Record picker can create new records… but not pick existing ones.
Hello,
Quick question: when I use a record picker in an Interface, why can I create a new linked record… but not pick an existing one?
It is called a “picker”, right? 😅
Context: I’m building a CRM to manage photography projects. A project can have multiple venues. I’ve got a field linking to my “Venues” table, and yes — the field allows multiple links.
But in the Interface:
I can only select one item at a time,
I can’t pick multiple existing venues,
But weirdly, I can create a new venue every time.
Which… leads to dozens of duplicates, breaks the logic of relational design, and honestly makes me want to go back to Google Sheets and sticky notes.
You used to have this working (RIP Record Lists and side panels). It was beautiful. It made sense. Now, even for simple things like choosing two people for a project or adding a venue that already exists, I need to invent workarounds that feel more 1998 than 2025.
Or it is just me that don’t really understand the new logic of the interface and record picker... A mildly confused but loyal user trying to love this tool the way it deserves.
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Hey @YodaJones!
1. Record Picker will allow you to select only one item a time, correct. 2. You can deactivate the ability for users to create new records, see image below. 3. If you need to show data corresponding to more than one record at a time, I would rather suggest you have a Grid view within your Blank page layout, or a List page layout, and create filters for it. In that way you should be able to achieve exactly what your are looking for.
Does this make sense? I believe you might be choosing the wrong elements on interfaces (or even the wrong page layout). I’d be happy to hop on a brief call and show you around.
Thanks a lot for your reply — it does make sense from an interface design perspective, but it unfortunately doesn’t solve the underlying relational need.
Let me clarify what I'm actually trying to do:
I want to create a new “Project” from an interface
While doing so, I want to link multiple existing “Clients” and/or “Venues” (or create new ones if needed)
The underlying fields already support multiple linked records, but the interface limits me to picking only one record at a time, and prevents selecting from an existing list in a fluid way
I understand that Grid and List views let me display several records, but my use case is about building structured input — not just displaying data.
Right now, if I want to associate more than one existing record, I have to:
Create the project via an interface or form
Go back into the base or into another view
Manually link each record from a different place
That defeats the purpose of using an interface to simplify data entry for something as basic as relational associations.
TL;DR:
I don’t want just to “see” many records — I want to select multiple existing ones or create new ones while creating a new parent record — like any CRM or project manager would allow.
A single-record picker + one-record-at-a-time logic just doesn’t scale for real-world use.
Let me know if there’s a proper workaround, or if this limitation is something airtable team is planning to address (if you know...) Thanks again for your time and support :)
Hey @YodaJones!
This is def something that you can achieve using Airtable, and def something that is or should be very easy to setup! However, I would personally suggest to go yet with a different page layout.
My favorite page layout to this effect: Record Review. Source for it will be Projects.
Within it, make sure to show the linked record fields to Clients and Venues. Also, make sure that these fields allow for multiple selection of Clients and Venues (from you back-end; you mentioned this is already enabled). Furthermore, make sure that these fields allow for creation of new records.
Do keep in mind that you will not be able to create new records from the “Create new Projects form”. You will be doing this on the Project record detail, when editing the information for it!
Got it — that makes total sense now. I didn’t realize I had to handle this after creating the project, from the record detail view itself.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to explain it clearly — I’ll give it a try using the Record Review layout.
Much appreciated!
Oh yes! That is a big big biiiiig limitation of Airtable native forms.
I’m anxious to see updates on their forms soon hopefully. Usually if I absolutely need to create new records from a different linked table, whilst creating the Project record, I use Fillout forms.
Yes, I do know about Fillout — and it’s definitely powerful.
That said, relying on an external tool just to patch such a basic limitation in Airtable doesn’t feel like a viable solution for me. Even though I’m fairly technical, my priority is to stay productive in my actual work, not to spend extra time managing the tools that are supposed to make it easier.
Still, I really appreciate your help and the clarity of your replies. Thanks again!
