A Single Select field holds one answer from a list you define. Think of a form with a row of round buttons where only one can be filled in.

Here is the test: can a record have only one of these at a time? If yes, you want a Single Select field. If a record could need several, use a Multiple Select field.

Example: a Vendors table with a field called Vendor Tier. Every vendor is Tier 1, Tier 2 or Tier 3, never two at once. The tier decides how deep the assessment goes, so the whole program reads it.

The Vendor Tier field in a vendor record, with Tier 1 selected as a colored pill.

The field settings panel opens. It has four tabs: Settings, AI Field Agent, Defaults and Help Text. The rest of this article takes them in that order. Add Field stays disabled until at least one choice has a name. Save at any point with Add Field (or Update Field on a field that already exists) and come back to the other tabs later.

The field settings panel, Settings tab, with the four tabs across the top.

The Settings tab holds the list of choices and the rules around it. Top to bottom: Display Format, Choices, Display Type and Options.

How the selected choice looks in a record and in views.

Use Colored Pill when the color carries meaning, such as a warm color for Tier 1. Use Icon with Text for stages that progress, where a symbol reads faster than a word. Use Text Only in a table with many Single Select fields, so the grid stays calm.

Choices are the answers people can pick.

A choice name can hold up to 400 characters. Keep names short; a description (see Manage List below) carries the detail.

The order you set here is the order people see in the dropdown, the order of the groups when you group a view by this field, and the sort order. For Vendor Tier, that is Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3.

The Choices section with the three tiers, their colors, the drag handle and the A to Z sort icon.

The expand icon next to Choices opens Manage List. It shows the same choices with three extra options on the right.

Include Choice Descriptions. Adds a short line under each choice, up to 400 characters. People see it when they pick, so use it where a name alone could be misread. Under Tier 1: "Holds customer, health or payment data, or is critical to operations."

Include Value. Gives each choice a whole number. A Value column appears with 1 in every row; change the numbers to whatever each choice is worth. Decimals and negatives are not accepted. The number is invisible to the person filling in a record; it is there for formulas. Vendor Tier uses 3 for Tier 1, 2 for Tier 2 and 1 for Tier 3, so a risk score can weight the tier. The formula is under Formulas, below.

Predefined Lists. Fills the choices from a ready-made list in one click: countries, states, continents, months, days of the week, time zones, task statuses, project phases and more. Pick a list, check the preview and select Import List; the imported choices can be edited afterward. Use it when the list already exists in the world; type your own when it is specific to your work.

Select Save Choices to return to the panel.

How people pick in a record.

Three switches, all off to start. Each one is a rule for the people who fill in records.

Require an entry in this field. The field shows a REQUIRED label, and a record cannot be saved until a choice is picked. The message reads "{field name} is required". Turn it on when a blank means something is missing. A vendor with no tier is a vendor nobody has assessed.

Allow users to create new choices. People filling in a record see + Add New in the list and can add a choice on the spot. The new choice joins the field's list at once, above Other, for every record. A choice added from a record gets the color the person picks; a choice added another way, such as an import or an automation, gets a color assigned automatically. Keep it off for Vendor Tier, where Security owns the three tiers.

Enable "Other" option. An Other choice appears at the bottom of the list. When a person picks it, a box "Describe why you chose 'Other'" appears under the field; the description is optional. Use it when the list cannot cover every case without growing forever. Review the Other entries now and then; when the same reason keeps appearing, add it as a real choice.

Off by default. The field works fully without it. Turn it on to let SmartSuite AI pick the choice from instructions you write.

An instruction must include at least one field from the record, inserted as a chip from the blue + picker, so the agent reads that field's value. Example for Vendor Tier, with the Vendor Description and Data Types Accessed fields inserted as chips (shown here in bold). The instruction reads: "Read Vendor Description and Data Types Accessed and pick one tier. Tier 1 when the vendor holds customer, health or payment data or is critical to operations. Tier 2 when it holds internal data or supports a key process. Tier 3 otherwise. Pick exactly one choice from this field." The agent maps its answer to the field's choices, and the choice descriptions and values are sent with the prompt. A person still reviews what the agent picked. The AI Field Agent article covers connections and instructions in full.

