Custom functions intermittently hang with "Error - Loading Data"

Question

I have a Google Apps Script custom function, very simple:

function sharesBurned(sharesToSell) {     
  return "tree"
}

Obviously, this works when I test it in Apps Script. In my sheet, when I call it in a cell, sharesBurned(2), for instance, it sometimes returns "Loading", and in the upper right hand corner of the cell, a red triangular sign appears that, when hovered over, reads: "Error - Loading data...".

I know there have been several threads on this, but they are pretty old, and I've tried all the suggestions already to no avail, namely:

• Changing the function name
• Refreshing the spreadsheet
• Toggling Parameter Cell
• Duplicating the spreadsheet
• Clearing Browser cache / cookies

To be clear, the function loads in the cell seamlessly half the time and the other half is stuck like this. I highly doubt it's an issue with the script itself so this is likely some weird bug (caching? no clue) with Google Sheets.

Answer 1

This seems to be a issue on Google's server. There is already an active report about Google sheets custom functions stuck in loading. You may want to click the star icon on the top left of the issue report to indicate that you are also being affected by the issue.

Other related issues:

• Apps script taking too much time to read from Google sheets

• Apps script taking too much time to read from Google sheets charts