How to filter Airtable records not linked or referenced in a specific column?

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1

I’m working with an Airtable and need help setting up a special view. My table has a ‘Name’ column and a ‘Partner’ column that links to other names. I want to create a view that shows:

  1. People who don’t have any partners listed
  2. People who aren’t listed as someone else’s partner

Is this possible? I’ve tried using filters, but I’m stuck on how to combine these two conditions. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Show record if:
Partner is empty
OR
Name is not in any other record's Partner field

For example, if I have:

Name    | Partner
--------|--------
Alice   | Bob
Bob     | 
Charlie | 
David   | Eve
Eve     |

I want the view to show Bob, Charlie, and Eve.

Any ideas on how to set this up? I’m not sure if Airtable can do this kind of filtering across records. Thanks for any help!

2

I’ve encountered a similar situation in my Airtable projects, and there’s a workaround that might help you achieve this view. Unfortunately, Airtable doesn’t have a built-in way to filter records based on whether they’re referenced in another field across all records.

Create a new formula field, let’s call it ‘Is Referenced’. Use this formula:

SEARCH(Name, CONCATENATE(Partner)) > 0

This will return a value greater than 0 if the name is found in any Partner field, and 0 if not. Then, set up your view filter as:

Show record if:
Partner is empty
OR
Is Referenced is 0

This should give you the desired result. The method isn’t perfect, as you’ll need to update the formula if you add new linked record fields, but it is the closest workaround I’ve found for this issue.

3

hey there, i’ve run into this before. one trick is to make a rollup field that counts how many times the name appears in Partner. then filter for Partner empty OR rollup count = 0. it’s not perfect but should work for what u need. good luck!

4

I’ve grappled with this exact problem in my Airtable projects. Here’s a nifty solution I’ve found that works well:

Create a new field called ‘Unpartnered Status’ with this formula:

IF(AND(ARRAYLEN(Partner)=0, NOT(Name)), ‘Unpartnered’, ‘Partnered’)

This checks if the Partner field is empty AND if the Name isn’t blank. Then set up your view filter:

Show record where:
Unpartnered Status is ‘Unpartnered’

This approach is clean, efficient, and doesn’t require constant updates like some other methods. It’s been a lifesaver for me in managing complex relationship data in Airtable. Give it a try and let me know if it solves your issue!