# How do you set default values for input fields, choices, etc?

**URL:** https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-you-set-default-values-for-input-fields-choices-etc/34472
**Category:** Ask for Help
**Created:** [November 13, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-you-set-default-values-for-input-fields-choices-etc/34472 "2021-11-13T18:21:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![L.M](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/l.m/32/46371_2.png) [@L.M](https://community.glideapps.com/u/L.M)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2021, 6:21pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-you-set-default-values-for-input-fields-choices-etc/34472/1 "2021-11-13T18:21:53Z")

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Hi 🌸 Looks like it’s not that straightforward to simply set a default value  
in text field: with the user name, for instance  
in choice component: with a default choice  
Thks 🌸

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### 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: [November 13, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-you-set-default-values-for-input-fields-choices-etc/34472/2 "2021-11-13T18:34:40Z")

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Depends what it’s being used for.

For choice components that are writing to user specific columns and are used for filtering, I’ll normally have an if-then-else column:

- If user specific column is empty, then default value
- Else user specific column  
And then I’ll reference the if-then-else column as if it was the user specific column

For input components, I have my own method, but because I mostly use custom forms it probably wouldn’t be of any use to most people. So I’ll leave that one for others to answer.

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### 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: [November 13, 2021, 11:23pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/how-do-you-set-default-values-for-input-fields-choices-etc/34472/3 "2021-11-13T23:23:40Z")

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If you need that choice to drive a screen somewhere in your app, what I do to set a default value is set it in the onboarding process. At the final step before the user gets access to the main content of the app, I use a set column to set all default values needed.