diff --git a/.eslintrc.json b/.eslintrc.json
index ce4b07ca2f..d475bba8d1 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.json
+++ b/.eslintrc.json
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@
             "ignoreRestSiblings": true
           }
         ],
-        "local-rules/no-budibase-imports": "error"
+        "no-redeclare": "off",
+        "@typescript-eslint/no-redeclare": "error"
       }
     },
     {
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/cache/user.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/cache/user.ts
index ecfa20f99e..d319c5dcb6 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/cache/user.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/cache/user.ts
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ async function populateUsersFromDB(
 export async function getUser(
   userId: string,
   tenantId?: string,
-  populateUser?: any
+  populateUser?: (userId: string, tenantId: string) => Promise<User>
 ) {
   if (!populateUser) {
     populateUser = populateFromDB
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ export async function getUser(
   }
   const client = await redis.getUserClient()
   // try cache
-  let user = await client.get(userId)
+  let user: User = await client.get(userId)
   if (!user) {
     user = await populateUser(userId, tenantId)
     await client.store(userId, user, EXPIRY_SECONDS)
diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/middleware/authenticated.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/middleware/authenticated.ts
index 69dba27c43..51cd4ec2af 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/middleware/authenticated.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/middleware/authenticated.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import { getGlobalDB, doInTenant } from "../context"
 import { decrypt } from "../security/encryption"
 import * as identity from "../context/identity"
 import env from "../environment"
-import { Ctx, EndpointMatcher, SessionCookie } from "@budibase/types"
+import { Ctx, EndpointMatcher, SessionCookie, User } from "@budibase/types"
 import { InvalidAPIKeyError, ErrorCode } from "../errors"
 import tracer from "dd-trace"
 
@@ -41,7 +41,10 @@ function finalise(ctx: any, opts: FinaliseOpts = {}) {
   ctx.version = opts.version
 }
 
-async function checkApiKey(apiKey: string, populateUser?: Function) {
+async function checkApiKey(
+  apiKey: string,
+  populateUser?: (userId: string, tenantId: string) => Promise<User>
+) {
   // check both the primary and the fallback internal api keys
   // this allows for rotation
   if (isValidInternalAPIKey(apiKey)) {
@@ -128,6 +131,7 @@ export default function (
           } else {
             user = await getUser(userId, session.tenantId)
           }
+          // @ts-ignore
           user.csrfToken = session.csrfToken
 
           if (session?.lastAccessedAt < timeMinusOneMinute()) {
@@ -167,19 +171,25 @@ export default function (
         authenticated = false
       }
 
-      if (user) {
+      const isUser = (
+        user: any
+      ): user is User & { budibaseAccess?: string } => {
+        return user && user.email
+      }
+
+      if (isUser(user)) {
         tracer.setUser({
-          id: user?._id,
-          tenantId: user?.tenantId,
-          budibaseAccess: user?.budibaseAccess,
-          status: user?.status,
+          id: user._id!,
+          tenantId: user.tenantId,
+          budibaseAccess: user.budibaseAccess,
+          status: user.status,
         })
       }
 
       // isAuthenticated is a function, so use a variable to be able to check authed state
       finalise(ctx, { authenticated, user, internal, version, publicEndpoint })
 
-      if (user && user.email) {
+      if (isUser(user)) {
         return identity.doInUserContext(user, ctx, next)
       } else {
         return next()
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/automation/SetupPanel/AutomationBlockSetup.svelte b/packages/builder/src/components/automation/SetupPanel/AutomationBlockSetup.svelte
index 0cf0f6c740..85af5bbafd 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/automation/SetupPanel/AutomationBlockSetup.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/automation/SetupPanel/AutomationBlockSetup.svelte
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
   import { TriggerStepID, ActionStepID } from "constants/backend/automations"
   import { onMount } from "svelte"
   import { cloneDeep } from "lodash/fp"
+  import { FIELDS } from "constants/backend"
 
   export let block
   export let testData
@@ -228,6 +229,10 @@
       categoryName,
       bindingName
     ) => {
+      const field = Object.values(FIELDS).find(
+        field => field.type === value.type && field.subtype === value.subtype
+      )
+
       return {
         readableBinding: bindingName
           ? `${bindingName}.${name}`
@@ -238,7 +243,7 @@
         icon,
         category: categoryName,
         display: {
-          type: value.type,
+          type: field?.name || value.type,
           name,
           rank: isLoopBlock ? idx + 1 : idx - loopBlockCount,
         },
@@ -282,6 +287,7 @@
         for (const key in table?.schema) {
           schema[key] = {
             type: table.schema[key].type,
+            subtype: table.schema[key].subtype,
           }
         }
         // remove the original binding
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/formula.js b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/formula.js
index b339729391..c59fb9c536 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/formula.js
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/formula.js
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ export function getBindings({
       )
     }
     const field = Object.values(FIELDS).find(
-      field => field.type === schema.type
+      field => field.type === schema.type && field.subtype === schema.subtype
     )
 
     const label = path == null ? column : `${path}.0.${column}`
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/CreateEditColumn.svelte b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/CreateEditColumn.svelte
index 81d5545c40..622da2173d 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/CreateEditColumn.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/CreateEditColumn.svelte
@@ -12,8 +12,13 @@
     OptionSelectDnD,
     Layout,
     AbsTooltip,
+    ProgressCircle,
   } from "@budibase/bbui"
-  import { SWITCHABLE_TYPES, ValidColumnNameRegex } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+  import {
+    SWITCHABLE_TYPES,
+    ValidColumnNameRegex,
+    helpers,
+  } from "@budibase/shared-core"
   import { createEventDispatcher, getContext, onMount } from "svelte"
   import { cloneDeep } from "lodash/fp"
   import { tables, datasources } from "stores/builder"
@@ -30,8 +35,8 @@
   import { getBindings } from "components/backend/DataTable/formula"
   import JSONSchemaModal from "./JSONSchemaModal.svelte"
   import {
-    FieldType,
     BBReferenceFieldSubType,
+    FieldType,
     SourceName,
   } from "@budibase/types"
   import RelationshipSelector from "components/common/RelationshipSelector.svelte"
@@ -67,7 +72,6 @@
   let savingColumn
   let deleteColName
   let jsonSchemaModal
-  let allowedTypes = []
   let editableColumn = {
     type: FIELDS.STRING.type,
     constraints: FIELDS.STRING.constraints,
@@ -175,6 +179,11 @@
       SWITCHABLE_TYPES[field.type] &&
       !editableColumn?.autocolumn)
 
+  $: allowedTypes = getAllowedTypes(datasource).map(t => ({
+    fieldId: makeFieldId(t.type, t.subtype),
+    ...t,
+  }))
+
   const fieldDefinitions = Object.values(FIELDS).reduce(
     // Storing the fields by complex field id
     (acc, field) => ({
@@ -188,7 +197,10 @@
     // don't make field IDs for auto types
     if (type === AUTO_TYPE || autocolumn) {
       return type.toUpperCase()
-    } else if (type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
+    } else if (
+      type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE ||
+      type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
+    ) {
       return `${type}${subtype || ""}`.toUpperCase()
     } else {
       return type.toUpperCase()
@@ -226,11 +238,6 @@
         editableColumn.subtype,
         editableColumn.autocolumn
       )
-
-      allowedTypes = getAllowedTypes().map(t => ({
-        fieldId: makeFieldId(t.type, t.subtype),
-        ...t,
-      }))
     }
   }
 
