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Record Navigation Overview

Record Navigation Overview

Article ID RC-NAV-REC-01 — Record Navigation Overview
Domain Record Navigation
Applies To All project types
Prerequisite None
Version 1.0
Last Updated 2026
Author See KB-SOURCE-ATTESTATION.md
Related Topics RC-NAV-REC-02 — Longitudinal Mode & Arms, RC-NAV-REC-03 — Repeated Instruments & Repeated EventsRC-NAV-REC-04 — Record Status Dashboard & Other Record Links, RC-NAV-UI-01 — Project Navigation UI, RC-DE-01 — Record Creation & the Record Home PageRC-DE-02 — Basic Data Entry, RC-LONG-01 — Longitudinal Project Setup, RC-LONG-02 — Repeated Instruments & Events SetupRC-IMP-01 — Data Import Overview, RC-EXPRT-06 — Custom Reports: Setup & Field Selection

1. Overview

This article explains how to navigate to records and locate data within a REDCap project. It covers the primary navigation paths available to any REDCap user and explains how to interpret instrument status indicators (colored dots).

2. Key Concepts & Definitions

Record

The fundamental unit of data in REDCap. Each record corresponds to one participant, patient, or subject. Every record has a Record ID — the primary identifier used throughout the system.

Instrument

A data-entry form within a REDCap project. Instruments contain fields (variables) where data is entered. Each instrument has a status dot that reflects its completion state.

Record Home Page

A per-record landing page that displays all instruments associated with that record. It is the central hub for viewing and navigating to any instrument for a single record.

Record Status Dashboard

A project-level view displaying all records and their instrument statuses in a grid. Useful for monitoring progress across an entire study.

Add/Edit Records Page

A data-collection menu page that provides lookup tools for finding and opening individual records.

3. Step-by-Step: Primary Navigation Paths

3.1 Navigating to a Project

  • Log in to your REDCap instance.

  • On the My Projects page, click the name of the project you want to open.

  • You are now on the project home page, with the left-hand menu available.

3.2 Add/Edit Records (Quickest Path to a Single Record)

  • In the left-hand menu, find the Data Collection section and click Add / Edit Records.

  • To find a record by ID: use the Choose an existing record dropdown — it lists all record IDs in the project.

  • To search by value: use the Data Search feature.

  • Search across all variables — useful when you only know a value but not which field contains it.

  • Search within a specific variable — faster in large projects (e.g., search only the Date of Birth field).

  • Selecting a result takes you directly to the Record Home Page or to the specific instrument where the value was found.

3.3 Record Status Dashboard

  • In the left-hand menu, click Record Status Dashboard under Data Collection.

  • The default dashboard shows all records, events, and instruments you have access to.

  • Click any colored dot to open the corresponding instrument for that record.

3.4 Reports

  • In the left-hand menu, click Data Exports, Reports, and Stats, then select a report.

  • Any Record ID displayed in a report is a clickable link that opens the Record Home Page for that record.

3.5 Using the Record Home Page

  • Once on the Record Home Page, you see all instruments for that record displayed as colored dots.

  • Click any dot to open the corresponding instrument.

  • After opening an instrument, the left-hand menu displays a list of all instruments for quick switching.

4. Instrument Status Dot Colors

Every instrument in REDCap is represented by a colored dot. The color encodes the completion status of that instrument for a given record.

Dot Appearance Meaning
Grey Not started — no data has been entered. This is the default state.
Red Data has been saved, but the Form Status field is still set to Incomplete.
Yellow Form Status field is set to Unverified by a user.
Green Form Status field is set to Complete by a user.
Orange with white checkmark The instrument was opened as a survey but only partially completed (e.g., participant closed the browser mid-survey).
Green with white checkmark The instrument was completed in full as a survey.

Important distinctions:

  • REDCap automatically enforces grey (no data) and red (data present, incomplete) statuses.

  • Yellow and green statuses are set manually by the study team --- they are optional but recommended for projects with many instruments.

  • Survey statuses (orange and green with checkmarks) are set automatically when a survey is submitted or partially completed.

Technical Note: Form completion status is stored in [instrument_complete] with three coded values: 0 = Incomplete (covers both grey/not-started and red/data-saved-but-incomplete), 1 = Unverified, 2 = Complete. Survey completion status is stored in a separate field and also uses coded values: 1 = partial completion (orange checkmark), 2 = full completion (green checkmark). These are distinct fields — codes 1 and 2 mean different things in each system. Both can be set or exported via the API and data import/export.

5. Common Questions

Q: What is the fastest way to find a specific record in a large project?

A: Use Add/Edit Records and the Data Search feature. Searching within a specific variable (such as Record ID or email) is faster than searching across all variables.

Q: Can I navigate to an instrument directly without going through the Record Home Page?

A: Yes. Clicking any colored dot in the Record Status Dashboard or in a report takes you directly to the corresponding instrument without visiting the Record Home Page first.

Q: What does a red dot mean — is something wrong?

A: No. A red dot simply means data has been entered but the Form Status field has not been changed from its default value of Incomplete. It does not indicate an error.

Q: Can I change instrument statuses for many records at once?

A: Yes. Instrument statuses are stored in the dataset and can be set in bulk using REDCap's data import tools. Use coded values: 0 = incomplete, 1 = unverified, 2 = complete.

Q: What happens to the dot color if I enter a single data point but leave everything else blank?

A: The dot turns red. Any data saved to an instrument — even a single field — changes the dot from grey to red.

6. Common Mistakes & Gotchas

  • Confusing grey and red: grey means no data at all; red means data is present but the form status has not been updated. They are both coded as 0 in the dataset, but have different visual meanings.

  • Ignoring optional statuses: teams that skip yellow/green statuses on large projects often lose track of which instruments have been reviewed vs. just filled in.

  • Searching all variables in a large project: this can be slow. Always prefer variable-specific search when you know which field to look in.

  • Expecting survey statuses on non-survey instruments: orange and green-checkmark dots only appear on instruments that are enabled as surveys.