Forms to collect new information

​@Kith 

Unfortunately, that is one of the major limitations of Airtable. It is not possible to create new linked records from a form.

You have 3 workarounds for this limitation:

1. On the first form, give the user a link to ANOTHER FORM which will allow them to add new records to the linked table. Then, they can come back to the first form to continue their data entry.
    
2. On the first form, in the linked record field, give the user an option to choose from that is called "new record" or something like that. Then, conditionally show additional fields where they can type in the new information. Then, use an automation to add the new record into the appropriate table.
    
3. However, instead of the workarounds above, your #1 best bet is to use Fillout’s advanced forms for Airtable, which already has this functionality natively built into its forms.

Fillout is 100% free and offers hundreds of advanced features that aren’t natively available in Airtable’s native forms, such as the ability to:

• create new linked records on a form
• update Airtable records using a form
• create custom PDF files from a form submission
• accept payments on forms
• pre-fetch dynamic data from an Airtable record
• customize the style and branding of your form
• customize a theme for your form
• display Airtable lookup fields on forms
• create multi-page forms with conditional paths
• add a login page to your form
• perform math or other live calculations on your forms
• collect signatures on a form
• connect a single form to dozens of external apps simultaneously
• add CAPTCHAs to your form
• and much more.

I show how to use a few of the advanced features of Fillout on these 2 Airtable podcast episodes:

• Using Fillout to add new linked records to a form.
• Using Fillout to update an existing Airtable record & create an eSignature approval process with PDF file creation.

Hope this helps!

If you’d like to hire the best Airtable consultant to help you with anything Airtable-related, please feel free to contact me through my website: Airtable consultant — ScottWorld

Hm, could you talk a bit about your business logic?  I’m wondering why you set up the Claims and Claim Details tables separately; is it that a Claim can have multiple Claim Details? 

Hey ​@Kith,


PLEASE help us support the cause for LINKED RECORD FIELD CREATION FROM AIRTABLE NATIVE FORMS by submitting this feature request form. 

This will be such a game changer.

Mike, Consultant @ Automatic Nation 
YouTube Channel

Hey ​@Kith !

The Issue:

Native Airtable forms don't support creating new linked records inline—they only allow selecting from existing records. This is a platform limitation, not a setting you can change.

Solutions:

Option 1: Use Fillout (Recommended)

• Fillout integrates with Airtable and allows creating new linked records directly in forms
• Free tier available
• Setup: Connect your base → Build form → Enable "Allow creating new records" for your linked field
• URL: fillout.com

Option 2: Airtable Interface with Repeating Groups

• Create a custom interface page instead of a form
• Use a "List" element with record creation enabled
• Users can add multiple Claim Details in one session
• Not as clean as a traditional form, but native to Airtable

Option 3: Two-Step Automation

• Form creates the Claim record only
• Automation emails user a prefilled form link to add Claim Details
• Claim Details form has the Claim already linked
• More clicks, but uses only native Airtable features

Option 4: Single Form + Automation Split

• Collect all info in one form with multiple sections
• Use automation script to parse data and create linked records
• More complex setup but seamless user experience

Recommendation:

For the cleanest user experience with minimal setup, go with Fillout. It's specifically designed to solve this Airtable limitation and handles linked record creation elegantly.

Flow Digital - Airtable Gold Services Partner — We're happy to help!