@@ -245,11 +252,11 @@
   }
 
   async function saveColumn() {
-    savingColumn = true
     if (errors?.length) {
       return
     }
 
+    savingColumn = true
     let saveColumn = cloneDeep(editableColumn)
 
     delete saveColumn.fieldId
@@ -264,13 +271,6 @@
     if (saveColumn.type !== LINK_TYPE) {
       delete saveColumn.fieldName
     }
-    if (isUsersColumn(saveColumn)) {
-      if (saveColumn.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER) {
-        saveColumn.relationshipType = RelationshipType.ONE_TO_MANY
-      } else if (saveColumn.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS) {
-        saveColumn.relationshipType = RelationshipType.MANY_TO_MANY
-      }
-    }
 
     try {
       await tables.saveField({
@@ -289,6 +289,8 @@
       }
     } catch (err) {
       notifications.error(`Error saving column: ${err.message}`)
+    } finally {
+      savingColumn = false
     }
   }
 
@@ -363,20 +365,36 @@
     deleteColName = ""
   }
 
-  function getAllowedTypes() {
+  function getAllowedTypes(datasource) {
     if (originalName) {
-      const possibleTypes = SWITCHABLE_TYPES[field.type] || [
-        editableColumn.type,
-      ]
+      let possibleTypes = SWITCHABLE_TYPES[field.type] || [editableColumn.type]
+      if (helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(editableColumn)) {
+        // This will handle old single users columns
+        return [
+          {
+            ...FIELDS.USER,
+            type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+            subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+          },
+        ]
+      } else if (
+        editableColumn.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
+        editableColumn.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
+      ) {
+        // This will handle old multi users columns
+        return [
+          {
+            ...FIELDS.USERS,
+            subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
+          },
+        ]
+      }
+
       return Object.entries(FIELDS)
         .filter(([_, field]) => possibleTypes.includes(field.type))
         .map(([_, fieldDefinition]) => fieldDefinition)
     }
 
-    const isUsers =
-      editableColumn.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-      editableColumn.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-
     if (!externalTable) {
       return [
         FIELDS.STRING,
@@ -393,7 +411,8 @@
         FIELDS.LINK,
         FIELDS.FORMULA,
         FIELDS.JSON,
-        isUsers ? FIELDS.USERS : FIELDS.USER,
+        FIELDS.USER,
+        FIELDS.USERS,
         FIELDS.AUTO,
       ]
     } else {
@@ -407,8 +426,12 @@
         FIELDS.BOOLEAN,
         FIELDS.FORMULA,
         FIELDS.BIGINT,
-        isUsers ? FIELDS.USERS : FIELDS.USER,
+        FIELDS.USER,
       ]
+
+      if (datasource && datasource.source !== SourceName.GOOGLE_SHEETS) {
+        fields.push(FIELDS.USERS)
+      }
       // no-sql or a spreadsheet
       if (!externalTable || table.sql) {
         fields = [...fields, FIELDS.LINK, FIELDS.ARRAY]
@@ -482,15 +505,6 @@
     return newError
   }
 
-  function isUsersColumn(column) {
-    return (
-      column.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-      [BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS].includes(
-        column.subtype
-      )
-    )
-  }
-
   onMount(() => {
     mounted = true
   })
@@ -689,22 +703,6 @@
     <Button primary text on:click={openJsonSchemaEditor}
       >Open schema editor</Button
     >
-  {:else if isUsersColumn(editableColumn) && datasource?.source !== SourceName.GOOGLE_SHEETS}
-    <Toggle
-      value={editableColumn.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS}
-      on:change={e =>
-        handleTypeChange(
-          makeFieldId(
-            FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-            e.detail
-              ? BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-              : BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
-          )
-        )}
-      disabled={!isCreating}
-      thin
-      text="Allow multiple users"
-    />
   {/if}
   {#if editableColumn.type === AUTO_TYPE || editableColumn.autocolumn}
     <Select
@@ -739,7 +737,20 @@
     <Button quiet warning text on:click={confirmDelete}>Delete</Button>
   {/if}
   <Button secondary newStyles on:click={cancelEdit}>Cancel</Button>
-  <Button disabled={invalid} newStyles cta on:click={saveColumn}>Save</Button>
+  <Button
+    disabled={invalid || savingColumn}
+    newStyles
+    cta
+    on:click={saveColumn}
+  >
+    {#if savingColumn}
+      <div class="save-loading">
+        <ProgressCircle overBackground={true} size="S" />
+      </div>
+    {:else}
+      Save
+    {/if}
+  </Button>
 </div>
 <Modal bind:this={jsonSchemaModal}>
   <JSONSchemaModal
@@ -804,4 +815,9 @@
     cursor: pointer;
     color: var(--spectrum-global-color-gray-900);
   }
+
+  .save-loading {
+    display: flex;
+    justify-content: center;
+  }
 </style>
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/grid/GridEditColumnModal.svelte b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/grid/GridEditColumnModal.svelte
index 020c58d19f..2ecb7dfd59 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/grid/GridEditColumnModal.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/DataTable/modals/grid/GridEditColumnModal.svelte
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
   onMount(() => subscribe("edit-column", editColumn))
 </script>
 
-<CreateEditColumn
-  field={editableColumn}
-  on:updatecolumns={rows.actions.refreshData}
-/>
+{#if editableColumn}
+  <CreateEditColumn
+    field={editableColumn}
+    on:updatecolumns={rows.actions.refreshData}
+  />
+{/if}
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/ExistingTableDataImport.svelte b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/ExistingTableDataImport.svelte
index b7fa243c07..318f459f46 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/ExistingTableDataImport.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/ExistingTableDataImport.svelte
@@ -59,13 +59,17 @@
       value: FieldType.ATTACHMENTS,
     },
     {
-      label: "User",
+      label: "Users",
       value: `${FieldType.BB_REFERENCE}${BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER}`,
     },
     {
       label: "Users",
       value: `${FieldType.BB_REFERENCE}${BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS}`,
     },
+    {
+      label: "User",
+      value: `${FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE}${BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER}`,
+    },
   ]
 
   $: {
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/design/settings/controls/FieldConfiguration/utils.js b/packages/builder/src/components/design/settings/controls/FieldConfiguration/utils.js
index d0f9afda40..d41967061c 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/design/settings/controls/FieldConfiguration/utils.js
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/design/settings/controls/FieldConfiguration/utils.js
@@ -47,4 +47,5 @@ export const FieldTypeToComponentMap = {
   [FieldType.JSON]: "jsonfield",
   [FieldType.BARCODEQR]: "codescanner",
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: "bbreferencefield",
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: "bbreferencesinglefield",
 }
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/constants/backend/index.js b/packages/builder/src/constants/backend/index.js
index be8bd75d93..75f6a053b5 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/constants/backend/index.js
+++ b/packages/builder/src/constants/backend/index.js
@@ -159,15 +159,17 @@ export const FIELDS = {
   },
   USER: {
     name: "User",
-    type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+    type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
     subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
-    icon: TypeIconMap[FieldType.USER],
+    icon: TypeIconMap[FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE][
+      BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+    ],
   },
   USERS: {
-    name: "Users",
+    name: "User List",
     type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-    subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-    icon: TypeIconMap[FieldType.USERS],
+    subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+    icon: TypeIconMap[FieldType.BB_REFERENCE][BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER],
     constraints: {
       type: "array",
     },
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/dataBinding.js b/packages/builder/src/dataBinding.js
index aaccbd0e6b..af229ce7e4 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/dataBinding.js
+++ b/packages/builder/src/dataBinding.js
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import { JSONUtils, Constants } from "@budibase/frontend-core"
 import ActionDefinitions from "components/design/settings/controls/ButtonActionEditor/manifest.json"
 import { environment, licensing } from "stores/portal"
 import { convertOldFieldFormat } from "components/design/settings/controls/FieldConfiguration/utils"
+import { FIELDS } from "constants/backend"
 
