Forcing Smartsheet to Send Separate Notification Emails

Overview

When Smartsheet alert automations are used to send notifications, Smartsheet will combine these alerts into one email. There are certain steps that may be taken to force one email per row, but only if six or less emails are affected.

More than six rows created simultaneously will be grouped into one generic message. The message will not include the message text or subject but will add the automation name to the subject and row data from the sheet for the field

Issues

An individual receiving a notification with grouped submissions may:

See information not intended for them. This information may or may not be confidential depending on the system.
Be confused by grouped items causing information to be missed.
Not be able to use their email to keep track of individual submissions.

Workaround

There are several settings to use in your automation to prevent this behavior:

All must be used to ensure email grouping doesn't occur.

Trigger - ensure this is set to "When Rows are Added". Do not use "changed".
Contact Field - send to a per-row Contact, not a hardcoded recipient in the automation.
Avoid Message Only - include row fields in the email, even if just the attachment or comment field.
Use Placeholders - use the {{column name}} placeholder format in both the message and subject.

Email Message Examples

Notification with More than Six Unique Rows

When more than six rows are created, the automation will include the subject, "Changes to" and the sheet name (e.g., SOURCE: Kentucky SIX-Partner Requests), followed by the name of the automation (e.g., EMAIL: Lead w/ New Submission Information)

Single Message vs. Grouped Message