How to change values in your workflows

Written by Owner

Updated at August 20th, 2025

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Table of Contents

Use Formatter Adjust dates and times inside a field Use AI by Zapier Use Translate Use URL Shortener Use Email Parser or Web Parser Next steps

Sometimes, you may have values in your Zap that you need to reformat or transform to use in later steps. This can include changes like:

Converting a date and time value from an ISO format to a UNIX format.
Taking a value from one step and using a spreadsheet-style formula to change its value.
Creating line items out of plain text.

With Zapier’s built-in tools, you can change values inside your Zap so your automation contains the exact data you need.

Use Formatter

The Formatter app has four action events with dozens of transforms that you can use to change your values:

Date / Time: modify date and time formats.
Numbers: modify number formats and use spreadsheet-style formulas.
Text: analyze and modify text formats like splitting text or extracting values from text.
Utilities: perform utility functions like importing CSVs, creating line items, and lookup tables.

Adjust dates and times inside a field

In date and time fields, you can create and adjust date and time values by adding modifiers to them. Use modifiers to do things like:

Add two hours to the start time in your calendar event by adding “+2h”.
Postdate an invoice by 1 week by adding “+1w” to the invoice date.
Enter 30 minutes of exercise time in your fitness tracking app by entering “30m”.

Tip

You can also use special commands to enter timestamp values in fields.

Use AI by Zapier

With the AI by Zapier app, you can use natural language to describe how you want the app to change your data. Or, use one of its templates to do things like create an outline from text or summarize a transcript.

Use Translate

You can use the Translate app to detect languages or translate words, phrases, and web pages into over 100 languages.

Use URL Shortener

If you need to shorten a URL to meet character or space limits, you can use the URL Shortener app. This is helpful for things like social media posts.

Use Email Parser or Web Parser

The Email Parser app helps you extract specific data from your emails based on templates you define. The Web Parser app helps you extract specific data from websites, extracting values like page titles, content, and authors.

Next steps

Explore specific use cases for changing your data: