Track How Many Times a Record Was Updated in Airtable

Let’s say you’re managing a simple Projects table in Airtable. It has fields like name, description, status, and end date. And now you want to know how many times a record has been updated, whether someone changed the name, tweaked the status, or rewrote the description.

Airtable doesn’t show an update count by default. But you can set it up with a little workaround using automations, a second table, and a few extra fields.

Let’s walk through how to do that step by step.

1. Create a “Last Modified” Field to Detect Changes

In your Projects table, create a new field called Last Modified. Set the field type to Last Modified Time.

In the settings, choose only the specific fields you want to track — for example, Name, Description, or Status. This field will automatically update with the current timestamp whenever any of those selected fields change. We'll use this timestamp later to log when each update happened.

2. Create a Change Log Table

Now, to keep track of all these updates, you’ll need a separate table. Go ahead and duplicate your Projects table (just the structure, no data). Call it Change Log.

This table will act as a history log, capturing the state of the project records, each time it’s updated.

3. Add Fields to the “Change Log” Table

Inside the Change Log table, add a field called Linked Project. Set the type to Linked Record and link it to the Projects table. This will connect each log entry to the project it belongs to.

Next, update the Last Modified field to a regular Date field. This field will store the date when something in the Projects table changes.

Finally, create a field called Change Log ID. Set the type to Formula. Use the formula:

{Linked Project} & " - " & DATETIME_FORMAT({Last Modified Snapshot}, 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss')

This will generate a unique and readable identifier for each log entry by combining the project name and the exact timestamp of the update.

4. Add a Count Field in the Projects Table

Back in the Projects table, add a new field called Update Count. Set the field type to Count, and configure it to count linked records from the Change Log table.

This field will automatically show how many times a project has been updated, based on the number of records created in the Change Log table. For example, if a project has been updated three times, Update Count will display “3”.

5. Set Up an Automation to Log Every Update

Now let’s create the automation that makes all of this work.

Start by setting the trigger. Choose the event "When a record is updated." Set the table to Projects, and select the specific fields you want to watch for changes, like Name, Description, or Status.

Next, define the action. Choose "Create a record" as the action type, and set the target table to Change Log.

In the fields to fill, link the updated project by using its record ID in the Linked Project field. Set the Last Modified to pull the value from the Last Modified field in the Projects table. You can also copy over any other fields you want to track. The Change Log ID will generate automatically using the formula you already set up.

Once everything is configured, turn the automation on. From this point forward, each time one of the tracked fields in a project is updated, a new record will be added to the Change Log table and the Update Count will increase accordingly.

How It Works

Every time a selected field in a project is updated, the automation is triggered. It creates a new entry in the Change Log table, which links back to the original project and includes the latest modification timestamp.

As more updates happen, the Update Count field in the Projects table increases, giving you a running total of how many times the record has changed.

You now also have a complete history of when and how often each project was updated.

One thing to note is that Airtable considers every edit as a change. So, if you type “Website Redesign,” each letter will trigger the automation and log multiple updates.

To avoid this, try making edits by copying and pasting the entire text in one go if you're just changing the text.

That’s it! You’ve now built a simple but effective system to track update counts in Airtable without writing a single line of code.