Field Types & Configuration

Every field in an Obvious sheet has a type that controls what kind of data it accepts and how that data displays. This reference covers every available field type, what you can customize, and when to use it.

How fields work

Each column in a sheet is a field. When you add or edit a field, you choose a type, give it a name, and adjust any settings specific to that type. To add a field, click the + at the end of your column headers. To edit an existing field, right-click the column header and select Edit field.

Field types determine what a column accepts (a Number field rejects text), how values display (a Currency field shows dollar signs), and how you interact with them (a Select field shows a dropdown).

Text

Short-form content — names, titles, IDs, descriptions.

Accepts any characters. No setup needed. Can be marked as required or unique.

Use when: You need freeform text input — names, labels, short descriptions, identifiers.

Number

Quantities, scores, counts, and other numeric values. Accepts integers and decimals.

You can set min/max limits through validation rules. To display numbers as currency or percent, right-click the column header and select Format — you'll find options for decimal places, currency codes, and percent mode.

Use when: You're tracking quantities, scores, or any numeric value.

Currency

A field for money. Displays a currency symbol and decimal places automatically.

Choose your currency (defaults to USD). Obvious supports 12 currencies: USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, AUD, CHF, CNY, INR, MXN, BRL, KRW. Two decimal places show by default — to change that, right-click the column header and select Format.

Currency and Number fields are compatible — you can switch between them without losing data.

Use when: Revenue, costs, prices, budgets, or any financial data.

Checkbox

A simple on/off toggle. No setup needed.

Use when: Binary states — done/not done, active/inactive, approved/pending.

Date

A date picker, optionally with time.

You can turn on Include time to capture both date and time in a single field.

Use when: Deadlines, due dates, created/updated timestamps, event dates.

Date Range

Like Date, but designed for filtering records by time periods — before, after, or between specific dates. Also supports optional time.

Use when: Reporting windows, fiscal periods, or "valid from/to" ranges where you need to filter by a span of time rather than a single date.

Select

A dropdown of options you define, each with its own color. Available colors: gray, orange, yellow, red, plum, pink, violet, blue, teal, green.

By default, Select allows one value per cell. To allow multiple values, enable multi-select in the field settings.

Color-coded options are easy to scan in both sheet and Board (Kanban) views.

Use when: Status fields, categories, tags, priority levels — any field where values come from a known set.

Email

Accepts email addresses and validates the format automatically. No setup needed. Can be marked as required or unique.

Values display as clickable links.

Use when: Contact emails, user emails, notification addresses.

Phone

Stores phone numbers as entered — no automatic formatting or country code changes. No setup needed.

Use when: Contact numbers, support lines, mobile numbers.

URL

Accepts web addresses and validates the format automatically. No setup needed. Can be marked as required or unique.

Values display as clickable links that open in a new tab.

Use when: Website links, document links, social profiles.

Rating

A visual star rating from 0 to 5. Click a star to set the value. Click the same star again to clear it.

Rating and Number fields are compatible — you can switch between them without losing data.

Use when: Satisfaction scores, priority rankings, quality assessments — anywhere a quick visual score is more useful than a raw number.

Person

Assign workspace members to a record. The field shows a searchable dropdown of people in your workspace — pick by name, not by typing.

You can allow multiple people per cell for shared ownership.

Use when: Task ownership, reviewers, assigned team members.

Reference

Link records in one sheet to records in another sheet within the same workbook. When you set up a Reference field, you choose:

Source sheet — The sheet whose records you're linking to.
Display field — Which field from the source sheet shows in the cell (for example, a "Name" column).
Lookup field — Which field to match on when linking.
Allow multiple — Whether a single cell can link to more than one record.
Create reverse field — Adds a matching Reference field in the target sheet that links back automatically. Edit either side, and the other updates.

Use when: You need relationships between sheets — tasks to projects, contacts to companies, line items to orders.

Reference Lookup

Automatically pulls values from referenced records into your sheet. This field type is created automatically when you set up a Reference field — you won't find it in the field type picker.

Managed through the parent Reference field's settings.

Use when: You've set up a Reference and want related data to appear without duplicating it.

AI-Powered Fields

The field type picker includes three AI-powered options:

Smart Fill — Generates values using AI based on other fields in the row.
Web Search — Looks up information on the web for each row.
Translate — Translates text from one language to another.

AI fields run when you add them and can be re-run on demand.

Shared settings

These are available across most field types:

Setting	What it does
Required	Flags records with an empty value in this field
Unique	Flags records with duplicate values in this field
Description	Adds a tooltip visible when hovering the column header

Set these through validation rules or in the field editor panel.

Your First Workbook — Step-by-step guide to adding fields and importing data.
Validations — Set rules that flag bad data automatically based on field type.
Formulas — Add calculated fields and cross-sheet references.