v2.0.0
7 min read
Updated 1/20/2025

Automation & Scheduling

Save time by automating duplicate checks and scheduling recurring runs with SheetClean's powerful automation features

Automation & Scheduling

Automate repetitive duplicate checks and schedule them to run automatically with SheetClean's powerful automation system.

Overview

SheetClean's automation features let you:

💾 Save Scenarios - Save any duplicate check configuration for instant reuse

  • Save your exact settings (columns, actions, options)
  • Name and organize your saved configurations
  • Run saved scenarios with one click

⏰ Schedule Runs - Automate duplicate checks to run automatically

  • Daily or twice-daily scheduling
  • Runs automatically without manual intervention
  • Email notifications when complete (optional)

📤 Share Scenarios - Export and share configurations with your team

  • Export scenarios as files
  • Import scenarios from teammates
  • Standardize duplicate checking across your organization

Understanding Automations

An automation (also called a "scenario") is a saved configuration that remembers:

  • Which feature to run (Find Duplicates, Quick Dedupe, etc.)
  • Which columns to compare
  • What actions to take (highlight, delete, etc.)
  • All option settings (case sensitivity, headers, etc.)

Once saved, you can run the exact same duplicate check anytime with one click.

Creating Your First Automation

Let's create an automation for a daily customer duplicate check.

Step 1: Open Automations

  1. Open SheetClean sidebar
  2. Click 🤖 Automations (or from the menu: SheetClean → Automations)
  3. Click the + Create New Automation button

Step 2: Choose What to Automate

Select the type of task you want to automate:

Available automation templates:

  • 🔍 Find duplicate or unique rows - Advanced duplicate detection
  • 🎯 Find duplicate or unique cells - Cell-level duplicate finding
  • ⚡ Quick dedupe - Fast duplicate removal
  • 🔗 Combine duplicate rows - Merge duplicate entries
  • 📊 Compare sheets for duplicates - Cross-sheet comparison
  • 📈 Compare columns - Column-to-column matching

Click on the template that matches your needs. For our example, select ⚡ Quick dedupe.

Step 3: Configure Your Automation

Enter the automation details:

Name your automation:

  • Enter a descriptive name like "Daily Customer Cleanup"
  • Keep it short but clear
  • Maximum 50 characters

Description (optional):

  • Add notes about what this automation does
  • Example: "Removes duplicate customers based on email address"
  • Helpful for team members or future reference

Preview:

SheetClean shows a preview of what will happen:

  • Estimated processing time (e.g., "~2 seconds")
  • Number of rows affected (if detectable)
  • Any warnings or recommendations

Step 4: Configure Settings

Adjust the automation settings based on the selected template:

For Quick Dedupe automation:

  • Keep strategy: First occurrence, Last occurrence, or Remove all
  • Skip empty rows: Enabled (recommended)
  • Case sensitive: Disabled (recommended)

For Find Duplicates automation:

  • Columns to compare: Select specific columns or all
  • What to find: Duplicates, Unique values, or First occurrences
  • Actions: Highlight, Delete, Move, etc.

These are the same settings you use when running features manually.

Step 5: Set Up Scheduling (Optional)

Choose whether to run this automation automatically:

☐ Enable automatic scheduling

  • Check this box to schedule recurring runs
  • Leave unchecked to run manually only

If scheduling is enabled, configure:

Frequency:

  • Daily - Runs once per day at specified time
  • Twice Daily - Runs two times per day (12 hours apart)
  • Weekly - Runs once per week on specified day
  • Monthly - Runs once per month on specified date

Time:

  • Select hour (12 AM - 11 PM)
  • Select minute (:00, :15, :30, :45)
  • Times are in your Google account timezone

Example schedule:

  • Frequency: Daily
  • Time: 9:00 AM
  • Result: Runs every day at 9:00 AM

⚠️ Note: Scheduling requires an active Premium subscription. Free trial includes full scheduling access.

Step 6: Create Automation

Click Create Automation to save your configuration.

The automation is now saved and ready to use!

Managing Your Automations

View and manage all your saved automations from the Automations page.

Automation List View

Each automation card shows:

Automation details:

  • Name - Your automation name
  • Type badge - Feature type (Find, Remove, Merge, etc.)
  • Description - What it does
  • Last run - When it was last executed (e.g., "2 hours ago")
  • Run count - How many times it's been used (e.g., "Used 15 times")

Schedule status (if scheduled):

  • ⏰ Daily at 9:00 AM - Schedule frequency and time
  • Next: Today 9:00 AM - When it will run next

Action buttons:

  • ▶ Run Now - Execute immediately
  • Delete - Remove automation permanently

Running an Automation

To run any saved automation:

  1. Find the automation in your list
  2. Click ▶ Run Now
  3. SheetClean executes the automation with saved settings
  4. Results appear after processing completes

What happens during a run:

  1. SheetClean loads your saved configuration
  2. Applies settings to your current sheet
  3. Processes data (finds/removes duplicates, etc.)
  4. Creates backup if configured
  5. Shows results summary
  6. Updates "Last run" timestamp

Run results are shown:

  • Success message with row counts
  • Processing time
  • Any warnings or errors
  • Link to view backup (if created)

Editing an Automation

Currently, automations cannot be edited after creation. To modify:

  1. Delete the existing automation
  2. Create a new one with updated settings
  3. Or run the feature manually and save as a new automation

Tip: Keep automation names consistent (e.g., "Customer Cleanup v1", "Customer Cleanup v2") when iterating.

