Jotform Tables: Essentials and features

Jotform Tables automatically turns the information collected from your online forms into a project management and automation workspace.

Here, you can use your data to perform complex calculations, track the progress of tasks, create visualizations, analyze your data, collaborate with your team, and organize workflows.

With Jotform Tables, you can use submitted responses from other online forms to populate new tabs within your table. Further customize your workspace by adding new views, adding or hiding rows and columns, and searching your data for quick identification and grouping.

It seems like every month (or week) we hear about a new data breach. Now, more than ever, you need to protect your data and your customers’ data.

So while most workspaces can be shared with anyone through email invitation or link, Jotform Tables has safeguards in place that let you

• Monitor who has access to your data
• Determine what those with access can do with your data
• Control how long they have access to your data

With all of these features built in, Jotform Tables is redefining how teams collaborate and how projects are managed, ultimately helping your organization be more productive.

Let’s jump in to discover why Jotform Tables should be the foundation of your new project management workspace.

How does Jotform Tables work?

Whenever someone completes your form, their submission automatically populates your associated Jotform Tables workspace. Using the features within Tables, you can turn that data into polished PDFs, build professional reports, assign tasks to other stakeholders, email customers who filled out your forms, and more.

Action Buttons even allow you to instantly send your data to your chosen third-party software solution thanks to Jotform’s built-in integrations.

You and other stakeholders with access to your tables are able to create new columns and enter information directly without altering the original form submission data.

This helps you collect, manage, and track different data formats — from email addresses and phone numbers to customer service ratings and file attachments — in a single workspace without being bound by the limitations of a traditional spreadsheet.

You can import data from existing Excel worksheets and download your Jotform Tables data as a spreadsheet, PDF, or CSV file.

Plus, it’s easy to look up specific submissions and/or filter searches by submission date, update date, submission ID, or any other field that appears in your form or newly created column. Just use the search field at the top of the page

And don’t worry; you can type new information into your workspace without compromising the integrity of the data gathered through your online forms.

Jotform Tables, combined with our suite of complementary tools, is a central piece of a comprehensive workflow automation solution.

Your team will get work done quickly and efficiently without relying on manual data entry or other software tools.

How to access Jotform Tables

As mentioned earlier, any submission data you receive through your forms automatically creates a table behind the scenes so you can easily organize and manage your data.

That said, there are a number of users — over 200,000 in fact — who create new tables, exclusive of a form.

As a result, we’ve made it easy to access Jotform Tables however you choose to use it.

To view your Jotform Tables workspace for submitted responses from one of your online forms, go to your My Forms page. Select an existing form and click on Submissions near the top of the page.

To create a new table that isn’t connected to a form, access the My Tables page from the dropdown in the upper left hand corner.

From your My Tables page, click on the Create Table button in the top left.

From there, you can create your new table by either starting from scratch (manually enter your data), selecting one of our table templates, or importing data from a file created in another program.

Jotform Tables team sharing overview

Getting everyone on the same page is important when you’re working on projects that require a lot of team collaboration, such as apps, marketing campaigns, fundraisers, and launches.

Plus, when your collaborators are able to use the same automations you do, it increases your team’s efficiency.

Being able to collaborate with your team or stakeholders in a centralized workspace — that they can access at any given time — is a huge benefit. And being able to control what they can do within that workspace is even better.

In Jotform Tables you can share your customizable workspace and retain control over each person’s level of access.

The workspace — and the individual rows and tabs within it — is shared through a dedicated link or customizable email invitation.

To ensure a higher level of data security (and privacy), you can determine who can access your workspace, what they can do there, and when their access should be cut off.

Just click on the Share Settings link in the Share Table popup.

Users will have varying levels of access to your workspace based on the role you select for them.

Once you’ve shared your table with a stakeholder, you’ll notice that the My Tables page now gives you a bird’s-eye view of who has access to your workspace.

To learn more, check out this deep dive on how to collaborate by sharing your submission tables.

Jotform Tables feature highlights

Apart from organizing submitted form information in a table format, Jotform Tables enables you to create a customizable workspace, automate tasks, control how your data is displayed, and more.

We’ll get to everything the platform has to offer (there’s a lot!), but here’s a skimmable rundown of some additional workspace capabilities that demonstrate how you can do more with your data.

