Google Sheets Update Row Operation Fails to Modify Existing Data

It sounds like the node isn’t “failing” but simply isn’t finding a matching row to update. Note that the Update Row operation in n8n is designed to update an existing row—if no matching row is found, nothing is updated and no output is returned. Here are a few things you might check:

• Mapping and Matching:
  Ensure that the column used for matching (e.g. the unique identifier) is correct. If you’ve made any changes to the column names in your Google Sheet after the node was initially configured, try refreshing the mapping. In Mapping Column Mode (or by switching the mapping mode off and back on), n8n will re-fetch the column names.

• Row Existence:
  Verify that the row you expect to update truly exists in the sheet with the exact value provided by the matching field. If the row isn’t found, consider using the “Append or Update Row” operation instead, which can append a new row if a match isn’t found.

• Configuration Check:
  Double-check that all parameters (like spreadsheet ID, sheet selection, and mapping settings) are correctly set. Sometimes using “Map Automatically” can help, as n8n will try to match incoming fields with the sheet’s column names.

There’s no inherent limitation with the Google Sheets API here—the behavior is by design. Once you ensure that the row exists and your column mapping is up-to-date, the Update Row operation should work as expected.