Deleting an Automation

To remove an automation:

  1. Click Delete on the automation card
  2. Confirm the deletion
  3. The automation is permanently removed

Important:

  • Deleting an automation also removes its schedule
  • Past run history is deleted
  • This action cannot be undone

Scheduling Automations

Schedule automations to run automatically without manual intervention.

How Scheduling Works

When you schedule an automation:

  1. Google Apps Script trigger - A time-based trigger is created
  2. Automatic execution - SheetClean runs your automation at the scheduled time
  3. Background processing - Runs even when spreadsheet is closed
  4. No manual action needed - Completely automated

Schedule Frequency Options

Daily

  • Runs once every day at the specified time
  • Example: Every day at 9:00 AM
  • Best for: Regular data imports that need daily cleanup

Twice Daily

  • Runs two times per day, 12 hours apart
  • Example: 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM
  • Best for: High-frequency data that needs frequent cleaning

Weekly

  • Runs once per week on specified day
  • Example: Every Monday at 8:00 AM
  • Best for: Weekly reports or less frequent data updates

Monthly

  • Runs once per month on specified date
  • Example: First day of month at 9:00 AM
  • Best for: Monthly reports or infrequent cleanup

Managing Scheduled Runs

View all scheduled automations from the main sidebar:

⏰ Active Schedules section shows:

  • Automation name
  • Next run time (e.g., "Next: Today 9:00 AM")
  • Up to 2 scheduled automations displayed

Click ⏰ Schedule in the menu to see full schedule management:

Schedule Manager shows:

  • All active scheduled automations
  • Frequency and time for each
  • Last run status (✅ Success or ⚠️ Error)
  • Next scheduled run time

Actions available:

  • Edit - Modify schedule time or frequency
  • Pause - Temporarily stop automatic runs
  • Delete - Remove schedule permanently

Pausing Scheduled Runs

To temporarily stop a scheduled automation:

  1. Open Schedule Manager (⏰ Schedule from menu)
  2. Find the automation
  3. Click Pause
  4. The automation remains saved but won't run automatically

When paused:

  • Manual runs still work (▶ Run Now)
  • Schedule is preserved (Easy to resume)
  • No automatic executions occur

Click Resume to restart automatic runs.

Schedule Limitations

Free Trial:

  • ✅ Full scheduling access during 7-day trial
  • ✅ Up to 2 scheduled automations
  • ✅ All frequency options available

Premium:

  • ✅ Unlimited scheduled automations
  • ✅ Up to 2 runs per day per automation (twice-daily maximum)
  • ✅ Email notifications on completion

Important limits:

  • Maximum 2 runs per day per automation (Google Apps Script limit)
  • Minimum 15-minute intervals between runs
  • Schedule runs based on your Google account timezone

Export & Import Scenarios

Share automation configurations with teammates or backup your automations.

Exporting Scenarios

To export an automation:

  1. Open Automations page
  2. Scroll to the bottom
  3. Click Export All to export all automations
  4. Or click Export on a specific automation card
  5. A JSON file downloads to your computer

Export file contains:

  • Automation name and description
  • Feature type and settings
  • Column selections
  • All options and configurations
  • Does NOT include: Schedule information, run history

File naming: SheetClean_Automations_[date].json

Importing Scenarios

To import automations from a file:

  1. Open Automations page
  2. Click Import at the bottom
  3. Select the JSON file to import
  4. SheetClean validates the file
  5. Automation is added to your list

Import validation:

  • Checks file format is correct
  • Verifies all settings are valid
  • Warns if column names don't match your current sheet
  • Allows you to adjust settings after import

Use cases for import:

  • Share standard cleanup procedures with team
  • Transfer automations to a new spreadsheet
  • Backup important automation configurations
  • Replicate settings across multiple sheets

Sharing Best Practices

When sharing automations:

✓ Document the purpose - Include clear description in the automation ✓ Use relative column references - Use "Column A" not "Email" (in case headers differ) ✓ Test after import - Run imported automations manually first ✓ Verify sheet structure - Ensure recipient's sheet has same column layout

Automation Best Practices

Naming Conventions

Good automation names:

  • ✅ "Daily Customer Dedupe"
  • ✅ "Weekly Sales Cleanup"
  • ✅ "Email List - Remove Duplicates"

Avoid:

  • ❌ "Automation 1"
  • ❌ "Test"
  • ❌ "asdf"

Clear names help when you have multiple automations.

