Connect information across Solutions to share data and streamline saved views or tasks with our unique and customizable displays.

Linked Record fields connect Tables within and across other Solutions, allowing processes to flow seamlessly while maintaining single sources of information. Any time you link two records together, you’ll see that the association is mirrored in the other record. These reciprocal links allow you to see related information without duplicating it.

For example, you can track the contacts associated with an account, the clients associated to projects, and the venues connected to your upcoming events.

Field Limit Note:

The limit for complex field types in Tables vary based on plan type & include:

Understand how your data components connect. For instance:

Before building relationships between your records, take time to analyze how the components of your data interact. Start by considering:

It’s helpful to sketch out the relationships in your workflow before creating tables. For simple workflows—like a table with tasks, status fields, and basic data types—you might not need Linked Records. These independent processes can often be managed within a single table using text, select, due date, and checklist fields.

However, for more complex workflows where data relationships span multiple tables, Linked Records are essential. They enable you to:

You will be prompted to select the Table you wish to link.

To add a Linked Record from record view, simply select the "Link to a record from.." (after making your selection of what Table to choose items from).

You will be prompted to select the Table you wish to link to.

To add a Linked Record value from Grid View, click on the cell and a "+" sign will display. Click the plus sign and a window for selection will display.

When creating a new Linked Record field, you'll be able to:

Note: Once a link is established and records are connected between Tables, you will not be able to modify the linked record. Solution Managers can delete the field, which will break the links and replace data as a Text Field in the linked Tables.

Indicate whether you want to allow linking to multiple records and if you want to require an entry in this field.

The Linked Record field provides a few display formats including Compact, Simplified, Standard, Expanded, and Table.

Set the fields to display in the Linked Record field section within a Table for every format besides Standard. This can provide a visual way to see important data at a glance in Record view. Also, set the order in which they are displayed.

When creating a Linked Record field, it’s important to consider the cardinality of the relationship between tables—whether it’s one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many. By default, Linked Record fields allow linking to multiple records, but this can be toggled off for more specific workflows.

If the table you are linking to contains a Files & Images field (or a lookup to a Files and Images field), you have the option of specifying a Cover Image when configuring your fields to display.

Your linked records will now show a cover image when displayed, like this:

Solution Owners can Sort and Filter linked records using any field in the linked Table. For instance, it may be helpful to show the most recently created (First Created) record in the Bugs & Issues table so users can find the newest items to work on.

Filters are handy as well. Set filters to only show Opportunities in an open stage, or show records in an Initiative tracking table for the current year.
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You can even, for example, set a filter on your Customers linked record that will only show customers associated with your previously selected Account linked record.

Just like in the linked record field itself, record pickers can be configured to display a cover image. Just follow these simple steps:

With the Files and Images field selected, your configuration will be applied immediately and cover images will display to the left of the record listing.

SmartSuite’s flexibility allows linking records between solutions, enabling multi-departmental workflows. For example:

SmartSuite ensures that permissions are respected across linked solutions:

These permissions safeguard sensitive data while maintaining seamless workflows.

When creating linkages across Solutions, Solution level permissions are applied in the Linked Record field. We also enforce permissions if the user does not have access to the linked content.

If a user has no access to the underlying table in a Linked Record Field, the field will display titles of the linked records but they will not be clickable.

Note: Users who have Assignee+ permission to the linked Table will see any records that they are currently assigned to, and they will additionally have the option to create a new record via the Linked Record selection modal.

With this powerful capability, you can customize how you access data through linked records in incredibly granular ways, enhancing your data management and efficiency.

Let's say we are in a Solution and have 3 Tables: Accounts, Contacts, and Opportunities. When creating a new Opportunity, you want to ensure that only the Contacts a part of an Account will display when you are making the selection (after linking the Account).

In this example, we'll show you how to filter contacts based on the company they are associated with, ensuring that you only work with relevant contacts for a specific company.
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When mapping automations to Linked Record fields:

Printed Linked Records now reflect the selected display format. For instance:

If you have selected one of the other display formats, they will display as they would in the Open record view.

The Sub Items field often competes for use with Linked Record fields. Should you build a connection between two Tables with a Linked Record field? Or should you use a Sub Items field to log multiple related items?

Note: Use Sub Items for simplicity but use a table when you want the full functionality for use in reporting, data management, and automations. The Table Display for Linked Records will have a similar display to Sub-Items. Try it out!

Scenario: HR manages employee data (e.g., roles, contact info, certifications), but multiple departments (IT, Finance) need access to subsets of this data for their workflows.

Solution: Use a central "Employee Records" table linked to department-specific tables. For example:

Scenario: A company’s marketing, design, and product teams collaborate on launching new products. Each team tracks specific tasks in separate tables.

Solution: Link all task tables to a central "Project Overview" table. For example:

Scenario: A salesperson filters opportunities by account to focus efforts. Solution: Apply dynamic filters to display relevant opportunities linked to the selected account.

Connecting your solutions via Linked Records is the best way to ensure everything is working off the same set of information without the need for duplication! It gives you the ability to have your "single source of truth" that can then be referenced in any other necessary process.

Linked Record relationships open a massive opportunity to push and pull data into other Tables using calculated field types such as Formulas, Lookup, Rollup, and Count.

Any field in the linked Table records can be used in related calculations. For more info, click the links to the specific field types above or take a look at these articles: