hit this exact problem tons of times with slow APIs. The timeout is real and super frustrating when you need reliable data imports.
IMPORTDATA’s biggest issue isn’t just timing out - you can’t control retries, error handling, or when it refreshes. You’re basically stuck hoping it works.
I ditched IMPORTDATA for anything important. Built automated workflows that grab data on schedule, handle timeouts properly, and push clean data straight into sheets. No more guessing if it’ll work or just sit there broken.
The automation deals with slow servers, network issues, and cleans up data before it hits the spreadsheet. I can set custom retry intervals or switch to backup sources when the main one’s down.
This saved me hours of manual refreshing and fixing broken formulas. Check out Latenode for setting this up: https://latenode.com
IMPORTDATA typically times out within 10 to 20 seconds when dealing with unresponsive sources. This is more stringent than other Google services, which is understandable as it can disrupt the entire sheet’s performance. I’ve observed that it tends to give up even quicker during peak hours, likely due to resource management on Google’s end. One helpful workaround is to reference a regularly changing cell to compel IMPORTDATA to retry, thus overcoming those transient network issues that might otherwise cause the function to fail permanently.