Applies to

Smartsheet
  • Pro
  • Business
  • Enterprise

Validate Information in Forms

With form validation, you can add real-time validation to your forms in the form builder to help you gather consistent, error-free data.

PLANS

  • Smartsheet
  • Pro
  • Business
  • Enterprise

Add simple character and pattern-based validation to Text/Number and Contact List fields.

Validation Type

Field Type(s)

Valid Characters

Valid Pattern

Numbers

Text/Number

Numbers

Period (.)

Dash (-)

“e” for exponential

N/A

Percents

Text/Number

Numbers

Period (.)

Dash (-)

“e” for exponential

N/A

Email addresses

Text/Number, Contact List

All

[characters]@[characters].[characters]

Phone numbers

Text/Number

Numbers

Must have correct number of characters based on selected country

The dash (-) symbol can only be used as a negative sign in a number validation field.

To use validation in your form

  1. Select Manage forms… in the Forms menu.
  2. Open an existing form. 
  3. Select a text/number or contact list field on your form to open the field settings panel on the right.
  4. Navigate to Validation in the panel. By default, No Validation is the selected option. 
  5. Select the option you want to enable for the field.

Field settings screen, showing the validation field options

Fill in a form field with validation enabled

When filling in a field with validation, the form respondent’s experience will depend on the type of validation that you enabled:

  • If the validation requires certain types of characters, they will be unable to enter any invalid characters in the field. For example, in a phone-validated field, they will not be allowed to enter any non-numeric characters.
  • If the validation requires a certain character pattern, their entry must match that pattern. If they enter something that does not match the pattern and then click anywhere else on the form, the form will display an error message.

Notes to validate information in your form

  • When you add phone validation to a field on your form, you can select the default country code. People who fill out the form will also have the option to change the country code while filling in the phone-validated field.
  • It is not possible to submit a form that has a validation error on it. In order to submit, the person filling out the form will first need to fix the entry in the validated field or delete their entry (if the field is not required).
  • There is no form validation in the mobile app. You will automatically be prompted to use GPS/barcode functionality instead.
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