 const { ContextScopes } = Constants
 
@@ -491,7 +492,7 @@ const generateComponentContextBindings = (asset, componentContext) => {
         icon: bindingCategory.icon,
         display: {
           name: `${fieldSchema.name || key}`,
-          type: fieldSchema.type,
+          type: fieldSchema.display?.type || fieldSchema.type,
         },
       })
     })
@@ -1019,15 +1020,23 @@ export const getSchemaForDatasource = (asset, datasource, options) => {
     // are objects
     let fixedSchema = {}
     Object.entries(schema || {}).forEach(([fieldName, fieldSchema]) => {
+      const field = Object.values(FIELDS).find(
+        field =>
+          field.type === fieldSchema.type &&
+          field.subtype === fieldSchema.subtype
+      )
+
       if (typeof fieldSchema === "string") {
         fixedSchema[fieldName] = {
           type: fieldSchema,
           name: fieldName,
+          display: { type: fieldSchema },
         }
       } else {
         fixedSchema[fieldName] = {
           ...fieldSchema,
           name: fieldName,
+          display: { type: field?.name || fieldSchema.type },
         }
       }
     })
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/design/[screenId]/[componentId]/new/_components/componentStructure.json b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/design/[screenId]/[componentId]/new/_components/componentStructure.json
index 03e22acd4d..0f85d2e3e3 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/design/[screenId]/[componentId]/new/_components/componentStructure.json
+++ b/packages/builder/src/pages/builder/app/[application]/design/[screenId]/[componentId]/new/_components/componentStructure.json
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@
       "multifieldselect",
       "s3upload",
       "codescanner",
+      "bbreferencesinglefield",
       "bbreferencefield"
     ]
   },
diff --git a/packages/client/manifest.json b/packages/client/manifest.json
index 63fb2e3cf0..cf5ed8140b 100644
--- a/packages/client/manifest.json
+++ b/packages/client/manifest.json
@@ -7025,8 +7025,8 @@
   },
   "bbreferencefield": {
     "devComment": "As bb reference is only used for user subtype for now, we are using user for icon and labels",
-    "name": "User Field",
-    "icon": "User",
+    "name": "User List Field",
+    "icon": "UserGroup",
     "styles": ["size"],
     "requiredAncestors": ["form"],
     "editable": true,
@@ -7130,5 +7130,113 @@
         ]
       }
     ]
+  },
+  "bbreferencesinglefield": {
+    "devComment": "As bb reference is only used for user subtype for now, we are using user for icon and labels",
+    "name": "User Field",
+    "icon": "User",
+    "styles": ["size"],
+    "requiredAncestors": ["form"],
+    "editable": true,
+    "size": {
+      "width": 400,
+      "height": 50
+    },
+    "settings": [
+      {
+        "type": "field/bb_reference_single",
+        "label": "Field",
+        "key": "field",
+        "required": true
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "text",
+        "label": "Label",
+        "key": "label"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "text",
+        "label": "Placeholder",
+        "key": "placeholder"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "text",
+        "label": "Default value",
+        "key": "defaultValue"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "text",
+        "label": "Help text",
+        "key": "helpText"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "event",
+        "label": "On change",
+        "key": "onChange",
+        "context": [
+          {
+            "label": "Field Value",
+            "key": "value"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "validation/link",
+        "label": "Validation",
+        "key": "validation"
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "label": "Search",
+        "key": "autocomplete",
+        "defaultValue": true
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "label": "Disabled",
+        "key": "disabled",
+        "defaultValue": false
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "boolean",
+        "label": "Read only",
+        "key": "readonly",
+        "defaultValue": false,
+        "dependsOn": {
+          "setting": "disabled",
+          "value": true,
+          "invert": true
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        "type": "select",
+        "label": "Layout",
+        "key": "span",
+        "defaultValue": 6,
+        "hidden": true,
+        "showInBar": true,
+        "barStyle": "buttons",
+        "options": [
+          {
+            "label": "1 column",
+            "value": 6,
+            "barIcon": "Stop",
+            "barTitle": "1 column"
+          },
+          {
+            "label": "2 columns",
+            "value": 3,
+            "barIcon": "ColumnTwoA",
+            "barTitle": "2 columns"
+          },
+          {
+            "label": "3 columns",
+            "value": 2,
+            "barIcon": "ViewColumn",
+            "barTitle": "3 columns"
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    ]
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/blocks/FormBlockComponent.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/blocks/FormBlockComponent.svelte
index 968ed36b8b..31610f79ac 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/blocks/FormBlockComponent.svelte
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/blocks/FormBlockComponent.svelte
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
     [FieldType.JSON]: "jsonfield",
     [FieldType.BARCODEQR]: "codescanner",
     [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: "bbreferencefield",
+    [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: "bbreferencesinglefield",
   }
 
   const getFieldSchema = field => {
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
index 5f00c503c2..c266268275 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 <script>
-  import RelationshipField from "./RelationshipField.svelte"
   import { sdk } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+  import { FieldType } from "@budibase/types"
+  import RelationshipField from "./RelationshipField.svelte"
 
   export let defaultValue
+  export let type = FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
 
   function updateUserIDs(value) {
     if (Array.isArray(value)) {
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@
 
 <RelationshipField
   {...$$props}
+  {type}
   datasourceType={"user"}
   primaryDisplay={"email"}
   defaultValue={updateReferences(defaultValue)}
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceSingleField.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceSingleField.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..85d3d2e6d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceSingleField.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+<script>
+  import { FieldType } from "@budibase/types"
+  import BBReferenceField from "./BBReferenceField.svelte"
+</script>
+
+<BBReferenceField {...$$restProps} type={FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE} />
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
index 1fbd0df522..a6d0564f7f 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 <script>
   import { CoreSelect, CoreMultiselect } from "@budibase/bbui"
+  import { FieldType } from "@budibase/types"
   import { fetchData, Utils } from "@budibase/frontend-core"
-  import { getContext, onMount } from "svelte"
+  import { getContext } from "svelte"
   import Field from "./Field.svelte"
-  import { FieldTypes } from "../../../constants"
 
   const { API } = getContext("sdk")
 
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
   export let primaryDisplay
   export let span
   export let helpText = null
+  export let type = FieldType.LINK
 
   let fieldState
   let fieldApi
@@ -28,12 +29,10 @@
   let tableDefinition
   let searchTerm
   let open
-  let initialValue
 
-  $: type =
-    datasourceType === "table" ? FieldTypes.LINK : FieldTypes.BB_REFERENCE
-
-  $: multiselect = fieldSchema?.relationshipType !== "one-to-many"
+  $: multiselect =
+    [FieldType.LINK, FieldType.BB_REFERENCE].includes(type) &&
+    fieldSchema?.relationshipType !== "one-to-many"
   $: linkedTableId = fieldSchema?.tableId
   $: fetch = fetchData({
     API,
@@ -52,18 +51,19 @@
     ? flatten(fieldState?.value) ?? []
     : flatten(fieldState?.value)?.[0]
   $: component = multiselect ? CoreMultiselect : CoreSelect
-  $: expandedDefaultValue = expand(defaultValue)
   $: primaryDisplay = primaryDisplay || tableDefinition?.primaryDisplay
 
