Using gspread to connect with Google Sheets

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1

I’m having trouble connecting to Google Sheets with gspread. It works fine with my personal Gmail account, but I’m getting an error with my work account. Here’s what I’ve tried:

import spreadsheet_helper
sh = spreadsheet_helper.connect('work_email', 'work_password')
sheet = sh.open('ProjectData').worksheet('Sheet1')
data = sheet.acell('A2').value
print(data)

This code works perfectly with my personal account. But when I use it with my work account, which is on a corporate Google server, I get this error:

ConnectionError: Failed to authenticate. Error code 500

Does anyone know why this might be happening or how to fix it? I’m not sure if it’s a permissions issue or something else. Any help would be great!

2

hey, sounds like a work firewall issue. i had similar probs connecting to external APIs from our corp network. try using a service account instead of ur work creds. google has docs on setting it up, but basicaly u create a JSON key file and use that to auth. might solve ur headache!

3

I’ve dealt with this exact issue before when trying to access Google Sheets from our company’s network. The problem isn’t with gspread itself, but with how your work account is set up. Corporate Google accounts usually have additional security measures that prevent direct password authentication.

Here’s what worked for me: instead of using login credentials, I switched to using a service account. It’s a bit more setup initially, but it’s way more reliable and secure. You’ll need to create a service account in the Google Cloud Console, download the JSON key file, and then use that for authentication.

The code would look something like this:

import gspread
from google.oauth2.service_account import Credentials

scope = ['https://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds', 'https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive']
creds = Credentials.from_service_account_file('path/to/service_account.json', scopes=scope)
client = gspread.authorize(creds)

sheet = client.open('ProjectData').worksheet('Sheet1')
data = sheet.acell('A2').value
print(data)

Just make sure you’ve shared your Google Sheet with the service account email. This approach should bypass the authentication issues you’re facing with the work account.

4

The issue you’re facing is likely related to your company’s security policies. Corporate Google accounts often have stricter access controls than personal ones. To resolve this, I recommend using OAuth2 authentication instead of direct login credentials. You’ll need to set up a project in Google Cloud Console, enable the Sheets API, and create OAuth2 credentials. Then, use those credentials with gspread’s authorize() function. This method is more secure and should bypass the authentication error you’re encountering. If you still face issues, consult your IT department as they might need to whitelist the application or adjust firewall settings.