---
title: "Using the summary bar in Airtable views | Airtable Support "
slug: "using-the-summary-bar-in-airtable-views"
description: "Learn about the summary bar, an Airtable base metadata feature that provides different types of summarizations of all the cell values in a given field."
updated: 2025-10-07T19:12:36Z
published: 2025-10-07T19:12:36Z
---

> ## 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.

# Using the summary bar in Airtable views

<editor360-custom-block data-preprocessing="true" data-sanitizationtags="colgroup"><table borderstyle="Solid" class="editor360-table" style="max-width:729px;width:91%;margin-right:calc(9%);" width="729"><colgroup><col style="width:146px;"></colgroup> <colgroup><col style="width:583px;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td colspan="1" colwidth="146" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:25.0285%;"><p data-block-id="7fcc1f1a-c9b2-4250-8604-7dc941822593"><strong>Plan availability</strong></p></td><td colspan="1" colwidth="583" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:74.9715%;"><p data-block-id="c88e461c-f0f6-498f-88f1-7b57a720e26a">All plan types</p></td></tr><tr><td colspan="1" colwidth="146" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:25.0285%;"><p data-block-id="295c69a2-c5a6-4cdc-8fee-aba42480ddf9"><strong>Permissions</strong></p></td><td colspan="1" colwidth="583" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:74.9715%;"><ul data-block-id="72a63798-2aa6-4331-a19f-2c56c4418eed"><li data-block-id="2b53197f-3644-433b-8d74-3ce98ed781d8"><p data-block-id="0d4693e1-3dc1-4f7d-aaf8-53a977f0e6b4"><strong>Owners/Creators</strong> - Can create, delete, modify, lock/unlock, and print views</p></li><li data-block-id="24dfacee-dcb9-422f-98f8-18b0bcfb8852"><p data-block-id="0a4a560d-7c8e-4463-8e51-607c58d9f3da"><strong>Editors</strong> - Can create, delete, modify, and print views</p></li><li data-block-id="ce7559e3-482f-4b3d-87be-c66bf72a0d6d"><p data-block-id="709c1755-c039-44e7-ab36-4ad0387e817f"><strong>Commentors</strong> - Can create, delete, and modify their own <a href="/docs/personal-views" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no">personal views</a></p></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td colspan="1" colwidth="146" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:25.0285%;"><p data-block-id="80cea90d-e540-45bf-8d83-b0177b5d70aa"><strong>Platform(s)</strong></p></td><td colspan="1" colwidth="583" rowspan="1" style="vertical-align:middle;text-align:left;width:74.9715%;"><p data-block-id="bfa4d88c-ae18-4ed4-8662-c2138e6b1f92">Web/Browser, Mac app, Windows app, and some basic functionality on iOS and Android mobile apps</p></td></tr></tbody></table></editor360-custom-block>

## Summary bar overview

Learn about the summary bar, an Airtable base metadata feature that provides different types of summarizations of all the cell values in a given field.

> [!CAUTION]
> Note
> 
> The summary bar is a great tool that can be used to quickly understand and calculate values for a set of records. However, the summary bar can't be referenced by Airtable records. Summary values are a type of metadata not currently accessible by record-level formulas.

## Finding the summary bar

The summary bar is located at the bottom of some view types within a table. Certain field types will offer different summary options. Those differences are covered in more depth below.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/summary_bar_find_11222022.jpg)

## Choosing summary bar functions

By default, the summary function for each numeric field is Sum, and the summary function for non-numeric fields is blank. To select a different summarization function for a specific field, click on the summary bar below that field. This will bring up a menu of different summary functions. The types of summary functions available will depend on the type of field.

- Non-numeric - Certain summary functions are available in all non-calculated fields (i.e. not formula, rollup, or lookup):
  - Empty
  - Filled
  - Percent Empty
  - Percent Filled
- Checkbox fields - For checkbox fields, the summary functions will display slightly differently:
  - Unchecked
  - Checked
  - Percent Unchecked
  - Percent Checked
- Numeric fields - Certain functions will only appear in numeric fields (i.e. number, currency, percent, and autonumber).
  - Sum
  - Average
  - Histogram
  - Min
  - Max
  - Range
  - Median
  - Standard Deviation
- Date fields - Certain functions will only appear in date fields. These are, as follows:
  - Earliest Date
  - Latest Date
  - Date Range (days)
  - Date Range (months)
- Attachement fields - A special summary function for an attachment field allows you to see the total (summed) size of the file attachments in the attachment field, in bytes.
- Many field types will also include functions that allow you to calculate the absolute number of unique values present in a field, and the percentage of cell values that are unique in a field, respectively:
  - Unique
  - Percent Unique

## Summarizing a subset of records in the summary bar

If you select a range of rows or cells, the summarization will only include cells that are in that selection range.

![Screen Recording 2020-08-06 at 08.03.07 AM](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/Screen%20Recording%202020-08-06%20at%2008.03.07%20AM.gif)

## Grouped summaries in the summary bar

If the records in your view [are grouped](/docs/guide-to-grouped-records) then your summary bar will automatically show a separate summary for each group, as well as the total summary for the field as a whole:

![image.png](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/image%2835%29.png)

## FAQs

**How is the **Percent unique** function calculated?**

The **Percent unique** function calculates the ratio of cells containing unique values in a field. It counts the number of distinct values and divides that number by the total count of cells in the field. This provides a useful way to understand the variety and distribution of data within a field in your Airtable base, even when values are repeated.

Example:

- Let's say you have four records. Each record contains a number field and each cell within that field contains the number 7.
- The **Percent unique** summary function identifies that there is 1 unique value here, which is 7. It calculates the **Percent unique** as 1 (unique value) divided by 4 (total cells/records), giving 0.25, or 25%.
- Alternatively, if you have four cells containing multiple values, like this: [1, 2, 7, 7], the function identifies 3 distinct or unique values, which are 1, 2, and 7. It calculates the **Percent unique** as 3 (unique values) divided by 4 (total cells/records), giving 0.75, or 75%.

![](https://cdn.airtable.document360.io/d0ee2ee4-3f78-47c7-b388-85e40be9fb89/Images/Documentation/summary_bar_percent_unique_06122023.png)