question Changing Field Type after Data Entry in Community Central forum

Changing Field Type after Data Entry

EswarM — Wed, 16 Apr 2025 19:53:36 GMT

"Is it possible to change a field's data type in ServiceNow (for example, from 'Choice' to 'String') after data has already been entered into that field?"

Re: Changing Field Type after Data Entry

swapnali ombale — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 05:48:33 GMT

Hi @EswarM

No, it's generally not recommended to change a field's data type in ServiceNow, especially after data has been entered, according to the ServiceNow community. Changing the data type can lead to data loss and unexpected behavior, especially if the field is part of reports or other functionalities. A better approach is to create a new field with the desired data type, copy data from the old field to the new field using a script, and then delete or hide the old field.

Kindly mark my answer as helpful and accept solution if it helped you in anyway.

Re: Changing Field Type after Data Entry

Ankur Bawiskar — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 06:01:02 GMT

@EswarM

Things to check

1) some field type change is not allowed by ServiceNow. If it's not allowed then only option is to create a fresh field

2) some field type changes are allowed and if you do then data loss might come

If my response helped please mark it correct and close the thread so that it benefits future readers.