Generation is slow or times out

Why each PDF takes 2-5 seconds

Sheet to PDF uses Google's Docs API under the hood. For each row, we:

1. Copy your template Doc to a temp location
2. Open the copy and replace every {{Variable}}
3. Export the Doc as a PDF blob
4. Save it to your destination (or return to you for download)

Each step takes a few hundred milliseconds. The total per PDF is 2-5 seconds depending on template complexity (longer Docs = slower).

The 6-minute limit per click

Google Apps Script (which powers our add-on) caps every function call at 6 minutes. We cap generation at 100 rows per click to stay safely under the limit.

If you have 247 rows:

1. Click Generate → 100 PDFs created
2. Click Generate again → next 100 created (we automatically continue where we left off)
3. Click again → final 47 created

Tips to speed up generation

1. Simplify your template

Big templates with lots of images, complex tables, and custom fonts take longer to process. Strip your template to essentials. Inline small images instead of using high-res ones.

2. Reduce variable count

Each {{Variable}} is a separate replace operation. Templates with 40+ placeholders are noticeably slower than templates with 10.

3. Stay on Drive auto-save (paid plans)

Saving PDFs to Drive is faster than the Free flow (which generates → downloads → trashes a temp file). If you have many rows, the paid plan is also faster per PDF.

4. Run multiple sessions in parallel

Open the same sheet in two different browser windows (or two different Google accounts on a team plan). Each session generates independently — effectively doubling your throughput.

"My generation hangs at 0% forever"

Usually a network issue or a Google services hiccup. Refresh the sheet, reopen the sidebar, try again. If it persists, check Google Workspace Status Dashboard for outages.

"I need to generate 50,000 PDFs at once"

At that volume, you should be on Premium. We're building server-side generation that bypasses the Apps Script 6-minute limit for Premium users — coming Q3 2026. In the meantime, you can chunk through 100-row batches with repeated clicks, or contact us for a custom solution.