How to Create a tab-specific onEdit Function in Google Apps Script

Learn how to limit the `onEdit` function in Google Apps Script to track changes specifically in one tab of your Google Sheets worksheet.
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Introduction

If you're working with Google Sheets and want to track changes effectively, you may have encountered a common issue. You want to record the time and date of modifications, but you only want to monitor changes made in a specific tab instead of across all tabs in the worksheet.

In this post, we'll show you how to limit the onEdit function so it triggers only on a specific tab—the first sheet in our case, commonly named 'Sheet1'. This will prevent any edits made in other tabs from affecting your timestamp in 'Sheet1'. Let's dive into the solution!

The Problem

The initial code you might be using looks something like this:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

While this script successfully records the edit timestamps in 'Sheet1', it also updates those timestamps when changes are made in other tabs, such as 'Sheet2'.

Why Does This Happen?

This happens because the onEdit function triggers for any edit across the entire Google Sheets document. Without any conditions, it will execute the code for changes made in any sheet, not just the designated one.

The Solution

To limit the function to only track changes made in 'Sheet1', you'll need to implement a check that determines if the current sheet is indeed 'Sheet1'. Here's how to do that in a few simple steps:

Step-by-Step Implementation

Capture the Edit Event:
Start by getting the sheet that was edited.

Check the Sheet Name:
Use an if statement to compare the name of the edited sheet against 'Sheet1'.

Update the Timestamp:
If the condition is met, proceed to log the date and timestamp in the desired column.

The Updated Code

Here is the modified function you should use:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Breakdown of the Code:

Error Handling: Finally, a try-catch block is in place to handle any errors gracefully, displaying them as a toast notification.

Conclusion

By implementing the onEdit function with the specified conditions, you can successfully track changes in a tab-specific manner in Google Sheets. This way, edits made in other tabs won't interfere with your tracking system, ensuring your timestamps remain accurate for 'Sheet1' only.

Happy scripting!