How to Select Multiple Linked Records in Airtable at Once

You can link several records to one Airtable record, but Airtable's record picker does not have a Ctrl-click or Shift-click option for selecting a whole group at once.

For a quick update inside a table, the easiest method is to paste the record names into a temporary text field and then change that field to a linked record field.

Select multiple linked records in one go

Link several records in one cell

First, make sure the linked record field is allowed to contain more than one record. Open the field settings, turn on Allow linking to multiple records, and save it.

Then create a temporary Single line text field in the same table. Copy the primary field values from the table you want to link, and paste them into the text field for the record that should contain the links.

If the values are separated by line breaks, replace the line breaks with commas. You can now change the temporary field to Link to another record, choose the correct table, and let Airtable match the values to existing records.

Use a field with unique values for the matching text. If Airtable cannot find a matching value, it may create a new record instead of linking the record you intended.

After checking that the links are correct, you can delete the temporary field.

Link one record to many rows

If several tasks belong to the same project, you can add that project to all of them in one step.

  1. Open the Projects table and copy the project's primary field value, such as Website redesign.
  2. Open the Tasks table and select the cells in the Project linked record field for the tasks that belong to it.
  3. Paste the project value.

Airtable adds the same project link to every selected task. This works when the value matches an existing record in the linked Projects table. If no matching record exists, Airtable can create a new one, so check the result before moving on.

Use an automation for repeated matching

You do not need an automation for a one-time bulk update. Copy and paste the link manually when you already know which records should be connected.

An automation is useful when the same matching should happen every time a new record is added. For example, when you create a project, Airtable can find all open tasks with the same Project Code and link them to that project automatically.

  1. Add a When record is created trigger for the Projects table.
  2. Add a Find records action that searches the Tasks table.
  3. Set the conditions to find tasks where Project Code matches the code from the new project and Status is Open.
  4. Add an Update record action and choose the new project from the trigger.
  5. Select the project's Tasks linked record field.
  6. Choose Make a new list of..., then select Airtable record IDs from the Find records step.

The automation adds every matching task to the project. Use record IDs so Airtable links the exact tasks returned by Find records, rather than trying to match their names.

For another example, see how to automatically link Airtable form submissions to existing or new records.

Let people choose multiple records in a form

If someone is choosing the records through a form, turn on Allow linking to multiple records in the linked field's settings before adding the field to the form.

You can also limit the choices to a filtered view in the form builder. This keeps people from searching through records they should not select.

If the native form does not give you the record picker you need, Fillout supports multiple linked-record selections and more form controls.