How do I remove links between tables?

[Khay]

Hi All, 

I've been building out a base on Airtable and am running into some issues with the linking. I've linked two tables together. I'll try to explain here what I'm experiencing. 

Table 1: Action Items and Column 1: Item Name; Column 2: Pillar Owner

Table 2: Projects

I've linked my Action Items table to my Projects table. I brought in both the action item name and the pillar owner name into the projects table via the Action Items table. I then decided I didn't want these tables linked in this way. I removed the Item Name and Pillar Owner columns from the Projects table. I think found a more appropriate way to link the tables, so I re-linked the Action Items table to the Projects table, but brought in different columns. Now, via my dropdowns (specifically when I'm attempting to create a Lookup column - this doesn't happen when I'm attempting to Link to another record), I have two Action Items tables appearing" Action Items and Action Items 2. This is causing confusion for myself and other users because we don't know which table to choose when making a link. How do I remove Action Items 2 and other duplicate tables from the Lookup dropdown option or completely remove the link between these two tables and start anew?

Thank you 🙂

[Jason_Hill]

When I want to unlink a table, I swap the field type from "Linked to Another Record" back to a "Single Line Text" or similar. The link is then broken. You can choose to delete the column if you choose to as well. As soon as you do that, the linked record column in the other table changes from a linked field to text. You can delete that as well.

[Khay]

Hey Jason, 

Thanks so much for your response. I tried that, but unfortunately, I still have the duplicate table names when I choose the 'Lookup' field. It seems like changing the formatting isn't officially breaking the links for me. 

[Jason_Hill · Accepted solution]

You can rename the linked field in the source table to make more sense and easily identify them on your lookups.  I would try renaming the linked columns to get what you need. If I am still missing something, let me know.

[Khay]

Hey there, 

Ah. I think I see what's happening here. This is, indeed, a field naming issue when I thought it to be a table naming issue. Do you know why the field names are duplicating in this way? Why do I have an Action Items 2 field and an Action Items 3 field?

[Jason_Hill]

When you link a column/table, Airtable appends the opposite column's name and adds a numerical value in the sequence. It works fine but get's messy quickly as you are testing and trying things. I make it a common practice to always rename my linked columns to something more descriptive and identifiable. As you become more experienced in building bases, you will be more confident in your designs upfront. I have experience building SQL Databases, so it's more ingrained in me to plan my table design upfront.

[Khay]

Jason,

That makes ALL the sense in the world. Thank you for clarifying that. :-). I’ll look for some Airtable resources that help train users in how to think through building databases and then give this one another go once I’ve learned a bit more. Thank you again!