Fill empty cells with enrichment data

When an enrichment run finishes, ListPlus never writes results into your grid by itself — you decide. This article covers the "Fill empty cells with enrichment data?" dialog in detail: when it appears, exactly what it changes, why some cells stay empty, and how to take over the data later if you skipped it. See "How enrichment works" for the enrichment flow itself.

The dialog#

As soon as an enrichment run completes, ListPlus asks: "Fill empty cells with enrichment data?", naming how many rows were enriched and offering to automatically fill their empty cells with the enriched data. This appears for every enrichment source: the Enrich menu, the selection bar, the wand icon on a single cell, the record panel, and enrichment suggestions from Analyze. The dialog only appears while the list stays open — if you navigate away before the run finishes, reopen the list and use "Apply values" (see below) to apply the results.

• Yes, fill empty cells — writes the enriched values into every column that already exists and is currently empty for the affected rows. Cells that already contain a value, including one you typed yourself, are never touched.
• No thanks — closes the dialog and changes nothing. The enrichment results are not lost; they stay stored with the row and can be filled in later at no cost.
• Don't ask again — a checkbox in the dialog. Once ticked and confirmed, future runs skip the dialog and fill empty cells automatically. The choice applies in this browser.

The dialog only opens when there is at least one empty cell a match could fill; if nothing qualifies, ListPlus skips it entirely.

What "fill" actually changes#

Filling only ever affects cells that are empty for the current row and column combination — never a cell that already has a value. The written values appear as unsaved edits (highlighted as unsaved changes), exactly like typing into the grid yourself: nothing is written to your saved list until you click Save. If you close the list without saving, the fill is discarded, but the underlying enrichment result stays available and can be applied again later.

Fill only writes into columns that already exist in your list. If none of your columns match a piece of returned data (for example, enrichment returned a job title but your list has no job-title column), that value is simply skipped — ListPlus does not create a new column for it. Add the column yourself first if you want that value captured.

Why cells can stay empty after clicking Yes#

• No match found — the enrichment run did not return a value for that row (for example, a lookup found no phone number).
• No matching column — a value came back, but your list has no column for that kind of data, so it has nowhere to go.
• You clicked No thanks — nothing was written; the data is still stored and can be taken over later.
• The cell was not actually empty — fill never overwrites an existing value, including a placeholder you typed yourself.

Take over later#

If you clicked No, closed the list too early, or ran an enrichment through the record panel, the enriched data is still stored with each row. Select the affected rows and open the Enrich menu. When any selected row has enrichment data, an "Apply values" button with a row count appears at the top. It opens "Merge Enriched Information" on the "Fill empty" tab, which writes only into empty cells and costs no credits, since it only copies data ListPlus already has. See "Transfer data record by record, or join columns from another list" for the full record-by-record review flow, including the option to overwrite existing values instead.

Values shown in the record panel#

The record panel also offers this directly. When enriched values fit into empty columns of that row, a banner reads "N enriched values fit into empty fields" with "Merge" (one value) or "Merge all". It fills only empty cells, costs no credits, and the values are unsaved until you click Save.

Related topics: enrichment-overview · take-over-and-join · which-enrich-button · price-list.

FAQ#

What does the "Fill empty cells with enrichment data?" dialog do?#

It appears right after an enrichment run finishes and asks whether to write the results into empty cells. Clicking "Yes, fill empty cells" fills only cells that are currently empty; "No thanks" leaves the grid unchanged and keeps the data stored for later.

Will filling empty cells overwrite data I already have?#

No. Only cells that are empty are ever written; a cell that already has a value, including one you typed yourself, is never touched by this dialog.

Are the filled cells saved automatically?#

No. Filled cells appear as unsaved edits, the same as typing into the grid, and you review and click Save to keep them. If you leave without saving, the fill is discarded but the enrichment data itself is not lost.

Why did some cells stay empty even after I clicked Yes?#

Either the enrichment run found no value for that row, your list has no column matching the type of data that came back, or the cell already had a value and was correctly left alone.

What happens if I click "No thanks"?#

Nothing is written to the grid. The enrichment results stay stored with each row, and you can apply them later for free using "Apply values" in the Enrich menu.

How do I fill cells later if I skipped the dialog?#

Select the rows and open the Enrich menu. An "Apply values" button appears when the selected rows have enrichment data. It opens "Merge Enriched Information" on the "Fill empty" tab, which writes only empty cells and costs no credits, since it just copies data already fetched.

Does filling empty cells cost credits?#

No. Filling cells with stored enrichment data, whether from the dialog or from "Apply values" later, is free — credits are spent when the enrichment lookup itself runs, not when its results are copied into the grid.

Why didn't the dialog appear at all after my enrichment?#

Either there was nothing to fill (no empty cell had a matching value), you had previously ticked "Don't ask again" so cells fill automatically, or you left the list before the run finished — the dialog only shows while the list is open. Use "Apply values" from the Enrich menu to fill in the results afterward.

Can I move a value I see in the record panel straight into its column?#

Yes — when the row has enriched values that fit empty columns, the record panel shows "N enriched values fit into empty fields" with a "Merge" or "Merge all" button, which fills only those empty cells for free. Click Save to keep the values.

Does enrichment ever create a new column for data I don't have a column for?#

No. Fill only writes into columns that already exist in your list; a returned value with no matching column is skipped. Add the column yourself first if you want to capture that data.