-  let optionsObj = {}
-  let initialValuesProcessed
+  let optionsObj
 
   $: {
-    if (!initialValuesProcessed && primaryDisplay) {
+    if (primaryDisplay && fieldState && !optionsObj) {
       // Persist the initial values as options, allowing them to be present in the dropdown,
       // even if they are not in the inital fetch results
-      initialValuesProcessed = true
-      optionsObj = (fieldState?.value || []).reduce((accumulator, value) => {
+      let valueAsSafeArray = fieldState.value || []
+      if (!Array.isArray(valueAsSafeArray)) {
+        valueAsSafeArray = [fieldState.value]
+      }
+      optionsObj = valueAsSafeArray.reduce((accumulator, value) => {
         // fieldState has to be an array of strings to be valid for an update
         // therefore we cannot guarantee value will be an object
         // https://linear.app/budibase/issue/BUDI-7577/refactor-the-relationshipfield-component-to-have-better-support-for
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
           [primaryDisplay]: value.primaryDisplay,
         }
         return accumulator
-      }, optionsObj)
+      }, {})
     }
   }
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
         accumulator[row._id] = row
       }
       return accumulator
-    }, optionsObj)
+    }, optionsObj || {})
 
     return Object.values(result)
   }
@@ -110,17 +110,10 @@
   }
 
   $: forceFetchRows(filter)
-  $: debouncedFetchRows(
-    searchTerm,
-    primaryDisplay,
-    initialValue || defaultValue
-  )
+  $: debouncedFetchRows(searchTerm, primaryDisplay, defaultValue)
 
   const forceFetchRows = async () => {
-    // if the filter has changed, then we need to reset the options, clear the selection, and re-fetch
-    optionsObj = {}
     fieldApi?.setValue([])
-    selectedValue = []
     debouncedFetchRows(searchTerm, primaryDisplay, defaultValue)
   }
   const fetchRows = async (searchTerm, primaryDisplay, defaultVal) => {
@@ -136,7 +129,7 @@
     if (defaultVal && !Array.isArray(defaultVal)) {
       defaultVal = defaultVal.split(",")
     }
-    if (defaultVal && defaultVal.some(val => !optionsObj[val])) {
+    if (defaultVal && optionsObj && defaultVal.some(val => !optionsObj[val])) {
       await fetch.update({
         query: { oneOf: { _id: defaultVal } },
       })
@@ -162,16 +155,13 @@
     if (!values) {
       return []
     }
+
     if (!Array.isArray(values)) {
       values = [values]
     }
     values = values.map(value =>
       typeof value === "object" ? value._id : value
     )
-    // Make sure field state is valid
-    if (values?.length > 0) {
-      fieldApi.setValue(values)
-    }
     return values
   }
 
@@ -179,25 +169,20 @@
     return row?.[primaryDisplay] || "-"
   }
 
-  const singleHandler = e => {
-    handleChange(e.detail == null ? [] : [e.detail])
-  }
-
-  const multiHandler = e => {
-    handleChange(e.detail)
-  }
-
-  const expand = values => {
-    if (!values) {
-      return []
+  const handleChange = e => {
+    let value = e.detail
+    if (!multiselect) {
+      value = value == null ? [] : [value]
+    }
+
+    if (
+      type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE &&
+      value &&
+      Array.isArray(value)
+    ) {
+      value = value[0] || null
     }
-    if (Array.isArray(values)) {
-      return values
-    }
-    return values.split(",").map(value => value.trim())
-  }
 
-  const handleChange = value => {
     const changed = fieldApi.setValue(value)
     if (onChange && changed) {
       onChange({
@@ -211,16 +196,6 @@
       fetch.nextPage()
     }
   }
-
-  onMount(() => {
-    // if the form is in 'Update' mode, then we need to fetch the matching row so that the value is correctly set
-    if (fieldState?.value) {
-      initialValue =
-        fieldSchema?.relationshipType !== "one-to-many"
-          ? flatten(fieldState?.value) ?? []
-          : flatten(fieldState?.value)?.[0]
-    }
-  })
 </script>
 
 <Field
@@ -229,7 +204,7 @@
   {disabled}
   {readonly}
   {validation}
-  defaultValue={expandedDefaultValue}
+  {defaultValue}
   {type}
   {span}
   {helpText}
@@ -243,7 +218,7 @@
       options={enrichedOptions}
       {autocomplete}
       value={selectedValue}
-      on:change={multiselect ? multiHandler : singleHandler}
+      on:change={handleChange}
       on:loadMore={loadMore}
       id={fieldState.fieldId}
       disabled={fieldState.disabled}
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/index.js b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/index.js
index aa54204454..15966c3765 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/index.js
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/index.js
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ export { default as jsonfield } from "./JSONField.svelte"
 export { default as s3upload } from "./S3Upload.svelte"
 export { default as codescanner } from "./CodeScannerField.svelte"
 export { default as bbreferencefield } from "./BBReferenceField.svelte"
+export { default as bbreferencesinglefield } from "./BBReferenceSingleField.svelte"
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/FilterBuilder.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/FilterBuilder.svelte
index 2e61238cc8..fb7aa98405 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/FilterBuilder.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/FilterBuilder.svelte
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
     filter.type = fieldSchema?.type
     filter.subtype = fieldSchema?.subtype
     filter.formulaType = fieldSchema?.formulaType
+    filter.constraints = fieldSchema?.constraints
 
     // Update external type based on field
     filter.externalType = getSchema(filter)?.externalType
@@ -281,7 +282,7 @@
                   timeOnly={getSchema(filter)?.timeOnly}
                   bind:value={filter.value}
                 />
-              {:else if filter.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE}
+              {:else if [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE, FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE].includes(filter.type)}
                 <FilterUsers
                   bind:value={filter.value}
                   multiselect={[
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceCell.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceCell.svelte
index 1e409fb200..5d98ba903b 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceCell.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceCell.svelte
@@ -1,19 +1,27 @@
 <script>
   import { getContext } from "svelte"
+  import { helpers } from "@budibase/shared-core"
   import RelationshipCell from "./RelationshipCell.svelte"
-  import { BBReferenceFieldSubType, RelationshipType } from "@budibase/types"
+  import {
+    BBReferenceFieldSubType,
+    FieldType,
+    RelationshipType,
+  } from "@budibase/types"
 
   export let api
+  export let hideCounter = false
+  export let schema
 
   const { API } = getContext("grid")
-  const { subtype } = $$props.schema
+  const { type, subtype } = schema
 
-  const schema = {
+  $: schema = {
     ...$$props.schema,
     // This is not really used, just adding some content to be able to render the relationship cell
     tableId: "external",
     relationshipType:
-      subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+      type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE ||
+      helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(schema)
         ? RelationshipType.ONE_TO_MANY
         : RelationshipType.MANY_TO_MANY,
   }
@@ -44,8 +52,9 @@
 
