Power Tables FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Power Tables.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Power Tables Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before my team can use Power Tables?
An admin must enable the app from the Apps Marketplace — it is off by default. Once enabled, every member with app access can open and search tables. No other configuration is required before creating your first table, but you may want to review the quota settings (max tables, rows, columns, and indexes) and set a default currency for money columns in the app’s Settings tab.
Who can create tables and who can only view them?
Power Tables has three tiers of access. Admins (business admins, super admins, or anyone granted the Power Tables app-admin role) can create tables, define columns, import data, manage settings, and archive tables. Contributors (users granted the Power Tables contributor role) can add and edit rows but cannot change columns, run imports, or manage settings. Everyone else with app access can open tables, filter, sort, and search — viewing is not a privileged action.
Permissions and access
Can I restrict a table so only certain people see it?
Yes. Each table has an access mode. The default — Everyone — means any member with app access can open the table. Switching to Restricted hides the table from everyone except admins and the people or groups you grant access to. Grants come in three levels: Viewer (can open the table and read rows), Contributor (can also add and edit rows), and Manager (can also change columns, settings, and the table’s sharing). Admins always have full access regardless of grants. Grants can target individual users or notification recipient groups, and they support optional expiry dates.
Why can’t an employee see a table I shared with them?
Three things to check: (1) the app itself must be enabled for the business and accessible to the user through Access Management visibility rules, (2) the table’s access mode must be Restricted with a grant for that user or a group they belong to — on an Everyone table grants are inert, and (3) the grant must not have expired. If a restricted table has no active grant for the person, Power Tables returns a “not found” response rather than a “forbidden” one.
Day-to-day
Can I change a column’s type after creating it?
No. A column’s type is fixed at creation to keep the underlying storage consistent. Add a new column with the correct type instead. Renaming a column, by contrast, is instant at any table size — it changes only the display name, not the physical storage.
What column types are available?
There are 12 types: Text, Long text, Number, Currency, Boolean (yes/no), Date, Date & time, Select (with admin-defined option lists), Email, URL, People (picks a user with the people picker), and Attachment (a file on a row — photos, signed documents). Attachment columns cannot be populated through CSV import; attach files from the row drawer after import.
How do validation rules work?
Each column can enforce rules on every write — including imports and the API. Available rules depend on the column type: Required is available on all types. Min/max bounds are available on number, currency, date, and date & time columns. Regex pattern is available on text, long text, email, and URL columns. Rules are enforced per row during imports, and rows that fail validation are skipped with an error reported against that row number.
What happens when I archive a table?
The table is hidden immediately from all surfaces — the table list, Live Boards, the API, and mobile. Any Live Boards bound to a view on it show a “source unavailable” message. You have 7 days to restore it; after that the data is permanently deleted. A warning notification is sent to the creator and admins 24 hours before the permanent deletion. Restoring an archived table counts toward your table quota, so you must have room under your limit to restore it.
Can I undo a row deletion?
Yes, for a limited time. Deleted rows (single deletes, bulk deletes, and rows cleared by a replace-mode import) are spooled in a recovery log for 30 days. An admin can restore a batch from the Deleted Rows page on each table. A restored row is re-inserted as a new row through the normal write path, so it inherits current column rules and counts against the row quota. For replace-mode imports that cleared more than 50,000 rows, the recovery log may be partial — the page discloses this.
Import and export
What file types and sizes can I import?
Power Tables accepts CSV, XLSX, and XLS files. CSV files can be up to 500 MB via the direct-upload path. Excel files (XLSX/XLS) are capped at 100 MB because the parser loads the workbook’s shared-strings table into memory. For a multipart upload (the no-JavaScript fallback), the limit is 100 MB regardless of type. If an Excel file is too large, save it as CSV instead.
How does the scheduled import work?
