I have set up an n8n workflow that should add new data to my Google Sheets document whenever a webhook gets triggered. My target sheet is called ‘DataLog’ and I’m using the Google Sheets node with the Append operation selected.
The workflow runs without any errors and successfully connects to my Google Sheet. However, there’s a problem with how it handles the data insertion. Instead of adding the new information to the next available row while keeping existing data intact, it completely overwrites everything starting from row 1. This means all my previous data gets deleted, including the header row with column names.
I also tested using the ‘Append or Update’ mode but got the same result. The execution shows as successful in n8n but the behavior is definitely not what I expected. Has anyone encountered this issue before? What could be causing this unexpected overwriting behavior?
had the same issue too! there were hidden rows w/ formatting messing up my appends. clearing formats below ur data helps. maybe also look at your webhook data structure - sending arrays instead ofobjects can lead to overwrites. good luck!
This sounds like a data range issue I hit last month. Check your Google Sheets node configuration - there’s a data range field that’s probably causing the overwrite. If you’ve got it set to something like ‘A1:Z’ or ‘A:Z’ instead of letting it auto-detect where to append, it’ll start writing from A1 every time. Don’t specify a fixed range in the node settings. Also check if you’ve got any transforms or data manipulation nodes before the Google Sheets node that might be messing with the row structure. Another thing - make sure your Google Sheet doesn’t have protected ranges or formulas that could interfere with appending. The node should automatically find the last row with data and append below it. If it’s not doing that, you might have hidden characters or formatting in your sheet that’s confusing the detection.
Had the exact same issue! Google Sheets node kept overwriting even in Append mode. Turns out my authentication scope was the problem - had to reauthorize the Google connection with full spreadsheet permissions instead of just read access. Without proper write permissions, it defaults to overwriting instead of appending. Also check if your sheet has merged cells or blank rows between headers and data. The append function gets confused by gaps and sometimes resets to row 1. Try making a fresh test sheet with just headers in row 1 and see if append works there. If it does, something in your original sheet structure is causing it.