The AI Field Agent tab turned on, with a connection, the instruction for Vendor Tier showing the Vendor Description and Data Types Accessed chips, and Run Automatically.

Default Value picks the choice every new record starts with. The dropdown reads No Default Value until you open it, search and pick one choice.

Use a default for the choice that is almost always right, so the field is never empty and people only change the exceptions. Vendor Tier defaults to Tier 3, the lowest, so a vendor is never treated as low risk by accident for long: the assessment moves it up.

A note for the person filling in the record, up to 800 characters. Help Text Appearance shows it As A Tooltip (the default, behind an info icon next to the field name) or Below The Field Name (always visible).

Write it for someone who has never seen the field. For Vendor Tier: "Pick the tier from the assessment. Not sure? Choose the higher tier and add a comment."

Two kinds of permissions apply to this field.

Field Permissions. Every field can carry its own permissions, which control who can see the field and who can edit it. Open the column menu and select Edit Field Permissions. Let Security set Vendor Tier while everyone else reads it. See Field Permissions.

Dynamic Record Permissions. The choices in a Single Select field can drive record-level rules: who can see or edit a record based on the value it holds. A rule such as "records where Vendor Tier is Tier 1 are editable only by the Security team" uses the field's choices as the condition. Every field type except Button can drive a rule. See Dynamic Record Permissions.

Once records are filled in, the field answers questions across the table. In a record, open the dropdown, search or scroll, and pick a choice; with Radio Buttons, select one. In Grid View, a selected cell reads "Type or select value"; the chevron opens the same dropdown, and the x on the pill clears the choice.

The operators are is, is not, is any of, is none of, is empty and is not empty. "Vendor Tier is Tier 1" lists every vendor due a full assessment. "Is empty" lists the vendors nobody has assessed.

Group a view by the field and each choice becomes a group, in the order of the choices. A record appears in one group only. Group vendors by Vendor Tier and the Tier 1 group shows every critical vendor, with a count.

Sort First → Last or Last → First from the column menu. The order follows the choices, so the order you set under Choices is the order records sort in.

The group count in a view, or a Count field through a link, tells you how many records hold a choice. The values also work in Auto-Generated Titles, Lookup fields, in the filters of Count, Rollup and Lookup fields, and in Dashboard charts, such as vendors by tier.

With Include Value on, a Formula field can read the number behind the selected choice. Put this formula in a field called Tier Weight:

It returns 3, 2 or 1, and 0 when nothing or Other is selected. A Single Select holds one choice, so the result is one number and no SUM is needed. A second formula folds it into a score by multiplying: [Tier Weight] * [Inherent Risk Score].

Without Include Value, formulas still read the field as text, for example IF([Vendor Tier] = "Tier 1", "Full assessment", "Questionnaire"). See Formula Examples.

An automation can start when the field changes, such as Vendor Tier changing to Tier 1, which can open the full assessment. An action can also set the field. See Automation Actions explained.

A Single Select field can be placed on a form, so a respondent picks one choice. The choice colors and icons do not carry over to the form; the respondent sees the choice names. See Form View.

Add a choice. Open Modify Field Settings, add the choice under Choices (and its value in Manage List if the field uses values), then Update Field. Existing records keep what they have.

Rename a choice. Edit the name under Choices and select Update Field. Every record that held the old name shows the new one.

Remove a choice. Hover over the choice, select -, then Update Field. The removal is not blocked; every record that held the choice is left empty.

Load a long list. Paste the values into a Multiple Select field first, separated by commas, semicolons or pipes, then convert that field to Single Select. Predefined Lists in Manage List covers the common lists.

Change the field type. The dropdown at the top of the panel turns a Single Select field into Multiple Select, or back, without rebuilding it. See Changing a Field's Type.

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Last verified 1 Nov 2026.