Managing trash in Airtable

  • Updated on Apr 28, 2025
  • Published on Aug 19, 2022
  • 4 minute(s) read
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Plan availability

All plan types

Platform(s)

Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app 

Permissions

  • Collaborators with “Creator” permissions can restore deleted tables and fields.

  • Collaborators with “Creator” permissions can empty the trash.

  • Collaborators with “Editor” or “Creator” permissions can restore deleted views and records.

  • Collaborators with “Editor” or “Creator” permissions can access and view the trash dialog.  

Related reading

This article covers the trash function in Airtable. Base trash allows you to view and restore the tables, views, fields, extensions, and records that have been deleted in a base in the past 7 days. Workspace trash allows you to view and restore bases or workspaces that have been deleted in the past 7 days.

Note

To restore a record's individual cell values, check out our record-level revision history article.

Reviewing trash in Airtable workspaces and bases

To review your workspace trash:

  1. Open your Airtable homepage. 

  2. Click your profile icon in top-right corner, then select Trash.

    1. After selecting "Trash," the trash dialog opens—allowing users to restore items deleted in the past 30 days.

To review a base’s trash:

  1. Open your Airtable homepage.

  2. Open the base previously containing your previously deleted table(s), field(s), or record(s).

  3. Click the "base history" icon next to "Help" in the top-right corner.

  4. Click Trash.

  5. Click Empty trash.

Restoring trash in Airtable

To restore workspaces and bases:

Note

  • Users with base or workspace creator-level permissions can permanently remove everything in the trash. 

  • Items in your workspace trash can be restored for 30 days before being permanently removed.

  • Enterprise Scale plan admins can customize their workspace trash retention period in the admin panel, allowing them to choose between 30, 60, 90, and 180 days.

  1. Open your Airtable homepage. 

  2. Click your profile icon in top-right corner, then select Trash. 

  3. Click Restore next to the base(s) or workspace(s) you want to restore. 

To restore in-base or app tables, fields, and records:

  1. Open your Airtable homepage. 

  2. Open the base previously containing your now-deleted table(s), field(s), or record(s). 

  3. Click the "base history" icon next to "Help" in the top-right corner. 

  4. Click Trash. 

  5. Click Restore next to the table(s), field(s,) or record(s) you want to restore.

Manually emptying trash in Airtable

To manually empty base trash:

Note

Manually emptying workspace trash is not available.

  1. Open your Airtable homepage.

  2. Open the base previously containing your now-deleted table(s), field(s), or record(s).

  3. Click the "base history" icon next to "Help" in the top-right corner.

FAQs

Why can’t I find a workspace or base?

If you're unable to locate base or workspace:

  1. Check the workspace trash as outlined in this article.

  2. If that doesn’t work, then contact a collaborator to see if they may have deleted something.

  3. You may have also had your access removed from a base or workspace. In these cases, you’ll want to contact a workspace or base owner to regain access.

If these steps don't resolve the issue, please contact us.

What do I do if I’m missing records in a base?

If you're missing records in your Airtable base, here are a few steps you can take to potentially resolve the issue:

  1. Review base trash: Base trash is covered in this article. Review the trash for accidentally deleted information.

  2. Review any relevant base snapshots: If the records you are trying to find may have been deleted over 7 days ago, then you might be able to manually retrieve the lost data from a base snapshot that was taken earlier than the 7 day window.

  3. Double-check that you are in the correct base/table: We understand that this may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often the data just happens to be in another base or table that you have access to.

  4. Check Filters: Ensure no filters are hiding records in your views.

  5. Review Permissions: Verify that you have the necessary permissions to view all records.

  6. Audit Logs: If your organization is on an Enterprise Scale plan, check the audit logs for any deletions.

  7. Sort a view in your base: Sometimes sorting records by a date field can help organize it in a way that makes a lost record or records easier to find. Remember, you can create a personal view to creating your own view conditions.

If these steps don't resolve the issue, please contact us.

What do I do if I’m missing cell data within a record?

If you suspect that some of the data within a record has been deleted:

  1. Check your records' revision history: At times, updates or changes may explain why data is no longer present. This could be due to collaborator changes, automation updates, or recent syncs depending on the situation. The revision history may hold the answer you are looking for.

  2. Review any relevant base snapshots: If the records you are trying to find may have been deleted over 7 days ago, then you might be able to manually retrieve the lost data from a base snapshot that was taken earlier than the 7 day window.

  3. Double-check that you are in the correct base/table: We understand that this may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often the data just happens to be in another base or table that you have access to.

  4. Check that a field isn’t hidden: If another collaborator hid a field, then you may no longer see that data in the view you are used to.

If these steps don't resolve the issue, please contact us.