 <RelationshipCell
   bind:api
-  {...$$props}
+  {...$$restProps}
   {schema}
   {searchFunction}
   primaryDisplay={"email"}
+  {hideCounter}
 />
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceSingleCell.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceSingleCell.svelte
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ed98e2ee08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/BBReferenceSingleCell.svelte
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+<script>
+  import BbReferenceCell from "./BBReferenceCell.svelte"
+
+  export let value
+  export let onChange
+  export let api
+
+  $: arrayValue = (!Array.isArray(value) && value ? [value] : value) || []
+
+  $: onValueChange = value => {
+    value = value[0] || null
+    onChange(value)
+  }
+</script>
+
+<BbReferenceCell
+  bind:api
+  {...$$restProps}
+  value={arrayValue}
+  onChange={onValueChange}
+  hideCounter={true}
+/>
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/RelationshipCell.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/RelationshipCell.svelte
index a01baa5c8e..f5a8351604 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/RelationshipCell.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/cells/RelationshipCell.svelte
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
   export let contentLines = 1
   export let searchFunction = API.searchTable
   export let primaryDisplay
+  export let hideCounter = false
 
   const color = getColor(0)
 
@@ -263,7 +264,7 @@
         </div>
       {/if}
     </div>
-    {#if value?.length}
+    {#if !hideCounter && value?.length}
       <div class="count">
         {value?.length || 0}
       </div>
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/controls/MigrationModal.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/controls/MigrationModal.svelte
index f0cdd7deab..8ecec03e0e 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/controls/MigrationModal.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/controls/MigrationModal.svelte
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@
   } from "@budibase/bbui"
   import { getContext } from "svelte"
   import { ValidColumnNameRegex } from "@budibase/shared-core"
-  import {
-    BBReferenceFieldSubType,
-    FieldType,
-    RelationshipType,
-  } from "@budibase/types"
 
   const { API, definition, rows } = getContext("grid")
 
@@ -33,20 +28,11 @@
   }
 
   const migrateUserColumn = async () => {
-    let subtype = BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-    if (column.schema.relationshipType === RelationshipType.ONE_TO_MANY) {
-      subtype = BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
-    }
-
     try {
       await API.migrateColumn({
         tableId: $definition._id,
-        oldColumn: column.schema,
-        newColumn: {
-          name: newColumnName,
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype,
-        },
+        oldColumn: column.schema.name,
+        newColumn: newColumnName,
       })
       notifications.success("Column migrated")
     } catch (e) {
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/GridRow.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/GridRow.svelte
index d6c8c3d87b..88a6fc488f 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/GridRow.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/GridRow.svelte
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <script>
   import { getContext } from "svelte"
   import DataCell from "../cells/DataCell.svelte"
+  import { getCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
   export let row
   export let top = false
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@
   on:click={() => dispatch("rowclick", rows.actions.cleanRow(row))}
 >
   {#each $visibleColumns as column, columnIdx}
-    {@const cellId = `${row._id}-${column.name}`}
+    {@const cellId = getCellID(row._id, column.name)}
     <DataCell
       {cellId}
       {column}
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/NewRow.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/NewRow.svelte
index f5de870f7e..4a4979f535 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/NewRow.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/NewRow.svelte
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   import { GutterWidth, NewRowID } from "../lib/constants"
   import GutterCell from "../cells/GutterCell.svelte"
   import KeyboardShortcut from "./KeyboardShortcut.svelte"
+  import { getCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
   const {
     hoveredRowId,
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@
 
       // Select the first cell if possible
       if (firstColumn) {
-        $focusedCellId = `${savedRow._id}-${firstColumn.name}`
+        $focusedCellId = getCellID(savedRow._id, firstColumn.name)
       }
     }
     isAdding = false
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@
     visible = true
     $hoveredRowId = NewRowID
     if (firstColumn) {
-      $focusedCellId = `${NewRowID}-${firstColumn.name}`
+      $focusedCellId = getCellID(NewRowID, firstColumn.name)
     }
 
     // Attach key listener
@@ -194,7 +195,7 @@
         {/if}
       </GutterCell>
       {#if $stickyColumn}
-        {@const cellId = `${NewRowID}-${$stickyColumn.name}`}
+        {@const cellId = getCellID(NewRowID, $stickyColumn.name)}
         <DataCell
           {cellId}
           rowFocused
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/StickyColumn.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/StickyColumn.svelte
index 6a388f8014..b5cf3dbe59 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/StickyColumn.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/layout/StickyColumn.svelte
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
   import { GutterWidth, BlankRowID } from "../lib/constants"
   import GutterCell from "../cells/GutterCell.svelte"
   import KeyboardShortcut from "./KeyboardShortcut.svelte"
+  import { getCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
   const {
     rows,
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@
         {@const rowSelected = !!$selectedRows[row._id]}
         {@const rowHovered = $hoveredRowId === row._id}
         {@const rowFocused = $focusedRow?._id === row._id}
-        {@const cellId = `${row._id}-${$stickyColumn?.name}`}
+        {@const cellId = getCellID(row._id, $stickyColumn?.name)}
         <div
           class="row"
           on:mouseenter={$isDragging ? null : () => ($hoveredRowId = row._id)}
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/renderers.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/renderers.js
index c3ee276ff9..8911d68cba 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/renderers.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/renderers.js
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import JSONCell from "../cells/JSONCell.svelte"
 import AttachmentCell from "../cells/AttachmentCell.svelte"
 import AttachmentSingleCell from "../cells/AttachmentSingleCell.svelte"
 import BBReferenceCell from "../cells/BBReferenceCell.svelte"
+import BBReferenceSingleCell from "../cells/BBReferenceSingleCell.svelte"
 
 const TypeComponentMap = {
   [FieldType.STRING]: TextCell,
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ const TypeComponentMap = {
   [FieldType.FORMULA]: FormulaCell,
   [FieldType.JSON]: JSONCell,
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: BBReferenceCell,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: BBReferenceSingleCell,
 }
 export const getCellRenderer = column => {
   return TypeComponentMap[column?.schema?.type] || TextCell
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/utils.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/utils.js
index 02e6d66e0e..b105d12714 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/utils.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/lib/utils.js
@@ -1,5 +1,23 @@
+import { helpers } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 import { TypeIconMap } from "../../../constants"
 
+// we can't use "-" for joining the ID/field, as this can be present in the ID or column name
+// using something very unusual to avoid this problem
+const JOINING_CHARACTER = "‽‽"
+
+export const parseCellID = rowId => {
+  if (!rowId) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+  const parts = rowId.split(JOINING_CHARACTER)
+  const field = parts.pop()
+  return { id: parts.join(JOINING_CHARACTER), field }
+}
+
+export const getCellID = (rowId, fieldName) => {
+  return `${rowId}${JOINING_CHARACTER}${fieldName}`
+}
+
 export const getColor = (idx, opacity = 0.3) => {
   if (idx == null || idx === -1) {
     idx = 0
@@ -11,8 +29,12 @@ export const getColumnIcon = column => {
   if (column.schema.autocolumn) {
     return "MagicWand"
   }
-  const { type, subtype } = column.schema
 
+  if (helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(column.schema)) {
+    return "User"
+  }
+
+  const { type, subtype } = column.schema
   const result =
     typeof TypeIconMap[type] === "object" && subtype
       ? TypeIconMap[type][subtype]
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/KeyboardManager.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/KeyboardManager.svelte
index cef4144833..78cb186f29 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/KeyboardManager.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/KeyboardManager.svelte
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
   import { getContext, onMount } from "svelte"
   import { debounce } from "../../../utils/utils"
   import { NewRowID } from "../lib/constants"
+  import { getCellID, parseCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
   const {
     rows,
@@ -154,7 +155,7 @@
     if (!firstColumn) {
       return
     }
-    focusedCellId.set(`${firstRow._id}-${firstColumn.name}`)
+    focusedCellId.set(getCellID(firstRow._id, firstColumn.name))
   }
 
