Understanding Airtable tables

Tables in Airtable contain a specific type of information. They're like spreadsheets within your base, but with powerful features like linked records, lookups, and automations that connect data across tables.

What is a table?

A table stores information about a single type of item. All records in a table share the same structure (fields), but each record represents a different instance of that item type.

Examples:

A "Products" table contains product information
A "Tasks" table contains task information
A "Marketing Campaigns" table contains campaign data
A "Team Members" table contains employee information

Tables are the building blocks of your base. You can have multiple tables in a single base, and connect them using linked records.

Table structure

Records

Records are the individual rows in a table. Each record represents one item:

One product
One task
One campaign
One team member

Fields

Fields are the columns that define what information each record stores:

Product name
Task status
Campaign budget
Employee email

Views

Views are different ways to look at the same table data:

Grid view (spreadsheet-like)
Kanban view (cards organized by status)
Calendar view (organized by dates)
Gallery view (visual cards)

Creating tables

Method 1: Create a new empty table

Open your base
Click + Add or import (or the + button next to existing tables)
Select Create a new table
Name your table
Click Save

Method 2: Import from CSV or spreadsheet

Click + Add or import
Select Import a spreadsheet
Upload your CSV or Excel file
Airtable will create a new table with your data

Method 3: Duplicate an existing table

Click the ⌄ icon next to the table name
Select Duplicate table
Rename if needed

Managing tables

Rename a table

Click the ⌄ icon next to the table name
Select Rename table
Enter the new name
Click Save

Delete a table

Warning: Deleting a table permanently removes all records and cannot be undone.

Click the ⌄ icon next to the table name
Select Delete table
Confirm by typing "Delete"
Click Delete

Hide a table

Hiding a table doesn't delete it—it just removes it from the sidebar for cleaner navigation.

Click the ⌄ icon next to the table name
Select Hide table

To show a hidden table:

Click the ⌄ icon next to any visible table
Select Show table
Choose the table you want to show

Connecting tables

Linked records

Link records between tables to create relationships:

A "Tasks" table can link to a "Projects" table
A "Team Members" table can link to a "Departments" table
A "Orders" table can link to a "Customers" table

How to link:

Add a "Link to another record" field
Select the target table
Choose which records to link

Lookups

Lookup fields pull data from linked records:

Look up the project name from a linked project record
Look up the department from a linked team member record

Rollups

Rollup fields aggregate data from linked records:

Count tasks linked to a project
Sum order totals from linked orders
Average ratings from linked reviews

Best practices

One table per entity type

Each table should represent one type of thing:

✅ Separate tables: Products, Orders, Customers
❌ One table: Products and Orders mixed together

Use descriptive names

Name your tables clearly:

✅ "Marketing Campaigns"
✅ "Project Tasks"
❌ "Table 1" or "Data"

Plan your relationships

Before creating tables, think about how they connect:

Which tables need to link to each other?
What data needs to flow between tables?
What aggregations do you need?

Keep tables focused

Don't try to put everything in one table. Split into multiple tables when:

Data represents different entity types
You need different fields for different items
Relationships are complex

Common table patterns

Master-detail pattern

Master table: Projects Detail table: Tasks

Each task links to one project. The project table can roll up task counts, sums, or averages.

Many-to-many pattern

Table 1: Students Table 2: Courses Junction table: Enrollments

Use a junction table to connect students to courses when one student can take many courses, and one course has many students.

Hierarchical pattern

Parent table: Departments Child table: Employees

Employees link to departments. Use rollups to aggregate employee data at the department level.

Table limits

Records per table

Free plan: 1,000 records per base (shared across all tables)
Team plan: 50,000 records per base
Business plan: 125,000 records per base
Enterprise: Custom limits

Note: The base limit applies to all tables combined. If you have 1,000 records total across all tables, you've hit the Free plan limit.

Fields per table

All plans: Up to 500 fields per table

Tables per base

All plans: Unlimited tables per base

Organizing multiple tables

Group related tables

Keep related tables together:

Marketing: Campaigns, Content, Analytics
Sales: Leads, Deals, Customers
HR: Employees, Departments, Performance Reviews

Use table descriptions

Add descriptions to tables to help your team understand their purpose:

Click the ⌄ icon next to the table name
Select Add description
Enter a description of what the table contains

Hide unused tables

Hide tables you don't frequently use to keep your sidebar clean:

Archive old projects
Hide reference tables
Keep only active tables visible

Importing data into tables

From CSV

Click + Add or import
Select Import a spreadsheet
Upload your CSV file
Map columns to fields
Review and import

From Excel

Same process as CSV. Airtable supports Excel files (.xlsx).

From another Airtable base

Use the Sync feature to sync data between bases
Or export to CSV and import into the new base

Tips

Start with a template: Use Airtable templates to get started quickly
Plan before creating: Think about your data structure before adding tables
Use linked records: Connect related data instead of duplicating it
Name clearly: Use descriptive names that your team will understand
Document purpose: Add descriptions to explain what each table is for
Keep it simple: Don't overcomplicate—start simple and add complexity as needed

Quick reference

Action	Steps
Create table	+ Add or import → Create a new table
Delete table	⌄ icon → Delete table → Confirm
Hide table	⌄ icon → Hide table
Show table	⌄ icon → Show table → Select table
Rename table	⌄ icon → Rename table
Duplicate table	⌄ icon → Duplicate table

References

Official Airtable documentation: Creating and managing tables in Airtable

Airtable Tables: What They Are and How to Use Them