How to Restrict User Access by Table, Field, or Row in Airtable
You have one Airtable base for the whole team, but each person should see only the projects assigned to them. Managers can see every project, while team members should not see one another's work.
Airtable cannot hide one table from someone who has access to the base. The practical solution is to use an Interface and filter it by the person assigned to each record.
I'll use a project tracker as the example. Each project has an Assigned to user field.
Restrict which records users can see
Open the Interface page that shows your projects. In the page settings, set Filter by to Viewer's records. Airtable will use the Assigned to user field and show each signed-in person the projects assigned to their account.
If you are using the filter editor instead, add a condition where Assigned to is Current user. Publish the Interface after saving the filter.
For records that belong to a whole team, add a user group to the Assigned to field. Everyone in that group can then see the record. See how to filter an Airtable Interface using user groups for that setup.
Add the filter to every Interface page where you want this restriction. It works when the viewer signs in to Airtable. A public Interface link cannot identify the visitor, so it cannot show records based on Current user.
Give users Interface access without the base
After setting the filter, share the Interface with the people who need it. They can see their assigned projects there without opening the rest of the base.
Interface-only sharing is available on Team, Business, and Enterprise Scale plans.
Open the base's Share settings and remove the person's base access. If they received access through the workspace, remove that access there too. Then open the published Interface, click Share, and invite them with the permission they need.
They can now see the projects assigned to them without opening the other tables in the base. Next, choose whether they can edit every visible field or only specific ones.
Restrict who can edit specific fields
In the project tracker, team members can update project details, but only managers should change the Status field. Set that restriction in the base, and Airtable will apply it in the Interface too.
- Open the base and click the arrow next to the field name.
- Select Edit field permissions.
- Under Who can edit values in this field?, choose the permission level.
Field editing permissions are available on Team, Business, and Enterprise Scale plans. Team members can still see the Status field, but they cannot change its value.
If team members should not add or delete projects, open the table menu and select Edit table permissions. Choose who can create or delete records there. This does not hide the projects they can already see.
For a full explanation of workspace, base, and Interface access, see How to See and Manage User Permissions in Airtable.
Keep sensitive data in a separate base
An Interface works when you can keep the person out of the base. If they still need direct base access, keep information they should not see in a separate base. For example, keep project details in one base and salary or confidential client notes in another.
Give each group access only to the base it needs. If the teams need some of the same information, sync the non-sensitive fields between the bases.