Column & row flexibility
What you can do	Add a new table automation, such as sending emails or sending your data to other apps when you add a new column. Your table can have an unlimited number of rows and columns. A column can display every type of data — from multiple selection entries to star ratings — allowing your team to enter, analyze, organize, manage, and act on the right kind of information.
Pro tip	If you’ve changed the labels and order of your table columns and rows, and want to reset a table to its original view, you can do so by resetting to the default view.
Ways to view data
What you can do	There are five different ways to view your submissions, so you can organize data, track progress, and control the look of your workspace. Cards view is great for viewing notes and full or customized details of your entries at once. Click the three-dot icon next to the appropriate tab in your sheet and select Change type from the menu to automatically see your data in a new way. Or add a new tab and use data from a form or an imported file to see that data in a view that suits you.
Pro tip	Cards and Calendar views have extra settings for additional customization, such as changing entry titles and adjusting calendar options. Additionally, Uploads view lets you view submitted files at a glance. This is particularly helpful for inspectors, photographers, HR, and others. No way we forgot Reports view. It’s so neat it has its own chapter!
Search & Filter
What you can do	Quickly find any data type by filtering searches within your table. Control what data (form or otherwise) you see and include only specific responses to certain questions. You can apply multiple filters to your searches, increasing flexibility.
Pro tip	To review data that was submitted during a certain time period (such as job applications or requests), use the date selector for the preset or customized range you need.
Action Buttons
What you can do	Send emails directly to your submitters, funnel your data directly to your third-party apps, and send PDF documents directly from your Jotform Tables workspace all with the click of a button! A little later we’ll dive deeper into how Action Buttons help you complete all of your tasks from one workspace.
Pro tip	You can use Action Buttons for each individual submission/entry or for all by selecting multiple entries and triggering their buttons at once from the row context menu (vertical ellipsis).
Prefill
What you can do	Collect data with multiple forms via the Send Form feature. Gather more consistent data through multiple forms using Prefill. Fields will be prefilled with info from previous form submissions. A little later we’ll show how the Prefill feature helps you create a better experience for your customers and increases your form conversions.
Pro tip	Prefill also supports hidden form fields. If there’s a field that you’d like to associate with your submitter in the table, but you don’t want it to be visible to the submitter, set the field to “hidden” in the form element properties within the Form Builder.
Revision History
What you can do	Avoid having your data overwritten by others who have access to your workspace. Revision History lets you view any changes, see when they were made, and identify who made them. You can also revert to a previously saved version of your table.
Pro tip	Let your respondents update their submissions by sending them the edit link to their entries from your table. See How to Request Submission Updates in Jotform Tables.
Formulas
What you can do	Automatically carry out complex calculations in a newly added column. In addition to standard rollup and lookup formulas, you can use basic mathematical functions and numeric, text, and array equations. Use the editor to create advanced formulas, identify available columns, and use the listed functions.
Pro tip	Lookup formulas are widely used to search for and match corresponding data in the same rows or columns. Try creating a lookup formula in Jotform Tables.
Templates
What you can do	Get a head start on building a workspace for your team that’s not linked to an online form. Choose from 300+ templates, such as balance sheets, timesheets, donation lists, issue or recruitment trackers, and more.
Pro tip	You can add your team’s template to our table templates gallery by sharing it with us!

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The days of relying on siloed workflows or multiple solutions to automate your workflows are over. Jotform Tables is a powerful component of an automated ecosystem that ultimately turns your data into actionable insights and allows you to organize, analyze, and share data with your team.

New Tables features and updates

Jotform Tables offers more than your typical spreadsheet.

But what does more mean?

One answer is team productivity. Spreadsheets are notoriously tough for teams to manage. Data can easily be lost as multiple people make changes, and it’s often difficult to track what’s been altered. In fact, roughly nine in 10 spreadsheets contain errors(Thorne, 2024).

With Jotform Tables, efficient collaboration and accurate data are baked in. It’s easy to share your data with teammates and just as easy to limit access for specific collaborators. Tracking changes — and reverting your table to previous iterations — couldn’t be simpler. Plus, Jotform developers consistently look for ways to boost team productivity even further. The result? Three new Tables features to do just that.

3 new team productivity features for Jotform Tables

New collaboration features for Jotform Tables increase your ability to control the data teammates can view or edit, provide greater flexibility when adding new columns to a table, and bring the Jotform Sign Audit Trail feature directly to your tables.

Let’s take a look at how to add these three new features to any one of your tables, starting with the Reset Columns option.

Reset Columns

All of Jotform’s products are connected. One prime example is Jotform’s core product — its forms — and Jotform Tables.

After all, every form submission is automatically stored in a corresponding table. By default, each form element becomes a column header in Tables. In the past, when users added custom columns, this eliminated the synchronization between form elements and column headers in the table.

No more!

The updated Reset Columns feature still reverts column names to their original configuration, but it retains the link between table and form, and safeguards the functionality of any custom columns you’ve created.

Your custom columns won’t be deleted by the Reset Columns feature.

