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This Help Article appears in the Level 1: Get Started learning track. Get the most out of this learning track by starting at the beginning.
This Help Article appears in the Level 1: Get Started learning track. Get the most out of this learning track by starting at the beginning.
Licensed users with Owner or Admin permissions to the sheet can to add or edit a column.
In a sheet, you can use different column types to ensure more consistent data entry. In Smartsheet, there are two categories of column types:
Default columns are columns you can't change or remove.
Every sheet has a primary column, and its value serves as the row's descriptor. By default, it will always be a Text/Number field. You can't change its type or delete it.
Learn more about primary columns.
Between the row number and primary column are columns you can use to do the following tasks:
If you don't need any of the mentioned default columns, you can hide them. To hide a column:
Configurable columns are columns you can modify according to your needs. These are the column types you can edit:
Read on to learn more about each column type.
In a text/number column, you can add texts, numeric values, or both. Use a Text/Number column for comment columns that might have long entries or number-focused columns.
You can apply text or numeric formatting to the values in this column.
If the first character of a number is zero, followed by another digit or letter, Smartsheet will attach an apostrophe to the beginning of the value. Then, it will store the value as text. It does this so that the leading zero will be retained and displayed with the number. If you want to store the value as a number—to perform calculations with it, for example—double-click the cell. Then, remove the apostrophe and any leading zeros.
In a contact list column, these are the only acceptable values:
Use this column to:
If you allow multiple contacts per cell, you can select up to 20 contacts in one cell.
All you have to do is type a contact name or email address in a cell.
Any value other than an email address will be considered free text. It won't work with automation or other contact-specific features.
As you type, the list will display matching contacts from:
You're most likely typing a name or email address that isn't in your contact list. To fix this, add them to your contact list with these steps:
Once you've added the contact, you can already assign them to the row.
To remove names or email addresses from the auto-resolve dropdown list, remove them from the other cells in the column and the Edit Column Properties form. People shared to the sheet will always appear as suggestions when you type in a contact list column.
You can restrict the values in a contact list column to a set of contact values. To set up preferred contacts in the contact list column:
After setting up your preferred contacts, you'll see them as options in the contact list column. The same is true if you use the same contact list field in the sheet's corresponding Smartsheet form.
If you want sheet respondents to manually add a contact, remove your preferred contacts. To do this:
Use this column to input date entries. You can also use date columns to enable dependencies or display items in the calendar view.
To input dates in a date column, do any of these steps:
The dates will appear in the format set up in your Smartsheet account's personal settings.
This column displays a list of values you can select. If you're a sheet Owner or Admin, you configure the dropdown list column to let users input either single or multiple values.
After making it a multiple-entry column, you can input multiple values through either of these steps:
Press the Enter or Return key to separate each list item onto a separate line.
To remove an item from the dropdown list, select it and then press the Backspace or Delete key.
For more information about dropdown list columns, see Maintain Consistency in Data Collection with Dropdown Columns.
Use this column to:
The column presents a checkbox you can select or clear. You can display the checkbox as a box, flag, or single star.
The checkbox appears in the cell only after you enter a value in another column in that row.
A symbols column displays a visual image you can use to describe a row's status.
You can select different symbols. However, you can't add your own (custom) symbols to the column.
Auto number columns generate values for every row in the sheet that contains data. You can use this column when you want to assign the following without manually typing them in:
Learn more about auto number columns.
These are the different system columns and the information they record:
When you set them up, system column cells are initially empty: the values are generated when you save the sheet.
Use this column to show your team's latest comment/feedback without opening the Conversations pane.
Learn more about the latest comment column.
Duration represents the amount of time a task is expected to take. For more information, see Project sheet columns: Duration.