Required/Mandatory Column
Is there a way to make cells in a particular column required/mandatory. Like no other cells can be edited until the cell in that column is populated?
Best Answer
-
Hi @ejacksonBPT
I do not believe there is functionality within the sheet to lock cells until a certain cell is populated.
Some initial workarounds I can recommend are:
1) Smartsheet Forms that have required fields and then will automatically input the data into the corresponding columns.
2) Conditional formatting that highlights the other cells red unless a particular column/cell is filled alerting users that they shouldn't fill out other information until the desired cell is filled. It serves as a warning but is still prone to human error.
3) Some combination of locked rows, columns, and automations to unlock rows. The only issue I foresee with this is that even if you unlock a row, any locked columns will still be un-editable by anyone else other than sheet owners and admins.
A quick glance through product ideas and I couldn't find exactly what you were referencing but it has been discussed on forums before. Most of the discussion surrounding mandatory information comes from Forms, Approvals, and Automations. Might not be a bad idea to submit in Product Ideas!
Best,
Dan
Answers
-
Hi @ejacksonBPT
I do not believe there is functionality within the sheet to lock cells until a certain cell is populated.
Some initial workarounds I can recommend are:
1) Smartsheet Forms that have required fields and then will automatically input the data into the corresponding columns.
2) Conditional formatting that highlights the other cells red unless a particular column/cell is filled alerting users that they shouldn't fill out other information until the desired cell is filled. It serves as a warning but is still prone to human error.
3) Some combination of locked rows, columns, and automations to unlock rows. The only issue I foresee with this is that even if you unlock a row, any locked columns will still be un-editable by anyone else other than sheet owners and admins.
A quick glance through product ideas and I couldn't find exactly what you were referencing but it has been discussed on forums before. Most of the discussion surrounding mandatory information comes from Forms, Approvals, and Automations. Might not be a bad idea to submit in Product Ideas!
Best,
Dan
Help Article Resources
Categories
- All Categories
- 14 Welcome to the Community
- Smartsheet Customer Resources
- 63.8K Get Help
- 406 Global Discussions
- 219 Industry Talk
- 457 Announcements
- 4.7K Ideas & Feature Requests
- 141 Brandfolder
- 136 Just for fun
- 57 Community Job Board
- 459 Show & Tell
- 31 Member Spotlight
- 1 SmartStories
- 297 Events
- 37 Webinars
- 7.3K Forum Archives
Check out the Formula Handbook template!