The essentials of Airtable formulas
  • 11 Dec 2023
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The essentials of Airtable formulas

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Article Summary

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.

Plan availability

All plan types 

Platform(s)

Web/Browser, Mac app, and Windows app 

Related reading

Creating formula fields in Airtable

Creating formula fields

  1. Visit your Airtable homepage

  2. Create or open your preferred base. 

  3. Add or edit a field

  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 your formula's results.

NOTE

Keep in mind that all formulas yield a number, date, or text results—with individualized ways to be applied.

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

Text formats

When the output of a formula is text, that means that it potentially contains a mix of dates, numbers, and/or other plain text. Since there isn't a single way to format this information, you'll see a note in the formatting tab to notify you.

360055983973Stringformatting.jpg

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


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