The Reset Columns feature reorganizes your table columns to align with the connected form and moves all of your custom columns (those not connected to the associated form) to the right side of the table. This keeps custom columns separate from columns connected to your form.

To reset your columns, open the tab menu, designated by a vertical ellipsis on the active tab. Select the Reset columns to default option.

On the following screen, click the Reset to Default button. Now all of your columns will revert to their original position, the connection between form and table will be retained, and any columns you add in the future will be listed after columns that come from your form.

Lock Column and Lock Filter

Providing teammates with full edit access to your table can help move along projects. But there are times when certain data needs to be left untouched. The same can be said for filtered information that must remain viewable.

For those scenarios, Tables has you covered with the Lock Column and Lock Filter features. Together, these functions make it easy to view specific data without having to worry about it changing as teammates work in the same space.

To lock a column of data so it can’t be edited by collaborators, open the dropdown menu on the selected column and select the Lock data in column option.

After this option is selected, a padlock icon will appear at the top of the column, signaling to others that the data can’t be edited. In the example below, the project names are locked so projects won’t become mislabeled and cause confusion.

The filter function within Tables will get you precisely the data you need in seconds. Sometimes, you need that filtered data to remain untouched by collaborators. Conversely, the data you find via filter might not be as useful to collaborators as it is to you. It might be helpful if the filter was invisible to your collaborators.

To lock your filter in place on your screen and make it invisible to collaborators, click on the padlock icon in the Filter menu and then the Apply Filter button.

Download a Jotform Sign document with or without an Audit Trail

Jotform Sign automatically produces an Audit Trail for signed documents. That functionality is now accessible via Jotform Tables, helping you and your team save time.

For those scenarios, Tables has you covered with the Lock Column and Lock Filter features. Together, these functions make it easy to view specific data without having to worry about it changing as teammates work in the same space.

Just as each online form has its own table that automatically stores and organizes submissions, so do documents created with Jotform Sign. Tables containing Jotform Sign documents are listed on your My Tables page, along with tables created for online forms.

To download a PDF of your signed document, with or without an Audit Trail, while working in Tables, click on one of the icons in the Signed Document column. The green icon is a PDF of the Jotform Sign document without an Audit Trail; the blue icon is a PDF of the document with an Audit Trail.

Both download options are also available via the Download button. Select the document you want to download by marking the checkbox on the left of the table. Then click Download to view the options.

Essential collaboration features for Jotform Tables

When you work with Jotform Tables, data is clearly labeled, a stark difference from monotonous spreadsheets. Plus, there are many options for managing your data and acting on it, from sending emails with a single click to including checkboxes, star ratings, file uploads, and more. These features provide clarity regarding how your data is displayed, helping you and your team get the most from it.

For example, take a look at this sample project tracker, one of more than 300 customizable Jotform Tables templates. Color-coded labels provide vital information at a glance. An Uploads column contains multiple types of files, including PDFs, GIFs, and ZIP files. Other columns contain formulas (designated by the f(x) symbol) for automatic calculations.

Share options for your table

To initiate collaboration with Jotform Tables, click on the Share button at the top right of the screen. It will open to reveal a host of options that provide different levels of access to your table.

The Share Table popup contains two essential ways to share your table. First is the Invitation Link option. Click Create Link to automatically generate a link for your table. Below that is the Invite by Email option. Enter one or more email addresses to send invitations to collaborators.

There are three different levels of access you can assign via an invitation link: Read Only, Commenter, and Collaborator. By default, invitees are granted Read Only access. To allow them to comment on or even edit your table, open the Share Settings, located on the Share Table popup.

The Share Settings link opens the Invitation Link Default Role section. Choose from Read Only, Commenter, and Collaborator access. It’s your choice whether collaborators can view data, view data and add comments, or view and edit data.

The Public Table privacy setting is ideal for embedding your table into a website, dashboard, or kiosk to display data in real time, as access is Read Only by default.

With the Company Access setting, you can either require an organization email domain for collaborators or require collaborators to use single sign-on. (Note that single sign-on is available only with Jotform Enterprise.) Invitation link default roles for Company Access are identical to the roles for Private Access: Read Only, Commenter, and Collaborator.

At the bottom of the Privacy Settings is the Apply Limitations section. This helps you control what your collaborators can see. You can show collaborators a print or download button, or opt to hide them. Check the last box in this section to set a custom expiration date for your Share Link.

Next to the Share & Invite tab is the Embed tab. To use this feature, set your Privacy Settings to Public Table.

Click Copy Code to copy and paste the embed code into a website. Click Copy Link to copy and paste your table into Medium. Within the general embed code, there’s a height adjuster for your embedded table. A Preview button is available so you can get a glimpse of your table and see whether the height is appropriate.

