How to import from Airtable to Retable

Retable allows you to easily import Airtable bases into Retable without the need for integration with a third party tool. If you want to migrate your Airtable bases from Airtable to Retable, you can use Retable's "import from Airtable" feature. You can easily transfer your data from Airtable to your Retable tables with a few clicks.

This feature is currently in beta so some improvements may be required. If you have feedback, please join our community and brainstorm with other Retable enthusiasts. Thank you for helping to make Retable more great every day!

Follow the steps below to import an Airtable base into Retable.

Table of contents

• Import Airtable bases to Retable
• Import Airtable tables to Retable
• Supported field types while importing base from Airtable to Retable
• Supported field types while importing table from Airtable to Retable
• Frequently asked questions about import from Airtable to Retable

Import Airtable bases to Retable

It is super smooth and easy to import your Airtable bases, along with all the tables in them, into Retable as a project. You can perform this process in seconds by selecting our "import from Airtable" option while creating a new Retable project.

You can follow the simple steps below to import your Airtable bases to Retable in seconds;

1. Log in to your Airtable account and get your Airtable personal access token (Check this section to learn how to get it.)
2. Go to your Retable dashboard‍
3. Click the "Add project" button on the top right of the workspace where you want to import your Airtable base
4. Select the "Import from Airtable" option from the pop-up window that opens
5. Enter your Airtable personal access token to Retable's import from Airtable screen
6. Click the "Next" button
7. Select the Airtable base you want to import into Retable
8. After completing all your selections, click the "Import" button. Depending on your data size, it may take several minutes. You'll be notified via email when your import is completed. Refresh your dashboard after receiving your email notification

Check the sections below to learn the details of each step.

How to get Airtable personal access token

Airtable explains what Personal Access Tokens are as follows: "Airtable Personal Access Tokens allow users to create multiple access tokens that allow for a wide range of access to the information held in Airtable bases."

Follow the steps below to create your Airtable Personal Access Token:

1. Log in to your Airtable account.
2. Click on the profile icon at the top right of your dashboard
3. Click the "Developer hub" option.

1. Go to the Personal Access Tokens page from the menu on the left.
2. From here, click on the "Create new token" button located in the right corner of the screen.
3. Give a name to your personal access token from the Name section.
4. Then, to define the scope of your token, be sure to select the "data.records: read" and "schema.bases: read" options.
5. You can select the bases you want to migrate to Retable from the Access section. This is the section where you choose which bases you allow your
6. Airtable personal access token to do "data.records: read" and "schema.bases: read". If you do not want to create a new token in each migration process, you can select the "All current and future bases in all current and future workspaces" option.
7. After completing all your selections, click the "Create Token" button.

Now your Airtable personal access token is ready. You can copy your Airtable personal access token.

How to import your Airtable bases to Retable

After copying your Airtable personal access token, all you need to do is go to your Retable dashboard and add a project within a workspace where you want to import your Airtable base.

You can easily migrate your Airtable bases to Retable by following the steps below.

1. Go to your Retable dashboard‍
2. Create a new project by clicking the "Add project" button on the top right of the workspace where you want to import your Airtable base
3. Select the "Import from Airtable" option

1. Paste your Airtable personal access token to Retable's import from Airtable screen
2. Click the "Next" button

1. Select the Airtable base you want to import into Retable
2. After completing all your selection, click the "Import" button. Depending on your data size, it may take several minutes. You'll be notified via email once your import is completed
3. Refresh your dashboard when you get the success email

After completing the steps above, you can see that the Airtable base you selected is imported into Retable within seconds. You can easily compare your Retable and Airtable bases/projects and easily start working in Retable with the same data.

Supported field types while importing base from Airtable to Retable

Here, you can discover the corresponding columns for all Airtable fields in Retable, along with detailed explanations.

Note that due to the API provided by Airtable, there are a few limitations when you import data from Airtable to Retable:

• Formulas will not be imported. The main reason is that Airtable's formula structure is not compatible with Retable's formula structure. However, you can easily create similar formulas using Retable's formula column.
• Rich text formatting may come garbled.
• Filters are not imported - you'll need to apply filters after importing.
• Buttons are stored as links. However, you can show links as buttons thanks to the "show as button" feature in Retable's URL column.

Import Airtable tables to Retable

If you want to import only specific Airtable tables to Retable instead of importing your entire Airtable project, there is a super easy way to do this. You can import specific Airtable tables into Retable from the add new table area by entering your Retable project where you want to import your Airtable table.

