Create a table
Airtable
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Create a table
Staying on top of your workflow is much easier when the data your team depends on is well-organized.
In Airtable, tables give your data structure and consistency, and are the home for all your information.
What is a table?
A base is made up of tables, and each table contains a list of items of the same type—like people, ideas, or projects.
Tables can be found at the top of your base, and it’s generally good practice to name them by what they store.
Each table is separate and discrete from the others, with its own data, views, and interactions, but it’s also possible to link tables to share information when you need to.
This product team’s base has four tables to manage their work: Products, Components, Materials, and Marketing assets. Each table serves a different purpose, and tracks distinct elements of this team’s workflow.
Structuring your database
Tables add structure to your data—and a little structure goes a long way. With a spreadsheet, any row, column, or data point can be formatted in almost any way.
While the grid view of your table looks a lot like a spreadsheet, with rows and columns, the relationship between the data points is significantly different. A table allows you to build a consistent data set, one which retains its formatting as it grows, allowing for smarter analyses and better workflow creation.
You can also build multiple tables, which function as discrete but not isolated datasets. Tables allow you to keep different clusters of information separate, but still have them talk to each other—be that between tables in a single base, or even across multiple bases.
Pro tip
You can import your existing spreadsheet from other applications, such as Google Sheets, Excel docs, or CSVs, as a single or multiple tables. You can read more about why and how to convert from a spreadsheet to Airtable here.
Anatomy of a table
Tables are made up of records, fields, and views, which we’ll get more into in the next steps.
Here’s a quick overview:
Record: An individual item in a table, usually represented by a row
Field: A detail or piece of information for each record, usually represented by a column
View: Different ways of viewing the information in a table
Take action: Create a new table
Creating a new table from scratch only takes a minute or two. When you create a new base, you will automatically be presented with a blank table in a grid view.
Called “Table 1” by default, your first table will start with the fields: Names, Notes, Attachments, and Status. You can customize your table’s name by double-clicking on it, and add new tables using the small “Add or Import” button at the top of a base.