   // Changes the focused cell by moving it left or right to a different column
@@ -163,8 +164,7 @@
       return
     }
     const cols = $visibleColumns
-    const split = $focusedCellId.split("-")
-    const columnName = split[1]
+    const { id, field: columnName } = parseCellID($focusedCellId)
     let newColumnName
     if (columnName === $stickyColumn?.name) {
       const index = delta - 1
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
       }
     }
     if (newColumnName) {
-      $focusedCellId = `${split[0]}-${newColumnName}`
+      $focusedCellId = getCellID(id, newColumnName)
     }
   }
 
@@ -189,8 +189,8 @@
     }
     const newRow = $rows[$focusedRow.__idx + delta]
     if (newRow) {
-      const split = $focusedCellId.split("-")
-      $focusedCellId = `${newRow._id}-${split[1]}`
+      const { field } = parseCellID($focusedCellId)
+      $focusedCellId = getCellID(newRow._id, field)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/MenuOverlay.svelte b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/MenuOverlay.svelte
index b11d42f52d..4a413d7dde 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/MenuOverlay.svelte
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/overlays/MenuOverlay.svelte
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   import { getContext } from "svelte"
   import { NewRowID } from "../lib/constants"
   import GridPopover from "./GridPopover.svelte"
+  import { getCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
   const {
     focusedRow,
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@
     const newRow = await rows.actions.duplicateRow($focusedRow)
     if (newRow) {
       const column = $stickyColumn?.name || $columns[0].name
-      $focusedCellId = `${newRow._id}-${column}`
+      $focusedCellId = getCellID(newRow._id, column)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
index 6193b59d1d..c73dae8991 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/rows.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { writable, derived, get } from "svelte/store"
 import { fetchData } from "../../../fetch"
 import { NewRowID, RowPageSize } from "../lib/constants"
+import { getCellID, parseCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 import { tick } from "svelte"
 import { Helpers } from "@budibase/bbui"
 
@@ -206,7 +207,7 @@ export const createActions = context => {
     // If the server doesn't reply with a valid error, assume that the source
     // of the error is the focused cell's column
     if (!error?.json?.validationErrors && errorString) {
-      const focusedColumn = get(focusedCellId)?.split("-")[1]
+      const { field: focusedColumn } = parseCellID(get(focusedCellId))
       if (focusedColumn) {
         error = {
           json: {
@@ -245,7 +246,7 @@ export const createActions = context => {
         }
         // Set error against the cell
         validation.actions.setError(
-          `${rowId}-${column}`,
+          getCellID(rowId, column),
           Helpers.capitalise(err)
         )
         // Ensure the column is visible
@@ -265,7 +266,7 @@ export const createActions = context => {
 
       // Focus the first cell with an error
       if (erroredColumns.length) {
-        focusedCellId.set(`${rowId}-${erroredColumns[0]}`)
+        focusedCellId.set(getCellID(rowId, erroredColumns[0]))
       }
     } else {
       get(notifications).error(errorString || "An unknown error occurred")
@@ -571,9 +572,10 @@ export const initialise = context => {
       return
     }
     // Stop if we changed row
-    const oldRowId = id.split("-")[0]
-    const oldColumn = id.split("-")[1]
-    const newRowId = get(focusedCellId)?.split("-")[0]
+    const split = parseCellID(id)
+    const oldRowId = split.id
+    const oldColumn = split.field
+    const { id: newRowId } = parseCellID(get(focusedCellId))
     if (oldRowId !== newRowId) {
       return
     }
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/scroll.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/scroll.js
index 88a676f078..b071c1fc38 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/scroll.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/scroll.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { writable, derived, get } from "svelte/store"
 import { tick } from "svelte"
 import { Padding, GutterWidth, FocusedCellMinOffset } from "../lib/constants"
+import { parseCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
 export const createStores = () => {
   const scroll = writable({
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ export const initialise = context => {
     // Ensure horizontal position is viewable
     // Check horizontal position of columns next
     const $visibleColumns = get(visibleColumns)
-    const columnName = $focusedCellId?.split("-")[1]
+    const { field: columnName } = parseCellID($focusedCellId)
     const column = $visibleColumns.find(col => col.name === columnName)
     if (!column) {
       return
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
index 928f93f3e1..8bc295cb74 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/ui.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   MediumRowHeight,
   NewRowID,
 } from "../lib/constants"
+import { parseCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
 export const createStores = context => {
   const { props } = context
@@ -25,7 +26,7 @@ export const createStores = context => {
   const focusedRowId = derived(
     focusedCellId,
     $focusedCellId => {
-      return $focusedCellId?.split("-")[0]
+      return parseCellID($focusedCellId)?.id
     },
     null
   )
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ export const deriveStores = context => {
   const focusedRow = derived(
     [focusedCellId, rowLookupMap, rows],
     ([$focusedCellId, $rowLookupMap, $rows]) => {
-      const rowId = $focusedCellId?.split("-")[0]
+      const rowId = parseCellID($focusedCellId)?.id
 
       // Edge case for new rows
       if (rowId === NewRowID) {
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ export const initialise = context => {
     const hasRow = rows.actions.hasRow
 
     // Check selected cell
-    const selectedRowId = $focusedCellId?.split("-")[0]
+    const selectedRowId = parseCellID($focusedCellId)?.id
     if (selectedRowId && !hasRow(selectedRowId)) {
       focusedCellId.set(null)
     }
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
index 70db076593..34efde9180 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/components/grid/stores/validation.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { writable, get, derived } from "svelte/store"
+import { getCellID, parseCellID } from "../lib/utils"
 
 // Normally we would break out actions into the explicit "createActions"
 // function, but for validation all these actions are pure so can go into
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ export const createStores = () => {
     Object.entries($validation).forEach(([key, error]) => {
       // Extract row ID from all errored cell IDs
       if (error) {
-        map[key.split("-")[0]] = true
+        map[parseCellID(key).id] = true
       }
     })
     return map
@@ -53,10 +54,10 @@ export const initialise = context => {
       const $stickyColumn = get(stickyColumn)
       validation.update(state => {
         $columns.forEach(column => {
-          state[`${id}-${column.name}`] = null
+          state[getCellID(id, column.name)] = null
         })
         if ($stickyColumn) {
-          state[`${id}-${$stickyColumn.name}`] = null
+          state[getCellID(id, stickyColumn.name)] = null
         }
         return state
       })
diff --git a/packages/frontend-core/src/constants.js b/packages/frontend-core/src/constants.js
index 1f07db157c..bd05fafd33 100644
--- a/packages/frontend-core/src/constants.js
+++ b/packages/frontend-core/src/constants.js
@@ -132,10 +132,11 @@ export const TypeIconMap = {
   [FieldType.JSON]: "Brackets",
   [FieldType.BIGINT]: "TagBold",
   [FieldType.AUTO]: "MagicWand",
-  [FieldType.USER]: "User",
-  [FieldType.USERS]: "UserGroup",
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: {
-    [BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER]: "User",
+    [BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER]: "UserGroup",
     [BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS]: "UserGroup",
   },
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: {
+    [BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER]: "User",
+  },
 }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/utils/basic.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/utils/basic.ts
index 0c2c786e18..afb98d0255 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/utils/basic.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/row/utils/basic.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 // need to handle table name + field or just field, depending on if relationships used
 import { FieldType, Row, Table } from "@budibase/types"
+import { helpers } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 import { generateRowIdField } from "../../../../integrations/utils"
 import { CONSTANT_INTERNAL_ROW_COLS } from "../../../../db/utils"
 