Assign column entries to collaborators

Another essential Tables option is adding a column. There are a variety of versatile column options that can help you collaborate more smoothly. It’s even possible to assign projects or data to collaborators by using the Assignee feature. To get started, click the Add button on the right of your table to add a column.

Select Assignee from the Basic section of the menu. Click Next to continue.

Name your new column and then choose from a couple of options on the following screen: notifying assignees via email and allowing multiple assignees. By default, Notify via Email is active. When finished, click Create Column.

Click a data entry point in your new column to reveal an Add button. Click on your preferred collaborator, or use the search function or Invite button to invite additional collaborators.

Import Excel or CSV data to Tables

Jotform Tables stores your submission data automatically, as each form you create comes with its own table. But Tables isn’t limited to submission data. In fact, it’s easy to import Excel or CSV files into a new or existing table.

To import data into a new table, first click Create Table from the My Tables page.

On the following screen, click the Import Data option.

Next, click Upload File. All CSV, XLS, and XLSX files are supported by Jotform Tables.

After selecting a file, configure how your data will appear in your table. Choose whether the first row of your imported file will be column headers or not, and select the column type for each type of data. When finished, click Import Data.

To import data into an existing table, click the Add Tab button.

Choose Table from the provided options and then click the Next button. The rest of the process for uploading data is similar to the process for uploading data into a new Table.

On the following screen, select Import Data and then click Next. This will prompt a file upload screen. Just as before, select a CSV, XLS, or XLSX file to upload.

Confirm your file choice or click the trash can icon to select another file to upload.

Select the appropriate column types on the following screen and click Create to finalize the upload.

Go back to your table, and your file will be available via the tab at the top of screen.

Download table data as an Excel, CSV, or PDF file

Conversely, it’s easy to download table data as an Excel, CSV, or even a PDF file. Downloading attachments in your table is also an option. To get started, click the Download All button on the top right portion of the screen. This will show your available download options. For PDFs and attachments, downloads are sent to your registered email address.

To download specific entries in your table, use the checkboxes on the far left of the table and click Download to reveal the same options: Excel, CSV, PDF, and attachments.

Action Buttons: Send Email and more with one click

Jotform Tables Action Buttons add efficient one-click functionality to your database. Instantly send files and data to your favorite apps, prefilled forms to contacts, notification and autoresponder emails, and more.

To add an Action Button to a table, first add a column using the Add button to the right of the table’s existing columns.

Send Email Action Button

Go to the Buttons tab on the following screen and pick from the menu of available Action Buttons. In the example below, Send Email has been selected. Click Next to name your column before going to the following step.

Add an autoresponder or notification email with the Create an email button at the top of the following popup menu. Use the Edit button to customize the email. The More button will duplicate, rename, or delete the email. When you’re all set, click Create Column.

Now each cell in the column contains an Action Button that will send your email in one click. Once the Action Button has been used to send an email, the cell will display the time it was sent. To resend the email, open the dropdown menu for the sent email and then click the Resend button that appears.

To edit your Action Button or customize the button style, open the dropdown menu at the top of the column.

To activate multiple Action Buttons at once, use the checkboxes on the left of the table to select rows of data. Click the vertical ellipsis next to one of the checkboxes to open the context menu. Click on Buttons, and then select the action you’d like to perform. The Action Buttons will be activated simultaneously.

Send Forms with Prefill Action Button

Put data stored in your table to good use by sending prefilled forms with just one click. It’s easy to do with the Send Form Action Button.

First, use the Add button on the right side of your table to add a column. Go to the Buttons tab and select Send Form. Click Next to name your column and proceed to the following step.

On the screen that follows, select which of your online forms you’d like to send. The Prefill form fields option is switched on automatically. Match the fields that are to be prefilled, and click the Next button.

Finally, select how you’d like to send the form. This example form/table combination has email entries for each submission, so the email option shows as available in the Fields dropdown menu. The Send Form button will send the form via email addresses listed on each row of your table. You can also manually add up to three email addresses. Add an optional message if desired and then click Create Column.

The Send Form Action Button is now operational. Just like the Send Email Action Button, a time stamp appears after you click the button. Open the dropdown menu next to the time stamp to use the Resend button. Open the dropdown menu at the top of the column to edit the Action Button or customize its appearance.

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It’s easier to get more done with a cohesive team — and possessing a tool built for teamwork, like Jotform Tables, can set your organization apart.

Work cited

Thorne, S. We keep making the same mistakes with spreadsheets, despite bad consequences. Ars Technica (2024). https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/01/we-keep-making-the-same-mistakes-with-spreadsheets-despite-bad-consequences/