Managing trash in Airtable

  • Updated on Aug 11, 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

  • Owners - Only collaborators with “Owner” permissions can restore deleted bases from the workspace trash. Owners can also perform the same actions as creators and editors.

  • Creators - Can restore deleted tables and fields or empty the trash. Creators can also perform the same actions as editors.

  • Editors - Can restore deleted views and records and access and view the trash dialog.  

Note

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

There are two different levels of trash in Airtable. The individual base-level (app) trash and the workspace-level trash:

  1. 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.

    • Deleted interfaces and interface pages can also be managed at the base trash level.

  2. Workspace trash allows you to view and restore bases or workspaces that have been deleted in the past 30 days.

Reviewing trash in workspaces

  1. Open your Airtable home screen.

  2. Open the workspace where you want to review its trash.

  3. Click your profile icon in top-right corner.

  4. Click Trash.

    1. The trash dialog opens, allowing users to restore items deleted in the past 30 days.

Reviewing trash in bases

  1. Open your Airtable home screen.

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

  3. Click the base history icon next to “Share” in the top-right corner.

  4. Click Trash.

  5. Click Empty trash.

Restoring 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 home screen.

  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.

Restoring tables, fields, or records

  1. Open your Airtable home screen.

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

  3. Click the "base history" icon next to "Share" 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 base trash

Note

Manually emptying workspace trash is not available.

  1. Open your Airtable home screen.

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

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

  4. Click Trash.

  5. Click Empty trash.

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.