Blank rows added after a new entry is created through form, why?

Rodrigo Blotte

Why is it that it keeps occurring to me that when I get a new row of information (populated by a form) about 10 additional BLANK rows get instantly added on my main sheet? I have to keep deleting this manually and it's just adding a ton of manual work. Any explanations, solutions to this?

DKazatsky2

Hi @Rodrigo Blotte ,

Are the blank rows after the new row of data or between the old row and the new?

If the blank rows are between, it's because there was previously data in those rows and instead of deleting the row as a whole, the data was deleted from the cells, essentially leaving a blank row behind.

If the blank rows are after, what is the actual concern? These rows have no data so would not impact reporting, formulas, etc. You can see they are not really rows if you have any sort of automatic cells, like created date or auto-number, those cells are still blank.

Please explain why this is an issue and I can try to help further.

Hope this helps,

Dave

Paul Newcome

Smartsheet will always maintain a minimum of 50 rows in a sheet or 10 blank rows. If you only have 20 rows, then the sheet will go down to 50. If you have more than 50 rows such as 100, then the sheet will go down to 110.

What types of issues are these blank rows causing you?

Rodrigo Blotte

@DKazatsky2 the blank rows are between the old row and the new one, yes.

Smart Sheep

@Rodrigo Blotte, this can typically be resolved by simply adjusting your settings for this form to have new submissions appearing at the top of the sheet instead of the bottom. See below.

Paul Newcome

If they are populating between form entries, then you are not deleting the rows. You are only deleting the data out of the cells. Try deleting the rows by using the row menu (three vertical dots to the left of the row number).

Brandon Leslie

Is there not a way to eliminate unwanted rows, changing my maximum rows on a sheet? Example of just 6 rows below (it reverts back to 50 when I refresh)

Paul Newcome

@Brandon Leslie Sheets will always have at least 50 rows total (if used is under 50) or 10 rows added to the bottom. These rows are unused and should not affect anything.

Brandon Leslie

@Paul Newcome I'd like to hide the unused rows, or delete them, for a cleaner experience to the users entering entering data onto the sheet.

Paul Newcome

You can create a filter if you need to.

Cassandra Comer

I'm experiencing the same issue. The problem it is causing is that I have an automation in a master sheet that moves rows into one of two different sheets based on given criteria (which team should work a new request submission). There is no way to move rows to the top of a sheet (it has been in threads for years), so when it moves to the bottom, the new submissions are below the blank sheet rows automatically generated by Smartsheet. I know I can sort the sheet by "created" or "submission" date to move them to the top - but there is no way to do that automatically. There are 30-40 users going into each sheet several times a day, and they don't want to have to sort each time they open the sheet so they don't miss new requests added to their queue below where they can see. I can't do a cell link/data mesh vs. move/copy because for the move automation to trigger on one request type, it has to be reviewed, and the "Move to [sheet] checkbox must be selected so it isn't an automatic link. I can't do an index/match because there is nothing to match in the target sheet.

Paul Newcome

@Cassandra Comer You can create a report that will automatically sort.

Cassandra Comer

@Paul Newcome Thanks for the response, Paul! Unfortunately, the team leader had been using a sheet I set up for her before the intake form was redone to include all request types (business-wide process change). She is adamant that nothing changes the back-end user experience they have gotten used to over the last two years- which included rebuilding 45 filters that were in her old sheet. A report will not give the team access to all those filters. Nor can they add their own line items using a report.