How to Email Only the Latest Airtable Attachment Version

If an attachment field uses Versions, Airtable keeps the older files together with the newest one. The Versions format is available on Airtable's Business and Enterprise Scale plans.

When you use that field in the Send email action, the email includes the files stored in that field, not just the newest version.

The simple workaround is to keep the version history in one field and copy the newest file into another attachment field called File to Send. Use that second field in the email automation.

This keeps every previous version in Airtable while the email contains only the current file.

Create a field for the file you want to send

Keep the original attachment field with all the versions. Create another attachment field called File to Send.

The original field is your history. File to Send is the field your email uses.

I’m using a checkbox called Send Email for this example. You can use the status, button, or another trigger that already starts your email workflow.

The automation will follow this pattern:

Send Email is checked → get the newest file → add it to File to Send → send the email

Get the newest attachment

I’m using When record matches conditions and setting Send Email to checked. You can use whichever trigger fits the workflow you already have.

Add a Run a script action. Create an input variable called urls and map it to the attachment field that contains all the versions.

Use this script:

let { urls } = input.config();

if (!urls || urls.length === 0) {
    throw new Error("No attachment was found");
}

output.set("url", urls[urls.length - 1]);

The script takes the last attachment URL from the list and passes it to the next automation step.

Copy it into the sending field

Add an Update record action for the record that triggered the automation.

Set the File to Send attachment field to the url returned by the script. Airtable saves that file in the second attachment field while leaving the original Versions field unchanged.

Send only that file

Add a Send email action after the update. In the Attachments section, select the File to Send field instead of the original version-history field.

The email now contains one file, while the original field still contains every version.

For more examples of sending files from an Airtable attachment field, see how to email a PDF attachment from Airtable.

If you upload another version later, run the same workflow again. The script copies the newest file into File to Send, and the next email contains that file.