Each table can have one scheduled import that runs nightly, pulling a CSV or Excel file from a remote source. Two modes: Replace clears all existing rows and re-imports (the source is the system of record), and Append adds rows on each run (for accumulating logs). Sources can be a public HTTPS URL (no setup), a protected URL via a Data Feed connection configured at /admin/integrations (sends a bearer token, basic auth, or custom header), or a remote file on an SFTP server via an SFTP connection. A Run now button triggers it on demand, and the last run’s status shows on the table page.
Can I export data, and what are the limits?
Yes. Export captures the current view’s filters, search, sort, and visible columns, and runs as a background task. CSV export has no row cap. Excel export is capped at 100,000 rows because the writer builds the workbook in memory. Scheduled exports can push a CSV or XLSX file nightly to an SFTP server — the SFTP connection is required (exports always push to a credentialed destination).
Saved views and automations
What are personal views versus shared views?
Shared views belong to the table and are visible to everyone who can see the table. They are the only views that Live Boards can bind to and that automation schedule rules can use as row selectors. Personal views belong to one user and are visible only to them. Each user can have up to 25 personal views per table. The shared-view cap is a configurable quota (default 25 per table, up to 100).
What can automations do, and what are the limits?
Automation rules fire on row events (row created, updated, field changed, or deleted) or on a schedule bound to a saved view. Available actions include: update fields, notify a user, send an external email, request approval, create a task, send an HTTP request (webhook), lock a row, archive a row, delete a row, and three AI actions (fill a column, summary digest, anomaly alert). Limits: up to 25 automation rules per table (configurable up to 50), up to 10 actions per rule, up to 50 conditions per rule, and scheduled rules process a maximum of 10,000 matching rows per run. Hourly caps apply per business: 500 automation executions, 100 webhooks, and 50 external emails per hour. A rule that fails 5 consecutive runs pauses itself automatically and notifies the owner.
When something looks wrong
“I imported a CSV but some rows are missing”
Check the import task’s error report — it lists every skipped row by number with the reason. Common causes: the row violated a column validation rule (required value missing, number out of min/max range, value not in the select list), or the table hit its row quota and the remaining rows were skipped. Import stops cleanly at the quota boundary and reports how many rows were skipped.
“My Live Board shows ‘source unavailable’”
The board is bound to a saved view on a Power Tables table. Check whether the table was archived (the board loses its source immediately on archive) or the view was deleted. If the table is still active, re-check the view in Power Tables — if it was a personal view, boards can only bind to shared views, and a personal view that was converted or deleted breaks the binding.
“The scheduled import failed”
Open the table page and check the last run’s status. Common causes: the source URL returned an error or timed out, the SFTP connection credentials are invalid or the remote file path doesn’t exist, the file exceeds the size limit, or the file isn’t a supported format (CSV, XLSX, or XLS). For protected HTTPS sources, verify the Data Feed connection at /admin/integrations still has valid credentials. A scheduled import that fails 5 consecutive times pauses itself automatically.
Licensing and limits
Does Power Tables require a licence?
No. Power Tables is a pay-as-you-go app — available to every tenant with no licence decision. It stays off until an admin enables it. Billing is per 1,000 rows stored per year; there is no per-seat charge and no monthly floor.
What are the quotas, and can I change them?
Default quotas and their configurable ranges:
- Tables per tenant: 5 (can be raised up to 25 in Settings; support can grant up to 500)
- Rows per table: 1,000,000 (up to 10,000,000 in Settings; support can grant up to 100,000,000)
- Columns per table: 25 (up to 100)
- Indexed columns per table: 4 (up to 7)
- Shared views per table: 25 (up to 100)
- Automation rules per table: 25 (up to 50)
- Personal views per user per table: 25 (fixed)
When a quota is at its ceiling and you need more, contact MangoApps support — they can grant higher limits from the Console without a code change. When the limit is below the ceiling, any admin can raise it in the Power Tables Settings tab.
More help
- Power Tables Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Power Tables questions from these articles.