Delete multiple fields at once?

[Rose_Fox]

If I select multiple fields (columns) and cmd-click one of them, it narrows the selection to that one field. If I select multiple fields and go to the dropdown for one, it narrows the selection to that one field. How do I delete multiple fields at once rather than having to go through them one by one? This seems like incredibly basic spreadsheet functionality and I’m puzzled that I can’t find it.

[sic]

Need this feature! it’s been 3 yrs! @Airtable

[Ben_Davies]

I generally agree with Michael’s comments, except that in this case, it becomes a must have due to the limitations of the import feature. Importing Excel files can results in hundreds of unnecessary columns which make the data unmanageable due to the absence of this feature.

[LessonsUp_Compa]

Would love this feature.

[Lauren_Briskin1]

I absolutely understand that deleting fields is scary and usually not good- data loss is a BFD. I had a million trillion lookup fields that I didn’t need due to the way my base was originally set up. Deleting a million trillion fields individually is a huge pain, and since they’re lookup fields, no data loss is happening. Hiding them isn’t good hygiene.

[Max_Ov]

Hey all,

I had the same problem and found a workaround:

• create a new table let’s name it table2
• delete the 3 fields automatically created (notes, attachment, status)
• change your primary field records to match the table1 field type
• go to table1
• click Hide Fields
• select hide all
• select the fields you want to KEEP
• in the upper left corner, left of your primary field name check the box to select all records and non-hidden fields
• control / command + C
• go to table2
• select the upper left check box
• control / command V

Your table should have only the fields you wanted to keep.
Not as easy as it could be in Excel or Sheet, but still, you can delete hundreds of fields quickly.

I tried with a small table, I don’t know if this works well if you have thousands of records and hundreds of fields.

Tell me if it works for you!

[Patience_Rose]

Until Airtable or another entity develops a feature or plugin that can take care of this task, here is what I just did and would suggest, which may prove to be the simplest and quickest way:

1. Move all of the columns you want in the new table to the far left, all next to each other.
2. Leave all empty columns to the right.
3. Starting with the first cell of the first column, highlight all of the cells from the desired columns, top to bottom.
4. Copy all cells.
5. Create a new, empty table.
6. Paste the cells and make sure the option to expand the table according to all copied cells is selected.
7. Rename all columns and reassign them to your desired field type.