BDS0.1
ENPT

Sync

What a synced table keeps and loses: the Business plan limits, links, removed records, chains and two-way sync.

Reviewed 2026-11-05Markdown

A base reads a view of another base as a synced table. The synced table is read only, except through two-way sync.

Terms

Term Meaning
Source base, source view The base that publishes, and the view in it that is shared for sync.
Destination base The base that reads the view. It receives a synced table.
Synced table The copy of the source view inside the destination. In our systems, a mirror.
Sync source One connection from a synced table to one source view. A table with one source has one sync source.
Multi-source sync One synced table that reads several source views and stacks their records in one table.
Two-way sync A synced table whose edits go back to the source, when the source allows edits.
Base-to-base sync The source is an Airtable base.
Integrated source The source is an external tool, such as Jira or Google Calendar.
Sync read One read of the source base by a synced table to refresh its records.

Limits

Limit Business
Synced tables per base 20
Sync sources per base 50
Sync sources per table (multi-source) 20
Views with sync enabled per source base 100
Schema of a source view (fields, configuration and view settings) 2 MB
Sync reads per minute per source base 400
Two-way sync, cells per source view 200,000
Records per integrated source (Jira, Google Calendar and similar) 10,000
Base-to-base sync frequency real time
Integration sync frequency every 5 minutes at most

Each source view can have many destinations. The 10,000 record limit does not apply to base-to-base sync.

A linked record field stays a link only if the target table is also synced into the same base. Otherwise it arrives as single-line text. A synced link connects to one foreign table. Airtable chooses that table.

The target must be the same source table. A link that already points at a mirror in the source base arrives as text and cannot be turned back into a link. Example: Project Management mirrors Product from Products & Services, and the Tags column of Product points at the Tags mirror inside Products & Services, not at the Tags mirror that Project Management reads from Core. That column stays text. Links between tables mirrored from the same base, such as People, Membership and Organizations from Core, can be turned back into links. Observed by Pedro Ferreira on 2026-11-05; no official article covers this case.

A formula, lookup or rollup syncs as its result type. A lookup arrives as text.

Columns added to a synced table in the destination are local. Lookups, formulas and link fields on a synced table never reach the source.

A synced field cannot be renamed in the destination. The primary field of a synced table cannot be changed after the sync is created.

Multi-source sync does not carry linked record fields. Dynamic filtering is not inherited from the source. Records filtered out of the source view expose only partial information.

Removed records

A record leaves the sync when it is deleted in the source or filtered out of the source view. The destination then deletes it or keeps it as unavailable. The choice is a sync setting. Links to a removed record are cleared. The previous value is not kept. Dependent lookups and rollups go blank.

Airtable does not document whether a record that returns to the view is matched to its old row.

The record ID of a synced row is different in each base. The record ID does not identify a record across bases.

Chains

A destination can be the source of another one-way sync. Each hop flattens computed fields and turns lookups into text.

Two-way syncs cannot be chained or side-chained.

Two-way sync

Edits in the destination cannot be made through the API. An automation action that edits a synced field cannot be followed by another action. Edits appear in the activity log as “Table Sync”. No conflict policy is documented.

In a multi-source table, a field is editable only if it is mapped in every source.

Ownership

A sync belongs to the collaborator who configured it. If Airtable removes that person from the destination base, the sync breaks.

A new password or domain restriction on a shared view stops its syncs. The syncs must be configured again.

Configuring the sync of linked tables needs Editor or higher in the source base.

Automatic sync stops on bases without recent activity. The destination needs regular activity, such as an automation or an API update, to keep syncing.

Sources