# Columns and their types

**Category:** [Data Tables](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/data-tables)
**Updated:** 2026-10-04

## The types

Text, long text, number, date, checkbox, single select, multi select, URL, email, workspace user, and attachment.

The type is not decoration: it decides how a column sorts, what its filter looks like, and whether the values can be totalled in Excel after export.
## Changing a column's type

You are shown what it would cost before it happens: how many values will not survive the change, and examples of them. Values that cannot be converted are cleared — and kept in **History**, so the change can be undone with the values intact.
## Deleting a column

The column and all of its values go together. This is the change people undo most often, so the values are held for undo along with the column itself.
## What is deliberately missing

There are no formulas, no linked records and no rollups. Data Tables is a place to keep a list, not a spreadsheet engine or a relational database.

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## Related Articles

- [Archiving and deleting a table](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-archive)
- [Exporting a table](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-export)
- [History and undo](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-history)
- [Getting started with Data Tables](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-getting-started)
- [Working in the grid](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/data-tables-grid)

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