Preserve Email Format When PopulatingMulti-Contact Columns

CamiloLozada

Description:

In Smartsheet, when a Contact column (that allows multiple contacts per cell) is populated using a cell reference containing an email address, the value displayed in the target cell is automatically converted into a display name.  

Problem: This behavior causes a disparity between the input and output data when ingesting this data in a dataflow:

• The source column contains a clean email address (e.g., user@example.com).
• The target column, when allowing multiple contacts, converts this to a display name, not preserving the original email address.
• As a result, it's not possible to reliably extract or reference the actual email addresses for reporting, automation, or integrations.

Feature Request:

Please provide an option or formula that allows users to preserve and extract the official email address from Contact columns, especially when:

• The destination Contact column allows multiple values.
• The source is a single email address entered or referenced dynamically.

This would ensure data consistency and greatly improve usability in automation and reporting workflows.

Thank you for considering this improvement! Please do it ASAP and let us know.