Sheet size limits - workaround or alternative?

brucewarren · 09/05/18

Hi all. We are tracking data with SS and constantly run into space limitations (on the 200K cell limit, I believe). Also, the size of the sheets are bogging down to the point of unusable for some.

Anyone have an idea to work around this or is there a SS alternative that can handle a large sheet? Thanks in advance.

Andrée Starå · 09/05/18

Hi Bruce,

Would it work if the data moved from one sheet to another or if you created a new sheet when the limit almost reached?

I hope this helps you!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant @ Get Done Consulting

Mike Wilday · 09/05/18

I agree with Andree. To avoid data limitations we have to move data on a yearly basis. You can send historical data to a new sheet for archival. Essentially this could be done monthly as well if you are generating that much data.

brucewarren · 09/06/18

Yes, that is what we ended up doing, but it is very inconvenient. These are all ongoing records, nothing that can be archived.

Paul Newcome · 09/06/18

I would think on going records makes archival a no-go though.

The best option I personally can think of would be to break the sheets down into multiple smaller, more specific sheets whether it be by record type, first letter of last name, etc.

Unfortunately Smartsheet has some rather major size limitations.

Andrée Starå · 09/06/18

You could automate the process with the help of a tool like Zapier.

Would that help?

Best,

Andrée

Paul Newcome · 09/07/18

I always forget about Zapier. I've never used it, but I keep seeing it as a suggestion here in the community. Especially for this specific thing.

J. Craig Williams · 09/07/18

If third party tools are an option, AppSheet has a 'partition' functionality that allows sheets of exact same infrastructure (column name, types, and numbers) to be treated as a single table ... kind of.

There are also ways to integrate Google Sheets or Excel (online version) with Smartsheet.

While the cell/column/row limitations are easy to point to, in many cases, these are TOO HIGH, as performance suffers before the limits are reached.

Craig

D Domine · 08/21/19

Is there an easy way to know how many cells (or rows or columns) you have? I don't see it listed in the Properties.

Andrée Starå · 08/22/19

Hi,

Cells. Multiply rows and columns.

Rows. Go the last row and check the number on the left side.

Columns. Select two or more columns and right click and Insert 2 Columns Left or Right and they will be numbered with how many columns you have in the sheet.

Hope that helps!

Have a fantastic day!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

Paul Newcome · 08/22/19

One thing I am curious about is how they count blanks.

Is the row count similar to how a form entry determines which row to use when putting new entries at the bottom of the sheet where rows that have data deleted from them are considered blank (as opposed to empty), but rows that have never had data in them are considered empty (unused)?

Does the same apply to columns where I can have 10 columns on my sheet but have never entered any data whatsoever into column 7 (for example)? Would that still count as 10 columns or 9 since one is completely unused?

What about on a cellular level? Do empty (not just blank) cells apply to the overall count?

I haven't tested any of these limitations myself, but has anyone else?

Sheet size limits - workaround or alternative?

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