Automations Question

You can only update records based on Airtable’s internal Record ID, not any other field.

So the only way that you could “sort of” do this natively (without using JavaScript) would be to have 2 different tables that are linked via this ID # field. In Table 1, the ID # field would be a linked record field which links to Table 2, whose primary field is also the ID #. Then, upon form submission, you would create a new record in Table 1, and you would add the ID # into the linked record field.

For any other type of scenario, you would need to create your own custom JavaScript to handle the record updating process, and then use the “Run Script” action.

For a no-code way of doing this, the absolute easiest way to update records — based on any field at all (because you can search before updating) — would be to use Integromat or Zapier. These are significantly more advanced automation platforms than Airtable, and they can handle almost any automation scenario that you can think of. They go way beyond what Airtable offers natively.

Note that I would never recommend Zapier to anyone unless they had a very specific reason to use it… Zapier does NOT offer full Airtable support, and it does not have even half the functionality that Integromat offers. Zapier also costs more than Integromat, even though it does so much less.