Problem:
When adding a linked record in Airtable, the search is currently limited to the Primary Field of the linked table. In many cases, however, the Primary Field is a technical ID or a customer number, which is neither intuitive nor easy to remember for users.
Example:
We have a customer table with fields like Customer Number, Company Name, and Address. When linking a customer to a product table, we can only search by the Customer Number (Primary Field). This is inconvenient because we would often prefer to search or filter by Company Name or Address to quickly find the correct customer.
Current Workarounds:
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It’s possible to create a formula field that combines multiple fields (e.g.,
Customer Number + Company Name). -
However, this combined field would need to become the Primary Field, which is often not allowed or desirable, as the Primary Field must not be changed (e.g., in synced tables or when data is externally managed).
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Another potential idea would be to use Lookup Fields, which display information from linked records. Unfortunately, it is not possible to link or search directly through Lookup Fields, which would otherwise be an ideal solution for this scenario.
Proposed Solution:
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Allow users to define which fields are searchable when linking records.
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For example, users could configure a linked field to search by Company Name or Address in addition to the Primary Field.
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Enable linking through Lookup Fields.
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If Lookup Fields could act as searchable and selectable fields when creating links, it would add a lot of flexibility and solve the limitation of being restricted to the Primary Field.
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Use Case Example:
Instead of only typing 12345 (Customer Number) into the search box, we could also type “Musterfirma GmbH” or “Musterstraße 5” to find the correct customer record.
