A Link field holds a web address. Think of a bookmark saved on the record, ready to open in one click.
Here is the test: is the answer a web page? If yes, you want a Link field. For an email address, use an Email field. For a company's social profile, use a Social Network field.
Example: a Vendors table with a field called Trust Center URL. Each vendor's trust center page sits on its record. The security reviewer opens the SOC 2 report and the subprocessor list without hunting for them.
The Trust Center URL field in a vendor record, showing https://trust.example.com as a blue underlined link with the chain icon beside the label.
Plan Availability | All plan types. |
Permissions | Workspace Administrators, Solution Creators and Solution Managers can create, modify, delete and manage Link fields in their solutions. |
Platform | Web |
Related Reading |
Adding a Link Field Type
In Grid View, select the + at the right end of the column headers, or open a column menu (⋮) and select Add Field to the Right. From an open record, hover over a field and select + (Insert new field below), or select + Add new field to this Table at the bottom.
Select Link. You can type to search the list of field types.
Name the field. In this article it is Trust Center URL. A field name can hold up to 50 characters, and there is no restriction on the characters it can contain.
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. 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, Display Format, Number of Entries Allowed and the two Options switches.
Settings
The Settings tab holds how the link looks, how many a record can hold, and two rules. Top to bottom: Display Format, Number of Entries Allowed and Options.
Display Format
How the link looks in a record and in views. The dropdown shows a sample address, www.smartsuite.com, in each format.
Link only (the default): the address as it was entered.
Link with Favicon: the site's small icon beside the address.
Icon only: the site's icon in a small box, with no address. Hovering over the icon shows the full address.
Use Link only when the address itself carries meaning, such as a trust center on the vendor's own domain. Use Link with Favicon when a record holds several links, so people tell them apart by the icon.
Tip: Icon only keeps a crowded grid calm. The full address is one hover away, and one click opens it.
The Display Format dropdown open, with the three formats and their samples.
Number of Entries Allowed
Two buttons: Single (the default) and Multiple.
Single: one link per record.
Multiple: as many links as the record needs. After the first link, an Add link button appears. You can also paste several addresses separated by commas or semicolons, and each becomes its own link. The box grows as links are added.
Trust Center URL stays on Single. A vendor has one trust center. A field such as Audit Evidence Links would use Multiple.
Note: Switching from Multiple to Single keeps only the first link in each record. A warning appears first; confirm it and the other links are removed.
Options
Two switches, both off to start. Each one is a rule for the people who fill in records.
Require entries to be unique. On, two records cannot hold the same link. The message "Trust Center URL value should be unique" blocks the second one. Turn it on for Trust Center URL, because two vendors with the same trust center are one vendor entered twice.
Require an entry in this field. On, the field shows a REQUIRED label and a record cannot be saved until a link is entered. The message is "Trust Center URL is required". Leave it off for Trust Center URL, because not every vendor has a trust center. The empty values are a useful list of their own, under Filtering below.
AI Field Agent
Off by default. The field works fully without it. Turn it on to let SmartSuite AI find the link from instructions you write.
Connection: the AI credential the field uses. The field cannot be saved with the agent on until one is chosen.
Instructions: what you want the agent to do, in plain words, with at least one field from the record inserted as a variable.
Run Automatically: on, the agent runs each time the record is updated; off, it runs when you ask.
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 Trust Center URL, with the Vendor Website field inserted as a chip (shown here in bold): "Read Vendor Website and find the vendor's trust center or security page. Set this field to that page's full address. If the site has no such page, leave the field empty." A person still reviews what the agent found, because a wrong page is worse than an empty field. The AI Field Agent article covers connections and instructions in full.
The AI Field Agent tab turned on, with a connection, the instruction for Trust Center URL showing the Vendor Website chip, and Run Automatically.
Defaults
Default Value is the address every new record starts with. The box reads Enter web address until you type one.
Note: Defaults apply to new records only. Records that already exist do not change when you set or change a default.
Trust Center URL has no default. Every vendor's page is its own, so the field stays empty until someone finds it.
Help Text
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 Trust Center URL: "The vendor's public trust center or security page, starting with https://. Leave empty if the vendor has none and add a comment."
Permissions
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 edit Trust Center URL while everyone else reads it. See Field Permissions.
Dynamic Record Permissions. A Link field can also drive record-level rules: who can see or edit a record based on the value it holds. Every field type except Button can drive a rule. See Dynamic Record Permissions.
Using the field in views and records
In a record, the field is one box showing the address as a blue underlined link. Select it to open the page in a new browser tab. In Grid View, the cell shows the address as a blue link, cut short with "..." when it is long. Select the cell once to select it, double-click to edit the address, and select the link again to open it. Press Enter to save an edit.
Each entry must be a valid web address. Otherwise the message "Enter a valid URL address" appears and the record cannot be saved. Links are saved as entered; the field does not add https:// for you.
Tip: Type the full address, starting with https://, so the link opens as expected from every view.
Filtering
The operators are is, is not, contains, does not contain, is empty and is not empty. "Trust Center URL is empty" lists the vendors with no trust center on file, which is the list to chase. "Contains trust" finds the pages on a trust subdomain. Spotlight uses the same operators, and Find searches the addresses.
Grouping
Group by this Field puts one group per link, plus (Empty). Addresses rarely repeat, so grouping is most useful for the (Empty) group.
Sorting
Sort A → Z or Z → A from the column menu. The order follows the address text.
Counting and rolling up
The field works in Lookup fields, in the filters of Count, Rollup and Lookup fields, and in the fields shown on linked-record cards. A Count on a Vendor Groups table, filtered to Trust Center URL is not empty, counts the vendors in the group with a page.
Formulas
A formula reads the link as text. This one builds a label for a review checklist:
IF([Trust Center URL] = "", "No trust center", "Trust center on file")
Automations
An Update records or Create a record action can write the field, with several links when Multiple is on. See Automation Actions explained.
Forms
A Link field can be placed on a form. See Form View.
Editing a Link field
Change a link. Double-click the grid cell, or select the box in the record, edit the address and press Enter. Activity History keeps the old and the new link, and both stay clickable.
Add a second link. Open Modify Field Settings, select Multiple under Number of Entries Allowed, then Update Field. The Add link button appears after the first link.
Go back to one link. Select Single and Update Field. Only the first link in each record is kept.
Change the display format. Pick another Display Format and Update Field. The stored addresses do not change; only how they show.
Change the field type. A Link field can become a Text, Text Area or SmartDoc field only. See Changing a Field's Type.
Delete the field. Open the column menu and select Delete Field. The links go with it. Deleted fields sit in the Recycle Bin for 30 days.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the field say "Enter a valid URL address"?
Why does the field say "Enter a valid URL address"?
The entry is not shaped like a web address. Check the spelling and type the full address, starting with https://.
Can I paste several links at once?
Can I paste several links at once?
Yes, with Number of Entries Allowed set to Multiple. Separate them with commas or semicolons and each becomes its own link.
Does a link open in the same tab?
Does a link open in the same tab?
No. Every link opens in a new browser tab.
How do I see the link a record used to have?
How do I see the link a record used to have?
Open the record's Activity History. Old links are listed there and stay clickable.
Should I use a Link field or a Social Network field?
Should I use a Link field or a Social Network field?
A Link field for any web page, including a company page. A Social Network field for a person's profile on a network it supports.
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Last verified 1 Nov 2026.