@@ -107,12 +108,17 @@ export function basicProcessing({
 
 export function fixArrayTypes(row: Row, table: Table) {
   for (let [fieldName, schema] of Object.entries(table.schema)) {
-    if (schema.type === FieldType.ARRAY && typeof row[fieldName] === "string") {
+    if (
+      [FieldType.ARRAY, FieldType.BB_REFERENCE].includes(schema.type) &&
+      typeof row[fieldName] === "string"
+    ) {
       try {
         row[fieldName] = JSON.parse(row[fieldName])
       } catch (err) {
-        // couldn't convert back to array, ignore
-        delete row[fieldName]
+        if (!helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(schema)) {
+          // couldn't convert back to array, ignore
+          delete row[fieldName]
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/index.ts b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/index.ts
index 63ce00c5ef..eae5204c7e 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/controllers/table/index.ts
@@ -180,5 +180,5 @@ export async function migrate(ctx: UserCtx<MigrateRequest, MigrateResponse>) {
   }
 
   ctx.status = 200
-  ctx.body = { message: `Column ${oldColumn.name} migrated.` }
+  ctx.body = { message: `Column ${oldColumn} migrated.` }
 }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/datasource.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/datasource.spec.ts
index 761300c37a..f2cea90675 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/datasource.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/datasource.spec.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   SourceName,
   Table,
   TableSchema,
+  SupportedSqlTypes,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { DatabaseName, getDatasource } from "../../../integrations/tests/utils"
 import { tableForDatasource } from "../../../tests/utilities/structures"
@@ -261,20 +262,6 @@ describe("/datasources", () => {
         })
       )
 
-      type SupportedSqlTypes =
-        | FieldType.STRING
-        | FieldType.BARCODEQR
-        | FieldType.LONGFORM
-        | FieldType.OPTIONS
-        | FieldType.DATETIME
-        | FieldType.NUMBER
-        | FieldType.BOOLEAN
-        | FieldType.FORMULA
-        | FieldType.BIGINT
-        | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
-        | FieldType.LINK
-        | FieldType.ARRAY
-
       const fullSchema: {
         [type in SupportedSqlTypes]: FieldSchema & { type: type }
       } = {
@@ -337,7 +324,12 @@ describe("/datasources", () => {
         [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: {
           name: "bb_reference",
           type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+        },
+        [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: {
+          name: "bb_reference_single",
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
         },
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/search.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/search.spec.ts
index d036da646e..87d0aa72c7 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/search.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/search.spec.ts
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ describe.each([
   const snippets = [
     {
       name: "WeeksAgo",
-      code: "return function (weeks) {\n  const currentTime = new Date();\n  currentTime.setDate(currentTime.getDate()-(7 * (weeks || 1)));\n  return currentTime.toISOString();\n}",
+      code: `return function (weeks) {\n  const currentTime = new Date(${Date.now()});\n  currentTime.setDate(currentTime.getDate()-(7 * (weeks || 1)));\n  return currentTime.toISOString();\n}`,
     },
   ]
 
@@ -262,11 +262,19 @@ describe.each([
         { name: "serverDate", appointment: serverTime.toISOString() },
         {
           name: "single user, session user",
-          single_user: JSON.stringify([currentUser]),
+          single_user: JSON.stringify(currentUser),
         },
         {
           name: "single user",
-          single_user: JSON.stringify([globalUsers[0]]),
+          single_user: JSON.stringify(globalUsers[0]),
+        },
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user, session user",
+          deprecated_single_user: JSON.stringify([currentUser]),
+        },
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user",
+          deprecated_single_user: JSON.stringify([globalUsers[0]]),
         },
         {
           name: "multi user",
@@ -276,6 +284,14 @@ describe.each([
           name: "multi user with session user",
           multi_user: JSON.stringify([...globalUsers, currentUser]),
         },
+        {
+          name: "deprecated multi user",
+          deprecated_multi_user: JSON.stringify(globalUsers),
+        },
+        {
+          name: "deprecated multi user with session user",
+          deprecated_multi_user: JSON.stringify([...globalUsers, currentUser]),
+        },
       ]
     }
 
@@ -301,13 +317,29 @@ describe.each([
         appointment: { name: "appointment", type: FieldType.DATETIME },
         single_user: {
           name: "single_user",
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+        },
+        deprecated_single_user: {
+          name: "deprecated_single_user",
           type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
           subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
         },
         multi_user: {
           name: "multi_user",
           type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+          constraints: {
+            type: "array",
+          },
+        },
+        deprecated_multi_user: {
+          name: "deprecated_multi_user",
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
           subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
+          constraints: {
+            type: "array",
+          },
         },
       })
       await createRows(rows(config.getUser()))
@@ -398,7 +430,18 @@ describe.each([
       }).toContainExactly([
         {
           name: "single user, session user",
-          single_user: [{ _id: config.getUser()._id }],
+          single_user: { _id: config.getUser()._id },
+        },
+      ])
+    })
+
+    it("should match a deprecated single user row by the session user id", async () => {
+      await expectQuery({
+        equal: { deprecated_single_user: "{{ [user]._id }}" },
+      }).toContainExactly([
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user, session user",
+          deprecated_single_user: [{ _id: config.getUser()._id }],
         },
       ])
     })
@@ -420,6 +463,23 @@ describe.each([
         ])
       })
 
+    // TODO(samwho): fix for SQS
+    !isSqs &&
+      it("should match the session user id in a deprecated multi user field", async () => {
+        const allUsers = [...globalUsers, config.getUser()].map((user: any) => {
+          return { _id: user._id }
+        })
+
+        await expectQuery({
+          contains: { deprecated_multi_user: ["{{ [user]._id }}"] },
+        }).toContainExactly([
+          {
+            name: "deprecated multi user with session user",
+            deprecated_multi_user: allUsers,
+          },
+        ])
+      })
+
     // TODO(samwho): fix for SQS
     !isSqs &&
       it("should not match the session user id in a multi user field", async () => {
@@ -436,6 +496,22 @@ describe.each([
         ])
       })
 
