Spreadsheet import error: 'File too large'

Steps to avoid hitting the 5MB file size limit for connected spreadsheets.

Updated over a week ago

This error means the spreadsheet file has exceeded Geckoboard's 5MB size limit.

Even if your file size is lower than the 5MB limit, .xlsx files use ZIP compression within them. This means a 2โ€“3MB file could roughly be about 10 times the size reported on your device.

To reduce the size of the spreadsheet file, we recommend:

  • Clearing non-required cell formatting:
    Spreadsheets often retain formatting, even in unused cells. These styles can significantly increase the size of the sheet. Check if any styles, like colors or fonts are applied to empty rows or columns and remove them โ€“ even down to the 999th row.

  • Remove non-required worksheets:
    Delete any worksheets that are not essential.

If cleaning up the sheet doesn't resolve the issue, the solution would be to start a fresh spreadsheet specifically for the metrics to display on Geckoboard. You can always reference the data from the current sheet if needed.

We have a detailed guide on using ImportRange to reduce the size of your spreadsheets to only the data needed for Geckoboard.

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