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I need to copy a URL from one field and not just paste it into another field, but paste it into the “Get Image URL” style field … and then UPLOAD IT.



If you’ve used the “get image URL” type of field you know you can drop files into it or past a URL into it so that it uploads the file to AIrTable and gives you an AIrTable URL. The difficulty here is that you can’t just paste a URL into that field. You have to


(a) CLICK the filed first and a menu appears.


(b) Within that menu you must select he URL link icon to make another field appear.


(c) Then you past your URL into THAT field


(d) Press upload


(f) a small image of your uploaded file appears in the field which you can THEN click on and get an AIrTable URL for.



**How do I automate this? I’ve created a small loom.com video below to show the stapes in my database I need to automate. **



<Loom | Free Screen & Video Recording Software | Loom]



(Click the link above … yes the one that looks like a text advertisement… it goes to a Screen Recording video of the steps I need automated)

Hi @Jesse_Gentile,


I am not sure of a way to fully automate your requested process without writing some custom javascript code.



There is an existing free Convert URLs to Attachments script provided by Airtable that might do what you are looking for or be a good starting off point. This can be found in the Extensions Marketplace.

Whooooooaaaahhh… This is perfect. It did exactly what I needed and it did it fast.

@Jesse_Gentile

  1. Note that JavaScripting is not necessary for this. You can simply use Airtable’s native automation actions to update an attachment field with the content of the URL field, and the file will be uploaded to the attachment field.

  2. For more advanced control over attachment fields, you can use Make’s automations & integrations for Airtable, which is also no-code (i.e. doesn’t require any JavaScript programming code). I discuss attachment field arrays on this episode of the BuiltOnAir podcast.

@Jesse_Gentile

  1. Note that JavaScripting is not necessary for this. You can simply use Airtable’s native automation actions to update an attachment field with the content of the URL field, and the file will be uploaded to the attachment field.

  2. For more advanced control over attachment fields, you can use Make’s automations & integrations for Airtable, which is also no-code (i.e. doesn’t require any JavaScript programming code). I discuss attachment field arrays on this episode of the BuiltOnAir podcast.


This doesn't work if the URL doesn't have a suffix. It seems Airtable has a hard time parsing the file if it doesn't know what type it is. CMSs often don't have a suffix as they select / render the file at runtime. If you manually add the file by URL in the field it works, but it doesn't work if you use an automation to update the attachment field with the value of the url

This doesn't work if the URL doesn't have a suffix. It seems Airtable has a hard time parsing the file if it doesn't know what type it is. CMSs often don't have a suffix as they select / render the file at runtime. If you manually add the file by URL in the field it works, but it doesn't work if you use an automation to update the attachment field with the value of the url


Nevermind. I was doing something wrong. This works just fine.

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