# Existing field values when asking for user input

**URL:** <https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543>\
**Category:** Bugs & Issues\
**Tags:** automations\
**Created:** [February 14, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543 "2022-02-14T02:16:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cannibalflea](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/cannibalflea/32/318_2.png) [@cannibalflea](https://community.fibery.io/u/cannibalflea)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543/1 "2022-02-14T02:16:44Z")

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The “Ask User Input” action is a really handy addition to automation buttons. However, for some reason, if the fields that are selected for user input already have some content, that is not pre-populated in the fields. I’m not sure if this is by design or just a bug. I think this is confusing for users.

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**Author:** ![cannibalflea](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/cannibalflea/32/318_2.png) [@cannibalflea](https://community.fibery.io/u/cannibalflea)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2022, 6:11pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543/2 "2022-06-18T18:11:26Z")

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Is there an update/response on this issue? I feel like this can actually be a bit dangerous in some situations because users might not realize they are overwriting existing information.

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**Author:** ![Kate\_Semikova](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/kate_semikova/32/5163_2.png) [@Kate\_Semikova](https://community.fibery.io/u/Kate_Semikova)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543/3 "2022-06-21T12:41:41Z")

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Hello @cannibalflea ,  
Thank you for your feedback and sorry for not answering for a long time.  
Current behaviour is by design. This is due to the fact that it is possible to use “Ask User Input” action in batch operations, so it’s impossible to pre-populate the value in such case.

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**Author:** ![cannibalflea](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/cannibalflea/32/318_2.png) [@cannibalflea](https://community.fibery.io/u/cannibalflea)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543/4 "2022-06-21T16:09:45Z")

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Thanks @Kate_Semikova for this response. Makes sense 🙂

Is there a possibility that when the action is being applied to only one entity that the current content (if any) is pre populated?

I was also wondering if it makes sense to include a warning when applying action to multiple entities so user knows that content will be overwritten for all selected entities.

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**Author:** ![Kate\_Semikova](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.fibery.io/kate_semikova/32/5163_2.png) [@Kate\_Semikova](https://community.fibery.io/u/Kate_Semikova)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2022, 10:51am UTC](https://community.fibery.io/t/existing-field-values-when-asking-for-user-input/2543/5 "2022-06-22T10:51:36Z")

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Unfortunately not. This functionality is mainly aimed at batch operations and involves overwriting values. If you need to change the value of fields in one entity, it is easier to open that entity and make changes there.