Form submissions writing to wrong rows/columns (data corruption)

  • onmilink

    (@onmilink)


    21 hours, 4 minutes ago

    We have a Contact Form 7 form connected to a Google Sheet tab that has been working correctly for months. Starting recently, form submissions are no longer writing to the correct row/columns. Instead of appending to the next empty row in columns A–J (the mapped form fields), submissions are being written into unrelated columns far to the right of the actual data, and the location shifts unpredictably with each new submission:

    1st occurrence: submission landed in columns AR–AX (overwriting/misaligning unrelated calculated columns).
    2nd occurrence (same day): a different submission landed even further right, in columns DK–DT.
    3rd occurrence: a submission landed in Row 1, above the header row entirely.

    Each time, the submission data itself was captured correctly (verified in CF7 Database — the entry exists and the email notification was received), but the write-to-Sheet location is wrong and inconsistent.

    What we’ve already ruled out:

    • Formulas or data validation (dropdowns) extending into empty rows below the dataset — checked and cleaned.
    • Protected ranges — none found.
    • Active filters — removed, no change.
    • OAuth/permission issues — Google Drive and Sheets permissions show “Granted” in System Status.
    • Row limit — sheet tab has 958 total rows vs. 349 with data, plenty of headroom.
    • Isolated to this specific spreadsheet — when testing with a brand-new, empty Google Sheet, submissions land correctly every time. The issue only occurs with our existing spreadsheet, which has many tabs (10+) with formulas, pivot tables, and dashboards referencing the data tab.

    Question: does the free version’s logic for determining “next empty row” scan the entire spreadsheet (across all tabs) rather than just the target tab/range? If so, could the presence of many other tabs with extensive formulas or formatting be causing it to miscalculate the correct write position?

    We’d appreciate guidance on how to resolve this without needing to migrate our entire CRM spreadsheet to a new file, if possible. Happy to share screenshots of each occurrence if helpful.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)
  • Plugin Author Abdullah Kaludi

    (@abdullah17)

    17 hours, 15 minutes ago

    Thanks for providing such detailed information and for checking all of those possible causes.

    From what you’ve described, the fact that submissions are being captured correctly in Contact Form 7 and the CF7 Database, while the issue occurs only with this particular existing Google Spreadsheet, is very helpful.

    The plugin should write the submission to the configured worksheet/tab. The behavior you’re seeing—especially submissions being placed in columns such as AR–AX or DK–DT, and even above the header row—is not expected.

    First can you confirm you have updated the plugin to 5.2.7
    We have released before few hours to solve this issue!

    Also, we’d like to investigate this further rather than have you migrate your entire CRM spreadsheet.

    Could you please help us with the following:

    1. Formulas in the submission tab:
      Are any formulas currently added to the worksheet/tab where the Contact Form 7 submissions are being inserted? If yes, could you please let us know which formulas are being used and where they are located?
    2. Test with a new tab in the same spreadsheet:
      If there are no formulas in the current CF7 submissions tab, could you please create a new worksheet/tab within the same existing Google Spreadsheet and connect/test the form with that tab? This would help us determine whether the issue is related to the specific worksheet or to the overall spreadsheet structure.
    3. Reorganizing the submissions:
      If the amount of existing submission data is not very large, you could also consider organizing/copying the existing submissions into a clean worksheet/tab and testing the connection there. You do not necessarily need to create an entirely new Google Spreadsheet, the goal would simply be to have a clean submission tab within your existing file.
    4. Screenshots:
      It would be very helpful if you could share screenshots of the affected worksheet, including the header row and the incorrect submission locations, along with the Google Sheet Connector settings for this form.

    You can share the screenshots with us directly at gsheetconnector.com/support.

    Once we have these details, we’ll investigate further and try to identify what is causing the incorrect write location so we can find a solution without requiring you to migrate your entire CRM spreadsheet.

    Thanks again for the detailed troubleshooting, it’s very helpful in narrowing this down.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

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