You can follow the simple steps below to import your Airtable tables to Retable in seconds;

1. Log in to your Airtable account and get your Airtable personal access token (Check this section to learn how to get it.)
2. Go to your project list at Retable dashboard‍
3. Create a new project or open one of your existing Retable projects
4. Once you enter your project, click the + button directly from the tables bar to create a new Retable table
5. Select the "Import from Airtable" option from the menu
6. Paste your Airtable personal access token to Retable's import from Airtable screen
7. Click the "Next" button
8. Select the Airtable base containing the data you want to import into Retable
9. Then, select the table you want to import into Retable among the tables in this base.
10. Select the view of the table you want to import into Retable.
11. After completing all your selections, click the "Import" button. Depending on your data size, it may take several minutes. You'll be notified via email when your import is completed. Go back to your dashboard after receiving your email notification and then reopen your project.

Check the sections below to learn the details of each step.

How to migrate your tables from Airtable to Retable

📌 Firstly, check the section above to learn how to get your Airtable personal access token

After copying your Airtable personal access token, all you need to do is go to your Retable dashboard and select the project where you want to import your Airtable base.

You can easily migrate your Airtable bases to Retable by following the steps below.

1. Go to your project list at Retable dashboard‍
2. Create a new project or open one of your existing Retable projects
3. Once you enter your project, click the + button directly from the tables bar to create a new Retable table
4. Select the "Import from Airtable" option from the menu

1. Paste your Airtable personal access token to Retable's import from Airtable screen
2. Click the "Next" button

1. Select the Airtable base containing the data you want to import into Retable
2. Then, select the table you want to import into Retable among the tables in this base.
3. Select the view of the table you want to import into Retable.
4. After completing all your selections, click the "Import" button. Depending on your data size, it may take several minutes. You'll be notified via email when your import is completed. Go back to your dashboard after receiving your email notification and then reopen your project.

After completing the steps above, you can see that the data in the Airtable base you selected is imported into Retable within seconds. You can easily compare your Retable and Airtable tables and now you can easily start working in Retable with the same data.

Supported field types while importing table from Airtable to Retable

Here, you can discover the corresponding columns for all Airtable fields in Retable, along with detailed explanations.

Note that due to the API provided by Airtable, there are a few limitations when you import data from Airtable to Retable:

• Formulas will not be imported. The main reason is that Airtable's formula structure is not compatible with Retable's formula structure. However, you can easily create similar formulas using Retable's formula column.
• Look-up columns and table references will not be imported. Our import from Airtable feature, which is still in beta, only supports table import, but the lookup and reference columns establish a connection between different tables. For this reason, they cannot be migrated yet. However, in future developments, it will be possible to import an entire Airtable base into Retable as a project. This is a feature we are currently working on.
• Rich text formatting may come garbled.
• Filters are not imported - you'll need to apply filters after importing.
• Buttons are stored as links. However, you can show links as buttons thanks to the "show as button" feature in Retable's URL column.

Frequently asked questions about import from Airtable to Retable

Check out the frequently asked questions about importing data from Airtable to Retable!

What happens to formulas when importing data from Airtable to Retable?

Since the techniques Retable and Airtable use for formulation are different, after importing your data from Airtable to Retable, you need to re-optimize your formula columns with Retable's formulation format. For this, you can get help from Retable's formulation document.

What happens to references, lookups and rollups when importing data from Airtable to Retable?

Reference and lookup column types use the unique IDs of the relevant tables when building connections between tables. In addition to the table IDs, the column IDs also play a major role in ensuring these connections. When you import your data from Airtable to Retable, you need to re-establish your reference and lookup connections because the table and column IDs used in these connections change. After importing all the tables in your Airtable base into Retable, it is simple to set up your reference and lookup connections. You can take a look at our documentation to get more information on this subject.

Retable currently supports only the import of Airtable tables, which means that the "Link to another record" field in Airtable cannot be imported into Retable. This is because the "Link to another record" field builds connections between tables, requiring the import of the entire Airtable base to maintain these connections. Our "Import from Airtable" feature, currently in beta, does not support the import of entire bases, but we are actively working on expanding this capability.

Can I also transfer my automations when importing data from Airtable to Retable?

Airtable automations can not be exported from Airtable's API. However, you can create these automations in Retable easily.