---
title: "The Essential Airtable Formulas | Airtable Support"
slug: "the-essentials-of-airtable-formulas"
description: "In Airtable there are many different fields that you can add to a table; one of them is the formula field type. Formulas let you..."
updated: 2026-02-27T16:59:55Z
published: 2026-02-27T16:59:55Z
canonical: "support.airtable.com/the-essentials-of-airtable-formulas"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.airtable.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The essentials of Airtable formulas

| **Plan availability** | All plan types |
| --- | --- |
| **Permissions** | - **Owner** /**Creator** - Have access to all field configuration options. Additionally everything editors, commenters, or read-only users can do. - **Editor** - Can sort by, filter by, group by, or hide the field within a view. - **Commenter** / **Read-only** - Copy a field's URL |
| **Platform(s)** | Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app |

In Airtable, there are many different fields that you can add to a table; one of them is the formula field type. Formulas let you reference other fields in a table and create different functions based on the content of those fields. This article will cover how to write and format the formula field type.

## Creating formula fields in Airtable

1. Open your [Airtable home screen](https://airtable.com/).
2. Create or open the base where you want to create a formula field.
3. [Add](https://support.airtable.com/docs/airtable-field-actions#adding-and-deleting-fields) or [edit a field](https://support.airtable.com/docs/field-type-overview#field-configuration-menu).
4. Search for and select **Formula**.
5. Enter your formula in the provided space below "Formula."
  1. After adding a formula, you can optionally click **Format** to customize the formula's result.

## Formula terminology

Formulas in Airtable utilize terms (e.g. "String") and symbols (e.g. "&") common to programming languages, however they are simplified to make formulas easier to write and understand. The table below lists the terms you'll encounter and some common examples of each one.

| **Word** | **Usage** | **Example** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Curly bracket | Reference a {Field Name} | `{Order Status}` |
| Operator | Symbols used in a formula to output various changes in the formula | `&` |
| Function | References a defined formula function that performs specific calculations using specific values in a particular order. | `AVERAGE({Order 1},{Order 2})` |
| String | A group of text characters that are used as data in a spreadsheet program. Strings input into formulas must be surrounded by either single or double quotes. | "This order contains the following items..." |
| Array | A collection of values, typically separated by a comma. | Order 1, Order 2, Order 3 |
| Integer | A whole number value that can be positive, negative, or zero | `3` |
| Date format | A readable date that is formatted in a number of different ways. | January 1, 2020 |

## Formatting formula field outputs

**Number formats**

When the output of a formula is a number, you can format it by double clicking the field name, selecting customize field type, and then selecting formatting. Then, you can apply the following options to the output of your formula:

- Decimal
- Integer
- Currency
- Percent
- Duration

**Date formats**

When the output of a formula is a date, you can apply the following options to the output of your formula:

- Date format (local, friendly, US, European, ISO)
- Include a time field
- Use the same time zone (GMT) for all collaborators

**Using single select outputs**

When the output of a formula is text, it potentially contains a mix of dates, numbers, and/or plain text. You can format this output to match an option from a preset list similar to [single select fields](/docs/single-select-field).

To enable single select style formatting:

1. Visit your [Airtable home screen](https://airtable.com/login) and navigate to the base of your choice.
2. Locate your preferred formula field and click the **˅** icon next to its name and click **Edit field**.
3. Next, click the **Formatting**tab.
4. Toggle on "Change formula output to single select options"
5. Define your preferred options, and select which options to match when the formula output does not match what you've predefined. If you do not set a fallback option, the cell value will be blank for any cells that do not match any of the predefined options.
6. Click **Create field** if you are creating a new field or **Save** if you are updating an existing field.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/field_formula_single_select_output_2024.gif)

**Using checkbox formatting in formulas with Boolean outputs**

When the output of a formula is recognized by our system as a Boolean result, you can apply the **Checkbox** output type to have the formula format the result similarly to a [checkbox field](/docs/checkbox-field). It’s worth noting that not all formulas will allow for this kind of formatting. We recommend the following functions or operators when building out a formula that you want to format the output as a checkbox, however, other formulas might also yield Boolean outputs recognized by Airtable’s backend system:

- `TRUE()`
- `FALSE()`
- `AND()`
- `OR()`
- `XOR()`
- `NOT()`
- `REGEX_MATCH()`
- `=`, `!=`, `>`, `<`, `>=`, `<=`

To enable checkbox style formatting:

1. Visit your [Airtable home screen](https://airtable.com/login) and navigate to the base of your choice.
2. Locate your preferred formula field and click the **˅** icon next to its name and click **Edit field**.
3. Next, click the **Formatting**tab.
4. Choose the **Checkbox** output type option.
5. Optionally, choose the style of the check icon. (Paid plans only)
6. Click **Create field** if you are creating a new field or **Save** if you are updating an existing field.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/field_formula_boolean_checkbox_setup_2024.png)

## FAQs

**How do I update the format of an existing formula field?**

1. Open your [Airtable home screen](https://airtable.com/).
2. Open the base with the formula field you want to update.
3. Click the arrow **˅** icon next to the formula field you want to edit.
4. Click **Edit field**.
5. Click **Formatting**.
6. Click the arrow **˅** icon under the “Format” section and choose your preferred format.