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What this does

The Update submitted record action automatically fills in fields on the Airtable record that was just created or updated by the form submission. You define which fields to update and what values to write. This is useful for:
  • Setting a status field to “Submitted” after every submission
  • Writing a timestamp using @{Submission Date}
  • Calculating and writing a derived value based on submitted fields
  • Setting a hidden “source” field to a fixed value

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Setting up the action

1

Open the Automations tab

In the form editor, click the Automations tab.
2

Create or open an automation

Create a new automation or open an existing one.
3

Add an action

Click Add action and select Update submitted record.
4

Add field updates

Click Add field update. Select the field to update and enter the value to write.

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Field update settings

Each field update entry has:
PartDescription
FieldWhich Airtable field to update on the record
ValueThe value to write. Supports variable text. Type @ to reference submitted form fields.
You can add as many field updates as needed. All updates in one action are applied together in a single write to Airtable.

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Using variables in values

The value field supports @ variable references. This lets you:
  • Write the respondent’s submitted answer to a different field: @{Email}
  • Combine values: @{First Name} @{Last Name}
  • Reference computed values: @{Submission Date}
Example: After submission, set a field called “Full name” to @{First Name} @{Last Name} where both are separate fields on the form.

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Conditional execution

Each action can have an optional “Only run if…” condition. When set, the Update action only runs when the condition is true. Example: Only update the “Priority” field to “High” when the “Budget” field is greater than 10000.

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Order of execution

Actions within a single automation run in sequence. If you have a Wait action before the Update action, the update happens after the delay.

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Common questions

Yes. The Update submitted record action can write to any field in the connected table, not just the fields the respondent filled in. This is one of the most useful aspects of this action.
Yes, if you target the same field. Be careful not to accidentally overwrite a field the respondent filled in unless that’s intentional.
The value uses variable text. You can reference submitted fields and combine them, but not compute mathematical operations directly. For calculated values, use an Airtable formula field and trigger a value based on that, or handle calculations in a webhook.
The update runs after the record is saved to Airtable, which happens before the thank you page is shown to the respondent. However, automations run asynchronously, so the thank you page may appear a moment before the update is applied.