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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallYou shared the spreadsheet, and your colleague can open it—but refreshing the connected data fails. That can be expected: Google Sheets sharing grants access to the spreadsheet, not automatically to the BigQuery tables or billing project needed to run a new query. The fix depends on which workflow is involved and whose credentials execute it.
First identify the workflow and the account running it
“Sheets to a warehouse” can describe different setups. A native Connected Sheet queries BigQuery. A BigQuery external table can read data from a Sheet. A separate integration connector can ingest a Sheet using a service account. These paths have different permission checks, so start by locating the failing operation and its execution identity.
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- Connected Sheets: A person manually refreshes or creates an analysis that queries BigQuery. Depending on the configuration, the query uses that person’s credentials or the creator’s delegated credentials.
- Scheduled Connected Sheets refresh: The schedule runs under its owner. That owner’s authorization and access matter, even if another person can open the Sheet.
- Integration connector: A separate service reads the Sheet using its configured service account. The service account needs access to the spreadsheet.
- BigQuery external table: BigQuery reads a Sheet as a data source. Check the permissions for the identity and configuration used by that external-table workflow; do not assume Connected Sheets instructions apply.
Find the error’s location—Connected Sheets, a scheduled refresh, an external-table query, or the connector—and establish which identity is making the request before changing permissions.
Why sharing the Sheet does not authorize a BigQuery refresh
Drive or Sheets sharing controls who can open and edit the spreadsheet. BigQuery separately controls access to data and permission to run jobs in a billing project. A collaborator with only spreadsheet access can use ordinary Sheets features and work with data already present in the Sheet, but cannot manually refresh BigQuery data or schedule a refresh. Google states: “If you want to give a user Google Sheets access only, share a spreadsheet and don’t grant BigQuery access.” Google’s Connected Sheets access-control documentation describes this separation.
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For a native Connected Sheets query, Google’s documented prerequisites include BigQuery access, BigQuery Data Viewer on the dataset containing the selected table, and BigQuery Job Creator on the selected billing project. Billing must also be set up for that project. Ask the BigQuery administrator to check both the dataset permission and the billing-project permission for the identity actually running the query. A grant on one resource does not substitute for the other. Google’s Connected Sheets troubleshooting guidance lists the access and query-failure checks.
Check manual refresh and scheduled refresh separately
Manual refresh or a new Connected Sheets analysis
If one person can open the spreadsheet but cannot create or refresh its BigQuery analysis, confirm that person’s effective query identity and check the BigQuery roles and billing project above. If the spreadsheet was configured to use delegated access, the effective identity may instead be its creator.
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Scheduled refresh
A schedule has an owner; it does not simply run as whoever happens to open the Sheet. Google documents several reasons a scheduled refresh can stop: the owner’s OAuth authorization was revoked, the owner lost edit access to the Sheet, the account is not eligible, the source table or schedule-owner account was deleted, or a source change paused the schedule. Check the schedule owner and restore the specific authorization, access, account, or source condition that is missing, then retry. Google’s troubleshooting guidance covers these schedule checks.
Changing the source can pause a schedule, so a refresh failure after a table or data-source change may require inspecting the schedule itself rather than merely resharing the spreadsheet.
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Understand delegated access before enabling it
Delegated Access is a Connected Sheets setting chosen by the creator. With it, subsequent queries can use the creator’s credentials even when another Sheet user triggers a query. This changes whose BigQuery authority is exercised; it does not grant every spreadsheet user unrestricted direct access to BigQuery. The creator’s effective access and the organization’s security policy therefore matter to the data exposed through the Sheet. Review the setting deliberately and make sure the creator is an appropriate, maintained account for this use. Google’s Connected Sheets help explains delegated access.
If a service-account connector reads the Sheet, share with that account
For Google’s Integration Connectors Google Sheets connector configured with service-account authentication, the service account itself needs view or edit permission on the Sheet. In the spreadsheet, use Share to add the service-account email and give it the least access level that supports the connector’s operation. This is a Sheet-access fix for that connector—not a fix for a person lacking BigQuery permissions in Connected Sheets. Google’s connector setup documentation describes the service-account requirement.
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Investigate VPC Service Controls and query-specific failures
VPC Service Controls
A VPC Service Controls perimeter can block Connected Sheets even when spreadsheet sharing and BigQuery roles look correct. Google’s documentation describes configuring suitable access or ingress rules and an egress rule so query results can be copied to Sheets. Scheduled refresh does not propagate end-user context; if the perimeter depends on that context, scheduled refresh fails. Have the perimeter administrator review the policy for the relevant workflow rather than weakening access broadly. Google’s BigQuery Connected Sheets documentation and Connected Sheets troubleshooting guidance discuss these restrictions.
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Table changes, permissions, and result limits
If identity and perimeter checks pass, inspect the query’s source and output. Google’s troubleshooting guidance identifies deleted tables, changed columns, missing table access, and missing job permission on the billing project as possible causes. It also documents failures when pivot-table results exceed 100,000 results or query results exceed 10 MB. These are documented failure thresholds, not a statement about typical usage. Reduce returned rows or columns, or reduce pivot output, when the result is too large. Google’s troubleshooting page lists these cases and remedies.
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Match the fix to the permission boundary
| Workflow or operation | Identity to check | Permission boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Open the spreadsheet or use ordinary Sheets features | The collaborator | Drive/Sheets sharing |
| Manually query or refresh Connected Sheets | The querying user, or creator if delegated access is configured | BigQuery dataset access, billing-project job permission, and billing setup |
| Scheduled Connected Sheets refresh | The schedule owner | Owner authorization and Sheet access, source-table availability, and applicable perimeter policy |
| Integration Connectors Google Sheets connector | The configured service account | View or edit access to the Sheet, as required by the integration |
| BigQuery external table reading a Sheet | The identity used by that external-table configuration | External-table and source access for that workflow; not established by Sheet sharing alone |
Use this distinction to avoid the common dead end: repeatedly adjusting spreadsheet sharing when the failed action is a BigQuery query, or granting a human BigQuery access when the failing integration actually runs as a service account.
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