Sync Settings

InstaCharts offers synchronization settings that control how and when your charts update from a connected data source. These settings let you connect charts to external data sources, automate updates, and keep data current for the whole team.

To sync a spreadsheet from an outside datasource, check out our Import from Google Sheets guide

For a sheet that is not connected to a data source, use Update Sheet Data to refresh it from a file on your device.

Sync Settings Dialog

These options are only available on a sheet that is connected to an outside data source.

The Sync Settings dialog can be found on the sheet menu, under Sync Settings.

You can resync your sheet from the Sync Settings dialog

Use this dialog to resynchronize your data to the original document.

Note

Any data edits you have made in InstaCharts will be overwritten by the sync. If you need to edit data and want to resync, edit the original document instead of from within InstaCharts.

Settings

Toggle “Keep InstaCharts column names” to on if you don’t want the sync to overwrite column names that may have changed within InstaCharts.

Manual Sync

Click “Sync Now” to perform a manual sync.

It may take a few minutes for the new data from the data source to populate.

Users with a free InstaCharts account can perform 5 manual syncs a day. Manual Syncs are unlimited with a paid account.

Sync Schedule

Syncing is not done automatically. This is to allow for edits and data transformations within InstaCharts.

If you have a paid InstaCharts account, you can set up a sync schedule to check the original document for changes.

Intervals for Sync Schedule

Interval Name	Timespan	Notes
None	This is the default setting
Automatic	Automatically updates when the original document changes	Google can take up to 5 minutes to send changes through
Hourly	Check original document once an hour
Daily	Check original document once a day	checks 24 hours since the last sync
Weekly	Check original document once a week	checks 7 days since the last sync
Monthly	Check original document once a month	checks 1 month since the last sync

Tip

When using Automatic, a Minimum interval setting lets you throttle how often InstaCharts is allowed to sync, so a frequently changing source document doesn’t burn through your monthly task limit.

Note

Any data edits you have made in InstaCharts will be overwritten by the sync.

If you need to edit data and want to resync, edit the original document.