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Trying to get JotForm to update AirTable records

  • March 17, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 20 views

I am trying to do something that should be very simple. I have an AirTable with 172 records with names, email addresses, etc. I would like to populate those records with the results of a JotForm survey I plan to email out to those 172 people. I have created a “Zap” that goes 1. Jotform: New Submission → 2. AirTable: Find Record → 3. AirTable: Update Record.

All stages are testing correctly. I search on the field “email” in step 2 and use the ID it returns in step 3 to uniquely identify the record. I select a field from the JotForm (say, “emergency contact”) that I would like to be added to the appropriate field in the existing entry for that email address.

Whatever I do, it creates a new mostly-empty record with”email” and “emergency contact” populated and does not add the emergency contact to the existing record. This should be impossible; I do not have “Create record” selected anywhere, only “Update record". Clearly I am overlooking something but I have no idea what.

Best answer by Troy Tessalone

Hi ​@jere7my 

In Airtable, view record details, then review the Activity Log to see when/how the record was created for clues to troubleshoot.

 

Check your Airtable Automations do NOT have an Automation that is creating the record.


 

Check your Jotform does NOT have an incomplete native integration with Airtable that could be creating the ghost record.

 

Check your Zap Run history to see if there is another Zap configured incorrectly that is creating the Airtable record.

You can search by the internal Airtable Record ID, which is unique.

You can add an Airtable Formula field to expose the Airtable Record ID.

 

For us to have more info, post screenshots showing how your Zap steps are outlined and configured in the CONFIGURE tab, while in EDIT mode with the field mappings visible.

3 replies

Sparsh from Automation Jinn
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Hey ​@jere7my,

Please post screenshots of Data In, Data Out as well as how each Zap step is configured for us to have more context.

One probable cause could be it’s not finding the email correctly. Try adding a Formatter action to trim the whitespace from the email.

Hope it helps!

PS: If you need more active help, I’m happy to connect through my Zapier Solution Partner page if you’d like to reach out here- https://zapier.com/partnerdirectory/automation-jinn


Troy Tessalone
Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
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  • Zapier Orchestrator & Solution Partner
  • Answer
  • March 17, 2026

Hi ​@jere7my 

In Airtable, view record details, then review the Activity Log to see when/how the record was created for clues to troubleshoot.

 

Check your Airtable Automations do NOT have an Automation that is creating the record.


 

Check your Jotform does NOT have an incomplete native integration with Airtable that could be creating the ghost record.

 

Check your Zap Run history to see if there is another Zap configured incorrectly that is creating the Airtable record.

You can search by the internal Airtable Record ID, which is unique.

You can add an Airtable Formula field to expose the Airtable Record ID.

 

For us to have more info, post screenshots showing how your Zap steps are outlined and configured in the CONFIGURE tab, while in EDIT mode with the field mappings visible.


  • Author
  • New
  • March 17, 2026

Check your Jotform does NOT have an incomplete native integration with Airtable that could be creating the ghost record.

 

 

I realized last night that this was exactly it—the Jotform had a rump Airtable integration that was creating a new record in Airtable, and the Zap was then “updating” that new record, so nothing I was changing in Zapier had any effect at all (apart from occasionally breaking). It seems like this should be something the Airtable integration can handle natively, but it’s all working now. Thank you!