Create custom fields in Trello
10 min
Beginner
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to:
- Describe what custom fields are and how you can use them
- Create a custom field
- Edit, reorder, or delete custom fields
- Explain how custom fields behave when moving or copying a card
What are custom fields?
Custom fields are a powerful customization tool for your boards. They allow you to add new field types and custom data to your Trello cards, making them more specific to your workflow. When you add a custom field to a board, it will appear on every card, though the value in that field can be different on each card. If you export a board, custom field data will be included.
👉 For example: Dominic adds a custom field for “Priority” to the board to help his team better plan their work. The field “Priority” appears on all cards and his team can set the value to “High,” “Medium,” or “Low” based on the task.
👉 Another example: Sheryl is using a Trello board to manage a large home renovation project. She creates a custom field for “Cost” to track her expenses on the cards for each part of the project.
👇 This is a card with several custom fields.
A board can have up to 50 custom fields.
Create a custom field
You can create a custom field from two places in a Trello board:
- From the board menu
- From the back of a card
👇 Create custom fields from the board menu or card back.
A custom field’s value will show on a card’s front and back by default. However, you can opt to have it only show on the back of the card.
To create a custom field:
- Click on Custom fields from either the board menu or the card back.
- Click New field, or click Add next to one of the suggested fields.
- Give the field a title and choose the field type (For example, checkbox, date, dropdown, number, text). If you select dropdown, enter the choices for the dropdown menu, and optionally, change their colors.
- Check or uncheck the option for Show field in front of card, then click Create.
👇 Create a custom field in just a few steps.
Use custom fields
Using custom fields is as easy as selecting the card you want to edit, clicking on the custom field, and entering or changing the value.
If you need to make changes to a custom field, you can edit or delete it by clicking the Custom Fields button on any card back or from the board menu.
👉 For example: Yuki, a project manager, notices that the "Priority" custom field on their Trello board is missing a critical option for "Urgent." She edits the custom field to include this option, ensuring her team can accurately prioritize tasks and meet tight deadlines.
👉 Another example: Cintian, a product owner at an e-commerce company, realizes that the "Estimated Cost" custom field on her team’s Trello board is no longer relevant to their streamlined workflow. She deletes the custom field to simplify the board and reduce clutter, helping her team focus on essential information.
👇 Click the tabs below to see how to edit or delete a custom field.
To edit a custom field:
- Click on Custom Fields from either the board menu or the card back.
- Click on the custom field you want to edit and change the name. If the custom field is a dropdown, edit or delete its options.
- To save the changes, press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac), or click the back arrow at the top of the card.
👇 Click on a custom field to make changes.
Once created, you can't edit the field type of a custom field. For example, you can't convert a dropdown field to a checkbox.
Deleting one of the choices from a dropdown removes all instances where it was selected, and this action can't be undone.
Reorder custom fields on a card
You can also change the order of your Custom Fields to keep your cards organized or to tailor the card layout to your workflow. Changes to custom field order are reflected immediately on all cards on the board.
👉 For example: Aya finds that the "Deadline" custom field is buried under less critical information on her Trello cards. She reorders the custom fields to place "Deadline" first, ensuring she can quickly see and prioritize tasks based on urgency.
To reorder custom fields:
- Click on Custom Fields from either the board menu or the card back.
- Drag and drop the field's location in the list.
👇 Drag and drop custom fields to change their order.
Move or copy cards with custom fields
You may need to move or copy Trello cards from one board to another. You can do this from the Actions section of the card back by selecting either Move or Copy.
When the card is moved or copied, Trello checks to see if you already have a field on the new board with the same name and field type. If you do, the card will use the existing field definition on the new board. If Trello does not find a matching field, it will create a new field.
If the card contains custom fields, only the fields with stored values will be moved; that is, if a custom field is empty on a card, that custom field will not copy to the new board.
Try it yourself
Open Trello and follow along.
Your project admin can choose different date fields for the calendar. If your requests have both a start date and an end date, but don’t appear on the calendar, check with your admin.
👇 Click the tabs below and follow the instructions to practice what you’ve learned in this lesson.
Create or select a practice card: From your board, create a new card or select an existing card that is safe to edit.
Let's review!
Review these questions and see if you understood the key concepts in this lesson.
- How can custom fields be used on my boards?
- Where can I go to create a custom field?
- How can I modify custom fields or how they appear on my cards?
- What happens to custom fields when I move or copy a card?
How was this lesson?
next lesson
Use Trello board templates
- What are templates?
- Explore community templates
- Use a board template
- Let's review!