Sometimes we want our columns to work for us a bit. Default values allow us to pre-determine column values for new rows. Maybe you’re creating a to-do list and you’d like for the Status column of every new row to be set to ‘Not Started’ - this would be a great time to use default values!

To set a default value for a column, right-click on the column header and select Column options. Once in the column options, scroll down to Value for new rows. Here you can select the default value you would like to use or write a formula if you’d like to have more variables or dependencies. Now each time a new row is added, the column value of the new row will be pre-filled with the default value.

In the case of the to-do list mentioned above, maybe our Status column is a Select list. When we click right click on the column header then select Column options, we can scroll down to Value for new rows, and then select which status we want new rows to default to. We would select ‘Not Started’. Any new rows will have their status set as ‘Not started’.

You can also use a formula to set the default column value. For instance, if you had a Due Date column and you wanted any new row added to the table's Due Date column to be 7 days after the row was added, you would use a formula.

To do so, visit the Column Options (in this instance the option would read Date Options). Click the f to the right of Value for new rows. The formula builder will open, in the formula builder use the formula: thisRow.Created()+Days(7). Any new row added to the table will have the date that is 7 days after the row was created in the Due Date column.

Need to push your due date back? No problem! A fundamental difference between a column formula and default value formula is that a value determined by a default value formula can be changed. A column formula is determining the values for the column at all times, and can only be changed by changing the formula or the components of the formula.