Airtable checkbox fields

In Airtable, fields allow you to organize all the details for any record in your base, so they can easily be sorted, managed, and analyzed. In this article, learn specifically about Airtable's checkbox field and how to use them.

Adding checkbox fields in Airtable

Checkbox fields are helpful for true/false values within a record. For example, a task tracking base might have a checkbox field to select when a task is complete.

1. Visit your Airtable home screen.

2. Create or open your preferred base.

3. Add or edit a field.

4. Search for and select Checkbox.

5. From here, there are 2 additional settings that you can optionally configure:

   1. The “Style” and color of the checkbox icon.

   2. Whether the “Default” state is checked or unchecked when a new record is created.

6. Click Save.

7. Hover your mouse over your preferred cell and click the checkbox to select or unselect.

Using checkbox fields in formulas

Note

When working with checkbox fields and formulas, "= 0" means that a checkbox is deselected, and "= 1" means that a box is selected. 

Checkbox fields can also be extremely useful for automations. They are of particular value when using the “When record matches conditions" trigger.

Depending upon your use case, you might want to use a checkbox’s Boolean state within the context of a formula field. For example, let’s say your table contains three checkbox fields. The table is tracking content creation and each box must be checked before final approval by an executive stakeholder. You need one formula to look at the three checkboxes and determine if they are checked or unchecked in order to update the formula’s output so that an automation can run and notify the executive stakeholder that approval is needed.

To accomplish the checkbox formula portion of this, you’ll need to use a combination of an IF() statement with several conditional AND() statements. For this example, the three checkbox field names are:

1. Style guide check complete

2. Ready for peer review

3. Ready for manager review

You will need to change the field names to match your base’s configuration. You might also want to change the text that the formula will output if all of the checkbox fields are checked. Here’s what our example formula would look like:

IF(
  AND(
    {Style guide check complete},
    {Ready for peer review},
    {Ready for manager review}
  ),
  "Executive approval needed"
)

• If you are looking to return a checkbox as the result of a formula, you won't be returning a checkbox field, but rather a checkbox emoji. Check out this support article for information about writing formulas with emojis.

• You might also wonder if Switch() functions support Boolean validation of checkbox fields. The answer is no, Switch() functions do not support Boolean validation. Additionally, in some cases if you combine Switch() functions with IF() statements, you may render the equation unable to validate whether the checkbox is checked or unchecked by using a “1” or “0” in the equation.

FAQs