When to use each type of database view

Databases are one of Notion’s powerhouse features. They allow teams to store diverse, complex information and customize how they see it.

You have several distinct types of databases — a table, board, calendar, etc. — all of which can be used as different views of a single database. This is helpful when you need to slice a large set of data in many ways. You could have a company-wide roadmap that’s a table, and then create different views within that roadmap, like a calendar for your launches, a list of projects for each team, or a timeline for a specific project.

With database views, teams can surface the information they need in an instant. What’s more, every entry opens up as its own Notion page, and you can add text, images, files, and much more inside to neatly bundle all project info in one place.

Teams are able to create different views of the same database, giving them the flexibility and the freedom to view information however best suits them.

Here’s how you might use database views:

• When you have one large information set used by cross-functional teams — whether it’s your roadmap or a company-wide list of tasks, different teams can create their own views of the database. That way, engineering can view their tasks without seeing all the marketing work as well.

• If you have sub-teams as part of your team — if you have a table of engineering projects, each sub-team can have their own view, like one for the infrastructure team and one for the backend team. This fosters transparency, because there’s visibility into what the entire engineering org is working on, but specific teams can choose to focus on their work.

• Your teams are juggling many projects at once — let’s say your marketing team has a master list of everything they’re working on. Some tasks are for the website redesign project. You can create a board of all the tasks related to that project to see their statuses. You can also create a view that's organized by teammate, to see what everyone has on their plate.

There’s no limit to how you can display, organize, and resurface your data. Your one database has the capability to be many custom databases, depending on your team’s needs. And once you make database views, you can reuse them anytime you need to surface that information.

Database containers are essentially another way to think about views, but instead of showing different views of the same data, they integrate entirely different databases. These containers bring multiple related data sources together under one roof, so your team can manage different information in one cohesive system. Teams use database containers to:

• Plan and report with clarity — Build a hub for projects, tasks, and resources with shared fields and roll-up views.

• Streamline sales pipelines — Standardize stages across Leads, Accounts, and Deals, complete with executive dashboards.

• Power content operations — Connect Ideas, Drafts, and Published assets with reusable views for status, owner, and calendar.

With database containers, your team gets consistency, control, and cross-cutting views in one central hub — without duplicating setup efforts. To add other database sources to a database:

1. Click the slider icon on the top of any database → Click Source.

2. Search and add any existing databases, which will appear as a new view in your database.

Check out our reference article to learn more.

Different teams have different needs — and there’s likely a database view to present information in the most effective way for that team.

Here’s a breakdown of the types of databases you can use, and which might be most advantageous in a given situation.

Comprising rows and columns, tables are great for giving you a bird’s eye view of large data sets.

What is it?

• Each row in the table is its own Notion page. This makes storing information for projects or tasks super organized — you can nest infinite sub-pages in these pages, say, for a large project with many parts.

• Each column is a property related to those pages. These might be a launch date, a project owner, or a tag you’ve assigned the project. You can toggle on the properties you want to see in your table and hide the ones you don’t.

• Drag-and-drop rows or columns to organize the table any way you’d like.

When should your team use it?

• To organize a large set of team- or company-wide projects and tasks. Tables are great for getting a high-level look at information in a glance — like a project owner and its timeline — fostering transparency (you can go into these pages if you want to get granular). Teams can even make custom table views based on their work or specific projects, like a burndown list for a launch.

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