if all you are getting is #N/A
error you have 3 options before turning to a script
-
disable JavaScript. google sheets’ IMPORT formulae do not support the reading of JS content/elements. after you disable JS on your URL and the element you wish to scrape is not present there is 99.9% certainty you can give up! if the stuff you seek is still there move to point 2…
-
run an XML debugging formula to test what can be scrapped:
=IMPORTXML("URL"; "//*")
if the result is
#N/A
give up and move to point 3… -
run a sourcecode debugging formula to test what else can be scrapped:
=IMPORTDATA("URL")
if the output is
#N/A
give up and move to the next point. if the output is any other kind of error try:=QUERY(FLATTEN(IMPORTDATA("URL")); "where Col1 is not null"; )
-
at this stage open a google and try to find a different website that hosts the same data you want to get. then repeat steps 1-3. still no luck and your requirements are not that high? move to the next point…
-
go to google and search the URL. if there is a match try to check if there is a Cache:
take the URL and repeat steps 2-3. if this is not your thing or if luck left your life for good, move to point 6…
=IMPORTXML("https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:aQET6JV0DywJ:https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/KAUGVAA:LX&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk", "//div[@class="overviewRow__66339412a5"]")
-
give up or use a script