Set up your project sheet

It’s a required column in every Smartsheet sheet. It serves as the unique identifier for each row. You can't delete it from your sheet. The primary column type is always Text/Number. All other types (including Auto-number) are unavailable.

Why it matters?

• Improves visibility in other views:
  • In Card and Board View, the primary column value becomes the card title.
  • In Calendar View, it becomes the calendar entry title.
• Hierarchy: If you indent rows for subtasks, the primary column clearly shows the hierarchy.
• Communication: When using Send Row or Request Update, the primary column is the first thing the recipient sees.
• Context: A descriptive name ensures the recipient immediately knows which specific record requires their attention.

How to create a primary column?

It is automatically added as the left-most column in Grid or Table View when you create a new sheet and

When you create a new sheet by importing data from another program, you can designate the primary column. Double-select the column name to rename the primary column and type a new name.

Once you set a primary column, you can’t change it. You can only change its name.

 Best practices

• Use descriptive names: Avoid generic titles like "Name" or "Title." Instead, use a specific identifier that clearly indicates what the row represents. For example, use "Project Name" instead of "Name"
• When using forms, if the primary column isn't meaningful in the form's context, hide it. But, be aware it is populated on submission.

Primary column in reports

Because reports can return data from multiple sheets, each having a different primary column name, information from the primary column consolidates into a single column named Primary.

Reports don't display hierarchy.

Note that reports show live data from the source sheet. Any edits made in a report (including deletions) are written directly back to the source sheet.

Primary columns in forms

When you create a new form, the primary column is automatically pulled from the sheet. You can:

• You can rename the primary column from the form. Note, it's the only primary column property you can change.

• When you create a new form, the primary column gets pulled from the intake sheet. You can add a new column with any column type that you need.

• If you don’t want to use the primary column in your form, you can deselect it from the Fields panel or delete it from your form canvas.

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You can insert, rename, delete, and clear columns in a sheet.

You can undo any action until you save the sheet's changes.

A sheet can contain up to 400 columns, 20,000 rows, or 500,000 cells (whichever limit is reached first). 

Insert a new column

1. In your sheet, hover over a column header. 
2. Select the Column Menu  .
3. In the Column Menu, select Insert Column Left or Insert Column Right. The New Column form appears.
4. In the New Column form, set the following fields:

   • Name: Enter a name for the column.
      

     You can enter a column name with up to 50 characters. 

   • Column Type: Select a column type. See Column types for details on each type.
     • Text/Number 
     • Dropdown list 
     • Date
     • Duration  
     • Contact list 
     • Checkbox 
     • Symbols 
     • Auto number 
     • Created by 
     • Created date 
     • Latest Comment 
     • Modified by 
     • Modified date
5. If the column type has additional options, they appear below the Column Type field. Set them as you like.
6. Select OK.

The new column appears next to the column you selected.

Insert multiple columns at once

You can insert up to five new columns in a sheet.

1. Highlight the number of existing columns (up to five columns) you want to insert by holding the Ctrl key (or command key, if you’re on a Mac) and selecting existing column headers individually.
2. Hover over any selected column header.
3. Select the Column Menu   .
4. In the Column Menu, select Insert x Columns Left or Insert x Columns Right.

The new columns appear. Each new column has the Text/Number column type and is named Column[column number] (e.g., Column12). 

To change the column settings: 

1. Double-click the column header.
2. In the Edit Column Properties form, change any of the following fields:
   • Name

   • Column Type

      

Change the column width

You can adjust the column width if you're not satisfied with it. 

Note that you can’t modify the width of default columns, such as the attachments, discussions, or indicators columns. 

To change the column width:

1. Hover your pointer over the column header's side border. 
2. When the column border icon appears, press and hold the icon.
3. Drag the column border icon to create the desired column width. 

Delete a column

You can delete columns or their content. 

You cannot, however, delete these default columns:
- Attachments
- Comments
- Proofs
- Row Action Indicators

To delete a single column

1.  Hover your pointer over the header of the column you want to delete.
2. Select the Column Menu  . 
3. In the Column Menu, select Delete Column.

To delete multiple columns

1. Press and hold the Ctrl key (or the command key if you’re on a Mac). 
2. Select up to five column headers.
3. Hover your pointer over any of the highlighted column headers. 
4. Select the Column Menu   . 
5. In the Column Menu, select Delete Column.

To clear the content from columns without deleting them 

1. Select one or more columns. 
2. Press the Backspace or Delete key on your keyboard.

The content disappears without deleting any columns.

Rename a column

If you rename a column that reports include, the reports no longer include the column. You must reset the column in a report's criteria to restore the renamed column to a report. 

To rename a column

1. Hover your pointer over the column header. 
2. Select the Column Menu  . 

3. In the Column Menu, select Rename Column...
    

   Double-click the column header to open the Column Properties form.

4. In the Name field, enter a new name.
5. Select OK.

Hierarchy lets you organize rows into groups by nesting related rows beneath a parent row. The rows nested underneath become child rows. This is useful when you want to break down a project into phases and tasks, group related items, or summarize data across multiple rows.

Hierarchy creates relationships between rows; it doesn't change how rows are formatted or styled.

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Indents are displayed only in the sheet's Primary Column, but the relationship is applied to the entire row.

When you move a parent row, all its child rows move with it. Similarly, if you delete a parent row, all its child rows are deleted too.

To delete a parent row without deleting the child rows, remove the parent-child relationship first.

How to create a hierarchy

You create a hierarchy by indenting a row. Before indenting, make sure both the row you want to indent and the row above it contain data. Hierarchy requires content in both the parent and child rows.

1. Select any cell in the row you want to indent. This is the row that becomes the child row.
2. Select Make child row   on the left side of the row.

The row above automatically becomes the parent row.

To indent a row, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + ] or Command + ] on a Mac. 

There is no fixed level of indenting; you can indent rows on your sheet to create multiple levels of hierarchy.

If your sheet has dependencies enabled, parent rows automatically reflect a roll-up summary of the Start Date, End Date, Duration, and % Complete values from their child rows. 

How to remove hierarchy

Outdenting a row removes its parent-child relationship, moving it one level up in the hierarchy. The row's data isn’t affected.

To remove a parent-child relationship:

1. Select any cell in the child row you want to level up in the hierarchy.
2. Select Promote child row   on the left side of the row.

The row moves one level up. If it was the only child, the row above it is no longer a parent.

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To outdent a row, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + [ or Command + [ on a Mac. 

Expand or collapse child rows

Collapsing a parent row hides its child rows from view. The data is still there, just out of sight. Expanding it brings them back. This is useful for focusing on high-level project status without the details of every individual task.

Expand or collapse a single parent row

Select the arrow icon (▶ / ▼) next to the parent row's name in the Primary Column. The arrow points right when collapsed and down when expanded.

Expand or collapse all parent rows

To expand or collapse every parent row on the sheet:

1. Right-click the Primary Column header to open the column options menu.
2. Select Expand All or Collapse All.