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How to trigger a Zap when a formula field is updated in Zapier Tables

  • July 2, 2026
  • 7 replies
  • 70 views

I have been struggling with how to do this using Zapier Tables

I want to flag when a task is past the due date, due today or due after a certain number of days.

I want to trigger a zap that changes the value in a drop down menu so it will move to a different column in the kanban form I’m building.

Originally I tried creating a zap that triggered when a record was updated and I was going to use paths based on what the formula value was. BUT none of my test runs recognized the new values. 

Please let me know if there is a better way to do this. (The AI has absolutely useless for anything other than “create these 10 fields” 

Best answer by Fahad S

Hi ​@LARPIT 

You can try this approach:

Step 1: Click the name of your formula field in your Zapier Table (the one that calculates due dates)

Step 2: Select "+ Create Zap" from the menu that appears

Step 3: A new Zap opens up with the trigger already set to watch specifically that formula field

Step 4: Now add your action to update the dropdown menu that controls your Kanban column

 

The trigger will be set up as an "Updated Record" trigger, but it'll have your formula field pre-selected in the configuration. So it's using the same trigger name, just configured differently .

Documentation:

Hope this helps you get it sorted! 

7 replies

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  • Zapier Solution Partner
  • Answer
  • July 2, 2026

Hi ​@LARPIT 

You can try this approach:

Step 1: Click the name of your formula field in your Zapier Table (the one that calculates due dates)

Step 2: Select "+ Create Zap" from the menu that appears

Step 3: A new Zap opens up with the trigger already set to watch specifically that formula field

Step 4: Now add your action to update the dropdown menu that controls your Kanban column

 

The trigger will be set up as an "Updated Record" trigger, but it'll have your formula field pre-selected in the configuration. So it's using the same trigger name, just configured differently .

Documentation:

Hope this helps you get it sorted! 


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • July 2, 2026

Hi Fahad! This was super helpful! thanks!


SamB
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • July 3, 2026

Glad Fahad was able to point you in the right direction ​@LARPIT! Thanks so much for helping out here ​@Fahad S. 🤗


  • Author
  • Beginner
  • July 3, 2026

@SamB Sometimes the Knowledgebase can overwhelm my neurospicy brain and having someone spell it out in here is way easier. (An copilot and I don’t get communicate well AT ALL.)


SamB
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • July 6, 2026

That’s so nice to hear ​@LARPIT, I’m really glad using the Community makes things easier. 🧡 Hope to see you posting around here more often! 


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  • New
  • July 23, 2026

Worth adding one thing for this specific case, since the due date logic is time based rather than edit based.

A formula that compares the due date to today only changes because the clock moved, and nothing wrote to the record when that happened. Updated Record triggers fire on a write, so a task that quietly becomes overdue at midnight will not trigger anything until someone edits that row by hand.

The reliable pattern for the overdue side is a Schedule by Zapier trigger running once a day, then a find or search step over the table filtered on the date field, then the dropdown update. Keep the formula field for display in the Kanban view, and let the scheduled Zap be the thing that actually moves the record.

Anything driven by a real edit, like a status change, works exactly as Fahad described.


SamB
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • July 24, 2026

Thanks for chiming in here ​@aiappsapi! That's an interesting approach 🤔 

@LARPIT, have you had any issues with the Zap not triggering when the formula field’s output updates?

If you have, then it might be worth switching to aiappsapi's suggested approach. Alternatively, perhaps you could set up a view where a record shows up when the due date is today (or past due) and then trigger the Zap from new records that land in that view.