Airtable grid view

Creating grid views in Airtable

The grid view is the default view created whenever you create a new table in Airtable. Every table must contain at least one grid view.

To create a grid view:

1. Open your Airtable home screen.

2. Select the table where you want to add a grid view.

3. Click Create new…

4. Click Grid.  

   1. A pop-up window opens where you can name the new grid view and set the editing permissions (collaborative, personal, or locked).

5. Click Create new view.

   1. From here you can configure the view by hiding fields, filtering records, grouping records, sorting records, and more.

Adjusting header height in a grid view

Adjusting header height allows longer field names to be fully visible. To adjust the header height in a grid view:

1. Open up the base → table → grid view that you want to adjust.

2. Hover over the bottom horizontal edge of the row of headers (field names) so that a two arrow icon appears ↕.

3. Click and drag the header height to your desired preference.

Adjusting field width in a grid view

Adjusting field width can help to either remove negative space in a field by compressing the width, which allows you to show more fields, or expand a field’s width which will show more data stored in the cell of a record. In complex bases that store large amounts of data, it’s important to find a balance between showing all data and showing the data necessary for other users. Remember, expanding a record will always allow users to see all of the information in a record/cell. To adjust field width:

1. Open up the base → table → grid view that you want to adjust.

2. Hover over the edge of a column (field) in the headers (field names) so that a two arrow icon appears ↔.

3. Click and drag the header height to your desired preference.

Adjusting row height in a grid view

Note

Changing the row height does not affect the height of field headers, which are not height-adjustable.

By default, a grid view displays its records at a short row height, designed for maximum density of records. At the short row height, each record shows one line of text and small attachment thumbnails. If you'd like to be able to see more text and larger images for your records, then you can adjust your row height from the default short setting. To change the row height in your current view:

1. Open up the base → table → grid view that you want to adjust.

2. Click the row height switcher in the view bar.

3. Select the desired row height. There are four different row height options:

   1. Short (the most dense option, and the default height for new views)

   2. Medium

   3. Tall

   4. Extra Tall (the most spacious option)

The shorter row heights allow you to see more records at once, whereas the larger row heights allow you to see more information per each record. Specifically, larger row heights will show multiple lines of text in text fields, multiple lines of linked records, multiple lines of multiple select field options, multiple lines of collaborators in collaborator fields, and larger images.

If you're a paid plan user with creator permissions and you want to ensure that your preferred row height configuration on a view won't get accidentally changed, you can lock the view, which will prevent all collaborators from altering a view's configuration until it's been unlocked by someone with creator permissions.

Expanding records in a grid view

To expand a single row at a time, you can click within any cell in the row (record) that you want to expand and press Space .

You can also expand an individual text field cell by clicking the expand button inside the cell, or by pressing Shift Space with an individual cell selected. You can then use the arrow keys to quickly move around between different cells.

Hiding or showing fields in a grid view

To hide or show fields in a grid view:

1. Open up the base → table → grid view that you want to adjust.

2. Depending on whether fields have previously been hidden in a view, the button will either display as Hide fields (no fields hidden in the view) or X fields hidden (where X is the number of fields currently hidden in the view). Click the button shown in the view you have open and proceed.

   1. You can see which fields are showing (where the toggle is green and switched to the right) and which fields are hidden (where the toggle is grayed out and switched to the left).

   2. If you have a large number of fields, you can type a search term in the “Find a field” search box to more easily find the field you're looking for.

3. A modal will open where you can toggle individual fields to be shown or hidden. You can also click the Hide all or Show all buttons and then start toggling fields to be shown or hidden (except the primary field, which cannot be hidden).

4. Your choices are auto-saved as you make them. Once you are finished, click anywhere outside of the modal.

There are two alternative ways to hide/show fields:

1. Click on the field name/header. Then, click the Hide field option from the dropdown menu.

2. Expand a record and click the Show XX hidden fields button. Then, click the dropdown arrow next to the name of a field you want to show in the view and click Unhide field.

Reordering fields in a grid view

Note

Fields cannot be reordered in an expanded record.

There are two ways to reorder fields in grid views, either:

1. Click, hold, and drag a field name/header. Then place the field next to, after, or in between fields and release.

2. Open the hidden fields menu as outlined here. Then, click the six dot icon next to the name of the field you want to move and drag it to a different position in your order preference.

Creating recurring dates in a grid view using the fill handle

If you need to set up records for recurring dates in Airtable, you can use the fill handle to easily create records with evenly spaced dates. If you highlight one cell in a date field and drag down with the fill handle, it'll automatically fill in the cells below with the same date.

However, if you highlight two cells in a date field, and then drag down with the fill handle, the fill handle will automatically fill in dates that are evenly spaced apart according to the two cells you highlighted. For example:

• You can create daily recurring records by highlighting two cells that are one day apart, and dragging down with the fill handle.

• You can also create weekly recurring records by highlighting two cells that are a week apart by dragging down with the fill handle.

Note

To set up automatic recurring records, check out our guide using Airtable's Automations feature.