# How can I append text to an existing column value without overwriting it in Glide Actions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [May 26, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070 "2025-05-26T22:19:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mateo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/mateo/32/79814_2.png) [@Mateo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Mateo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/1 "2025-05-26T22:19:01Z")
Hi everyone! I’m trying to **add new text to a column without deleting its existing content** using the **“Set column values”** action in Glide Tables (not using Google Sheets). Here’s my situation: - I have a column (let’s say `Notas`) where I want to **append new info** , like `" - 3 new expenses added today"`. - I **don’t want to overwrite** what’s already in that column. - Unfortunately, I can’t use **custom formulas** , as the value field doesn’t allow me to insert dynamic column references. - I’m not using arrays, just plain text columns. Is there any workaround for this within **native Glide actions** or a pattern I can follow? Thanks in advance for your help! ---
**Author:** ![chanwise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@chanwise](https://community.glideapps.com/u/chanwise)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/3 "2025-05-26T23:56:47Z")
Can you use Glide AI? I would ask it to keep all the previous text and update the column with the new info. ---
**Author:** ![Mateo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/mateo/32/79814_2.png) [@Mateo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Mateo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/4 "2025-05-27T00:52:43Z")
I thought about that but glide AI is expensive and for such a simple task I would prefer another approach Is there another approach, or the only way is with glide AI? ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/5 "2025-05-27T00:54:10Z")
Can you go through what the actual use case here is for? Is there an alternative where you can use a data structure to help instead? How are you entering the “- 3 new expenses added today” part to the app? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Murphy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/darren_murphy/32/47326_2.png) [@Darren\_Murphy](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Darren_Murphy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/6 "2025-05-27T01:18:46Z")
> [@Mateo](#): > > Is there another approach, or the only way is with glide AI? There are several approaches, and using AI is probably the last option I would turn to. The simplest option would be to use a standard edit form. The existing text will be shown in a Text Entry component, and the user can simply append to it and submit. If for some reason you prefer not to do that, then you can use a simple custom form. - Capture the text to be appended in a User Specific Text column - Use a Template column to append the entered text to the original - Use a Set Column Values to overwrite the value in the original column with the Template value. ---
**Author:** ![Mateo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/mateo/32/79814_2.png) [@Mateo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Mateo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/7 "2025-05-27T21:38:01Z")
**Hi everyone, thank you for your responses. I’m going to provide more context so the use case is clearer:** In my company, our employees upload purchase receipts, and then our operations team reviews and approves them for reimbursement. Sometimes, the operations team needs to **add specific notes** to these receipts for future reference. For example: - An employee submits a receipt for 50 gloves. The operations team might add a note like: _“Employee X purchased 50 gloves on Thursday, May 27. No additional glove purchases will be approved until July 1.”_ - A few days later, the same employee submits another receipt, this time for 3 Clorox bottles. The team then needs to add another note like: _“Employee X purchased 3 Clorox bottles on May 30. No further Clorox purchases should be made until August 1.”_ The key point here is that **both notes need to coexist** in the same column, since the operations team needs to consider the full context when reviewing future purchases. The problem is that using the **“Set column values”** action **overwrites** the existing value, rather than appending the new note to it. I need to concatenate the current value with the new one, **and i need to be able to delete or edit this notes after.** This is why suggestions like using the **standard edit form** are not helpful for this use case — the note is tied to a **specific receipt and a specific employee** , and it wouldn’t make sense for the note to appear globally or across unrelated records. Is there any way to **append (add) text to an existing column value without deleting it**, using only **Glide Tables and native actions**? Thanks in advance for your help! pd: ill try your second approach @Darren_Murphy but let me know if with the full use case context you have another idea or approach 😀 ---
**Author:** ![ThinhDinh](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/thinhdinh/32/49_2.png) [@ThinhDinh](https://community.glideapps.com/u/ThinhDinh)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/8 "2025-05-27T23:32:59Z")
Is there any reason you can’t have a relation + joined list column for this, assuming you can relate to multiple receipts? If that doesn’t work, the template thing Darren suggested will be your best approach. ---
**Author:** ![MattLB](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/mattlb/32/41284_2.png) [@MattLB](https://community.glideapps.com/u/MattLB)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 12:07am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/9 "2025-05-28T00:07:19Z")
How many notes can be realistically attached to a receipt? A couple, a dozen, a hundred? To save rows you could have note 1, note 2, note 3 note 4 in the receipt object up to a reasonable number. When displaying, use a template to concatenate notes. Now you can mark a note deleted, so it won’t show up (using ITE). It adds many extra columns so it wouldn’t scale beyond a limited number of notes. This wouldn’t be feasible with hundreds of notes but would be for a handful or a dozen notes. Also, their is the the trebuchet method (@Robert_Petitto) for ‘flinging’ notes into a single column using multiple file column type but that might be overkill. ---
**Author:** ![Pratik\_Shah](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/pratik_shah/32/12416_2.png) [@Pratik\_Shah](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Pratik_Shah)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/10 "2025-05-28T02:38:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Murphy](#): > > - Capture the text to be appended in a User Specific Text column > - Use a Template column to append the entered text to the original > - Use a Set Column Values to overwrite the value in the original column with the Template value. @Mateo This is exactly how we do it in our apps especially while adding Notes or Comments. Additionally we also put User Name and Time when it is added. [Watch Video](https://komododecks.com/recordings/SRvnoFxrhmTeaPWA3vi2) [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/6/c/6c3994adf38b2ea10316ff984fdebd79674bdde0.gif)](https://komododecks.com/recordings/SRvnoFxrhmTeaPWA3vi2) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/system/32/53398_2.png) [@system](https://community.glideapps.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:39am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-can-i-append-text-to-an-existing-column-value-without-overwriting-it-in-glide-actions/82070/11 "2025-06-04T02:39:38Z")
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