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Delete multiple fields at once?

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Rose_Fox
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

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.

15 Replies 15

I think you can’t. Maybe you could ask for it in the Feature Request category.

Michael_Monagha
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Surely this is available? Like Rose says it’s basic spreadsheet functionality!!

Spencer_Allen
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

I tried doing this with adjacent columns in chrome on Windows using Shift+click, and it actually froze my browser for 30 seconds consistently… Also when it came unfrozen, it didn’t actually multi-select.

There are lots of basic spreadsheet functions not available in Airtable because it’s not a spreadsheet. It’s a database. The two share some similar features, and look extremely similar in a grid view, but there are important core differences between them in how data is stored, managed, looked up, etc. Yes, it would be nice to be able to delete multiple fields at once, but I wouldn’t consider it a must-have feature.

Julia_Byrd1
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

I just imported a spreadsheet which apparently had 500 empty columns, so they all imported as well. I cannot delete them one by one. I guess the only way to get rid of them is to delete them in the original spreadsheet and reimport?

Another option is to arrange the columns that you want to keep so that they are together, and then copy just those columns to a new table. Then you can delete the original table.

Can’t you import the file again without the empty columns?

Ivan_Sarmiento
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

The main issue here is that you need a different program to get the job done.

Nate_Hughes
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

This really still isn’t a feature? It is really needed.