When to Use Scheduling

Schedule automations when:

  • Data is imported on a regular schedule (daily, weekly)
  • You want overnight processing (schedule for 2:00 AM)
  • Multiple people add data throughout the day (schedule for end of day)
  • You need consistent cleanup timing for reports

Run manually when:

  • Data arrives irregularly
  • You need to review before processing
  • Testing new configurations
  • Processing is time-sensitive (can't wait for schedule)

Testing Automations

Before scheduling an automation:

  1. Run manually first - Click ▶ Run Now to test
  2. Verify results - Check that correct rows were processed
  3. Test on a copy - Duplicate your sheet and test there first
  4. Review backup - Confirm backup was created
  5. Check processing time - Ensure it completes quickly enough

For scheduled automations:

  • Test at the same time of day you'll schedule (to check data state)
  • Verify your spreadsheet is accessible at scheduled time
  • Ensure no one else is editing during scheduled run time

Organizing Multiple Automations

Categorize by purpose:

  • Customer Data: "Customer - Daily Cleanup", "Customer - Weekly Merge"
  • Sales Data: "Sales - Remove Duplicates", "Sales - Compare Sheets"
  • Email Lists: "Email - Dedupe", "Email - Find Uniques"

Keep count reasonable:

  • 3-5 automations is typical
  • 10+ might be hard to manage
  • Combine similar tasks when possible

Troubleshooting

Automation didn't run on schedule

Possible causes:

  1. Spreadsheet wasn't accessible - Permission issues or file moved

    • Solution: Verify spreadsheet permissions

  2. Too many simultaneous triggers - Google Apps Script limits reached

    • Solution: Stagger schedule times by 15+ minutes

  3. Automation was paused - Schedule was manually paused

    • Solution: Check Schedule Manager, click Resume

  4. Script error occurred - Bug in automation configuration

    • Solution: Run manually to see error, then fix configuration

"Automation failed" error

Common causes:

  1. Sheet structure changed - Columns were added/removed/renamed

    • Solution: Update automation with new column configuration

  2. No data in range - The specified range is empty

    • Solution: Adjust automation to handle empty data or check data import

  3. Permission denied - Script lacks permission to modify sheet

    • Solution: Re-authorize SheetClean (Extensions → SheetClean → Authorize)

Scheduled run completed but no changes

Possible causes:

  1. No duplicates found - Data was already clean

    • Check last run results in Schedule Manager

  2. Wrong columns compared - Automation is checking wrong columns

    • Delete and recreate automation with correct columns

  3. Data hasn't updated yet - Source data hasn't been imported

    • Adjust schedule to run after data import completes

Advanced Automation Strategies

Chaining Automations

While SheetClean doesn't support direct chaining, you can create sequences:

Example: Multi-step cleanup

  1. Automation 1 (9:00 AM): "Import Cleanup" - Remove obvious duplicates
  2. Automation 2 (9:30 AM): "Merge Similar" - Combine near-duplicates
  3. Automation 3 (10:00 AM): "Final Validation" - Check for remaining issues

Schedule with 30-minute gaps to ensure each completes before the next starts.

Conditional Processing

Create automations for different scenarios:

Example: Customer data handling

  • "New Customers - Cleanup" - Runs on Sheet1 (import sheet)
  • "Master List - Merge" - Runs on Sheet2 (master database)
  • "Archive - Find Uniques" - Runs on Sheet3 (archived data)

Each automation targets a specific sheet and purpose.

Data Pipeline Automation

Build a complete automated data pipeline:

Morning Pipeline (8:00 AM - 10:00 AM):

  1. External data imports to sheet (outside SheetClean)
  2. 9:00 AM - SheetClean removes duplicate entries
  3. 9:30 AM - SheetClean merges similar records
  4. 10:00 AM - Ready for team to use clean data

All automated with scheduled runs.

Getting the Most from Automations

Time savings calculation:

If you manually run duplicate checks:

  • 5 minutes per check
  • Once per day
  • 5 days per week

Without automation: 25 minutes/week = 1,300 minutes/year (21.6 hours) With automation: 0 minutes/week (fully automated)

Plus benefits:

  • Consistent timing (runs even when you're busy)
  • No forgotten runs
  • Standardized process
  • Audit trail of when runs occurred

Next Steps

Now that you understand automation:

  1. Create your first automation - Save your most common duplicate check
  2. Schedule a daily run - Automate overnight data cleanup
  3. Share with your team - Export and distribute standard procedures

Need Help?

Pro tip: Name your automations clearly and test them manually before scheduling. This prevents surprises and ensures reliable automated cleaning.

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