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Airtable Bases: What They Are and How to Use Them

FE
Filla Editorial•beginner•Nov 21, 2025

Understanding Airtable bases

An Airtable base is your database—a container for all your related data, tables, and workflows. Think of it as a project workspace where everything connected to a specific goal lives together.

What is a base?

A base (short for "database") is where you store and organize your data. Each base can contain:

  • Multiple tables: Different data sets within the same base
  • Records: Individual rows of data in each table
  • Fields: Columns that define what data each record contains
  • Views: Different ways to see and filter your data
  • Automations: Workflows that run within the base
  • Interfaces: Custom dashboards and forms for your team

Bases help you bring all related information together, connect it logically, and keep it organized as your project evolves.

Base structure

Tables

Tables are like spreadsheets within your base. Each table holds a specific type of data. For example, a "Projects" base might have:

  • A "Tasks" table
  • A "Team Members" table
  • A "Clients" table

Records

Records are the individual rows in each table. Each record represents one item (like one task, one team member, or one client).

Fields

Fields are the columns that define what information each record stores. Common field types include:

  • Text fields
  • Number fields
  • Date fields
  • Linked records (connecting tables)
  • Attachments
  • Formulas

How to use bases

Organize by project or function

Create separate bases for different projects, departments, or workflows. For example:

  • Marketing base: Content calendar, campaigns, assets
  • Sales base: Leads, deals, contacts
  • HR base: Employees, applicants, performance reviews
  • Event planning base: Events, vendors, attendees

Keep related data together

If data needs to work together (like tasks and team members), keep them in the same base. This makes it easy to:

  • Link related records across tables
  • Create automations that span multiple tables
  • Build interfaces that show connected information

Separate unrelated data

If data doesn't need to connect, separate bases can help:

  • Keep your workspace organized
  • Control access more easily
  • Improve performance (smaller bases load faster)

Base limits by plan

Free plan

  • Records: 1,000 records per base
  • Storage: 1 GB of attachment storage per base
  • History: 2 weeks of revision and snapshot history
  • Limitations: Basic form customization, limited calendar features

Team plan

  • Records: 50,000 records per base
  • Storage: 20 GB of attachment storage per base
  • History: 1 year of revision and snapshot history
  • Features: Full automations, extensions, forms, Interface Designer, Timeline/Gantt views, locked views, record coloring

Business Scale plan

  • Records: 125,000 records per base
  • Storage: 100 GB of attachment storage per base
  • History: 1 year of revision and snapshot history
  • Features: Everything in Team plan, plus two-way sync and Admin panel

Enterprise Scale plan

Custom limits and features. Contact Airtable sales for details.

Note: Record limits apply to the entire base, not just individual tables. If you have 1,000 records across all tables in a Free plan base, you've hit the limit.

Creating and managing bases

Create a new base

  1. Click the "+" button in your workspace
  2. Choose "Start from scratch" or select a template
  3. Name your base and start adding tables

Use templates

Airtable offers templates for common use cases:

  • Content calendars
  • Project management
  • CRM systems
  • Inventory tracking
  • Event planning

Templates give you a head start with pre-configured tables, fields, and views.

Customize your base

  • Add tables: Create new tables for different data types
  • Link tables: Connect related data with linked record fields
  • Create views: Set up filtered, sorted, or grouped views
  • Add descriptions: Help your team understand the base structure

Best practices

Plan your structure first

Before creating tables, think about:

  • What data do you need to track?
  • How is the data related?
  • What workflows will use this data?

Use descriptive names

Name your bases, tables, and fields clearly:

  • ✅ Good: "Q4 Marketing Campaigns"
  • ❌ Bad: "Base 1" or "Table 2"

Keep bases focused

Don't try to put everything in one base. Separate bases for:

  • Different projects
  • Different departments
  • Different workflows

Use linked records

Instead of duplicating data, link related records across tables. This keeps data consistent and makes updates easier.

Set up views early

Create views that match how your team works:

  • Kanban views for task management
  • Calendar views for date-based data
  • Grid views for detailed data entry

Moving and sharing bases

Move bases between workspaces

You can move bases from one workspace to another:

  1. Open the base
  2. Go to base settings
  3. Select "Move base to another workspace"
  4. Choose the destination workspace

Share bases

  • Share with collaborators: Add team members to your base
  • Share views: Share specific views without giving full base access
  • Public interfaces: Create public-facing interfaces for external users

Importing data into bases

You can import data from:

  • CSV files
  • Excel spreadsheets
  • Google Sheets
  • Other Airtable bases

When importing:

  • Airtable will try to detect field types automatically
  • Review and adjust field types after import
  • Recreate complex fields (formulas, linked records) manually

Base snapshots and history

Take snapshots

Snapshots save a point-in-time copy of your base:

  • Useful before major changes
  • Helpful for testing new workflows
  • Required for restoring previous versions

Restore from history

If something goes wrong, you can restore your base to a previous snapshot. Available history depends on your plan:

  • Free: 2 weeks
  • Team/Business: 1 year

Troubleshooting base performance

If your base feels slow:

Reduce record count

  • Archive old records to a separate base
  • Use filters to limit visible records
  • Split large bases into smaller ones

Optimize formulas

  • Avoid complex formulas that calculate across many records
  • Use helper fields to break down complex calculations
  • Limit formula fields that reference many linked records

Simplify views

  • Reduce the number of fields shown
  • Use filters to limit visible records
  • Avoid too many grouped or sorted columns

Check automations

  • Review running automations for efficiency
  • Disable unused automations
  • Optimize automation triggers

When to create a new base

Create a new base when:

  • Starting a completely new project
  • Data doesn't need to connect to existing bases
  • You need different access permissions
  • You're hitting record or performance limits

Keep data in the same base when:

  • Tables need to link to each other
  • Automations span multiple tables
  • You want unified interfaces and dashboards
  • Data is part of the same workflow

Quick tips

  • Start simple: Begin with a few tables and add more as needed
  • Use templates: Don't reinvent the wheel—start with a template
  • Link, don't duplicate: Use linked records instead of copying data
  • Name clearly: Use descriptive names for everything
  • Document structure: Add descriptions to help your team
  • Regular cleanup: Archive old data to keep bases performant

References

Official Airtable documentation: Airtable bases overview

Airtable Bases: What They Are and How to Use Them