+    // TODO(samwho): fix for SQS
+    !isSqs &&
+      it("should not match the session user id in a deprecated multi user field", async () => {
+        await expectQuery({
+          notContains: { deprecated_multi_user: ["{{ [user]._id }}"] },
+          notEmpty: { deprecated_multi_user: true },
+        }).toContainExactly([
+          {
+            name: "deprecated multi user",
+            deprecated_multi_user: globalUsers.map((user: any) => {
+              return { _id: user._id }
+            }),
+          },
+        ])
+      })
+
     it("should match the session user id and a user table row id using helpers, user binding and a static user id.", async () => {
       await expectQuery({
         oneOf: {
@@ -447,11 +523,31 @@ describe.each([
       }).toContainExactly([
         {
           name: "single user, session user",
-          single_user: [{ _id: config.getUser()._id }],
+          single_user: { _id: config.getUser()._id },
         },
         {
           name: "single user",
-          single_user: [{ _id: globalUsers[0]._id }],
+          single_user: { _id: globalUsers[0]._id },
+        },
+      ])
+    })
+
+    it("should match the session user id and a user table row id using helpers, user binding and a static user id. (deprecated single user)", async () => {
+      await expectQuery({
+        oneOf: {
+          deprecated_single_user: [
+            "{{ default [user]._id '_empty_' }}",
+            globalUsers[0]._id,
+          ],
+        },
+      }).toContainExactly([
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user, session user",
+          deprecated_single_user: [{ _id: config.getUser()._id }],
+        },
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user",
+          deprecated_single_user: [{ _id: globalUsers[0]._id }],
         },
       ])
     })
@@ -467,7 +563,23 @@ describe.each([
       }).toContainExactly([
         {
           name: "single user",
-          single_user: [{ _id: globalUsers[0]._id }],
+          single_user: { _id: globalUsers[0]._id },
+        },
+      ])
+    })
+
+    it("should resolve 'default' helper to '_empty_' when binding resolves to nothing (deprecated single user)", async () => {
+      await expectQuery({
+        oneOf: {
+          deprecated_single_user: [
+            "{{ default [user]._idx '_empty_' }}",
+            globalUsers[0]._id,
+          ],
+        },
+      }).toContainExactly([
+        {
+          name: "deprecated single user",
+          deprecated_single_user: [{ _id: globalUsers[0]._id }],
         },
       ])
     })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/table.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/table.spec.ts
index d279e1f3ac..059b5cde72 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/table.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/table.spec.ts
@@ -545,16 +545,16 @@ describe.each([
       )
 
       await config.api.table.migrate(table._id!, {
-        oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-        newColumn: {
-          name: "user column",
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
-        },
+        oldColumn: "user relationship",
+        newColumn: "user column",
       })
 
       const migratedTable = await config.api.table.get(table._id!)
-      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toBeDefined()
+      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toEqual({
+        name: "user column",
+        type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
+        subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+      })
       expect(migratedTable.schema["user relationship"]).not.toBeDefined()
 
       const migratedRows = await config.api.row.fetch(table._id!)
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ describe.each([
         expect(migratedRow["user column"]).toBeDefined()
         expect(migratedRow["user relationship"]).not.toBeDefined()
         expect(row["user relationship"][0]._id).toEqual(
-          migratedRow["user column"][0]._id
+          migratedRow["user column"]._id
         )
       }
     })
@@ -610,16 +610,19 @@ describe.each([
       )
 
       await config.api.table.migrate(table._id!, {
-        oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-        newColumn: {
-          name: "user column",
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-        },
+        oldColumn: "user relationship",
+        newColumn: "user column",
       })
 
       const migratedTable = await config.api.table.get(table._id!)
-      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toBeDefined()
+      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toEqual({
+        name: "user column",
+        type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+        subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+        constraints: {
+          type: "array",
+        },
+      })
       expect(migratedTable.schema["user relationship"]).not.toBeDefined()
 
       const migratedRow = await config.api.row.get(table._id!, testRow._id!)
@@ -662,16 +665,19 @@ describe.each([
       })
 
       await config.api.table.migrate(table._id!, {
-        oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-        newColumn: {
-          name: "user column",
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-        },
+        oldColumn: "user relationship",
+        newColumn: "user column",
       })
 
       const migratedTable = await config.api.table.get(table._id!)
-      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toBeDefined()
+      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toEqual({
+        name: "user column",
+        type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+        subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+        constraints: {
+          type: "array",
+        },
+      })
       expect(migratedTable.schema["user relationship"]).not.toBeDefined()
 
       const row1Migrated = await config.api.row.get(table._id!, row1._id!)
@@ -717,16 +723,19 @@ describe.each([
       })
 
       await config.api.table.migrate(table._id!, {
-        oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-        newColumn: {
-          name: "user column",
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-        },
+        oldColumn: "user relationship",
+        newColumn: "user column",
       })
 
       const migratedTable = await config.api.table.get(table._id!)
-      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toBeDefined()
+      expect(migratedTable.schema["user column"]).toEqual({
+        name: "user column",
+        type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+        subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+        constraints: {
+          type: "array",
+        },
+      })
       expect(migratedTable.schema["user relationship"]).not.toBeDefined()
 
       const row1Migrated = await config.api.row.get(table._id!, row1._id!)
@@ -776,12 +785,8 @@ describe.each([
         await config.api.table.migrate(
           table._id!,
           {
-            oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-            newColumn: {
-              name: "",
-              type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-              subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-            },
+            oldColumn: "user relationship",
+            newColumn: "",
           },
           { status: 400 }
         )
@@ -791,12 +796,8 @@ describe.each([
         await config.api.table.migrate(
           table._id!,
           {
-            oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-            newColumn: {
-              name: "_id",
-              type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-              subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-            },
+            oldColumn: "user relationship",
+            newColumn: "_id",
           },
           { status: 400 }
         )
@@ -806,12 +807,8 @@ describe.each([
         await config.api.table.migrate(
           table._id!,
           {
-            oldColumn: table.schema["user relationship"],
-            newColumn: {
-              name: "num",
-              type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-              subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-            },
+            oldColumn: "user relationship",
+            newColumn: "num",
           },
           { status: 400 }
         )
@@ -821,16 +818,8 @@ describe.each([
         await config.api.table.migrate(
           table._id!,
           {
-            oldColumn: {
-              name: "not a column",
-              type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-              subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-            },
-            newColumn: {
-              name: "new column",
-              type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-              subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
-            },
+            oldColumn: "not a column",
+            newColumn: "new column",
           },
           { status: 400 }
         )
diff --git a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/executeQuery.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/executeQuery.spec.ts
index 996e44af79..5a0688276d 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/automations/tests/executeQuery.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/automations/tests/executeQuery.spec.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ describe.each(
     let res = await setup.runStep(setup.actions.EXECUTE_QUERY.stepId, {
       query: { queryId: "wrong_id" },
     })
-    expect(res.response).toEqual("Error: missing")
+    expect(res.response).toEqual("Error: CouchDB error: missing")
     expect(res.success).toEqual(false)
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
index 8ea5fee0c9..85db642e47 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sql.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import SqlTableQueryBuilder from "./sqlTable"
 import {
   BBReferenceFieldMetadata,
   FieldSchema,
-  BBReferenceFieldSubType,
   FieldType,
   JsonFieldMetadata,
   Operation,
@@ -27,6 +26,7 @@ import {
   INTERNAL_TABLE_SOURCE_ID,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import environment from "../../environment"
+import { helpers } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 
 type QueryFunction = (query: SqlQuery | SqlQuery[], operation: Operation) => any
 
@@ -787,7 +787,7 @@ class SqlQueryBuilder extends SqlTableQueryBuilder {
     return (
       field.type === FieldType.JSON ||
       (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-        field.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS)
+        !helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(field))
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sqlTable.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sqlTable.ts
index 449736a03b..a82a9fcea8 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sqlTable.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/base/sqlTable.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { Knex, knex } from "knex"
 import {
-  BBReferenceFieldSubType,
   FieldType,
   NumberFieldMetadata,
   Operation,
@@ -12,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   TableSourceType,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { breakExternalTableId, getNativeSql, SqlClient } from "../utils"
-import { utils } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+import { helpers, utils } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 import SchemaBuilder = Knex.SchemaBuilder
 import CreateTableBuilder = Knex.CreateTableBuilder
 
@@ -54,27 +53,15 @@ function generateSchema(
     ) {
       continue
     }
-    switch (column.type) {
+    const columnType = column.type
+    switch (columnType) {
       case FieldType.STRING:
       case FieldType.OPTIONS:
       case FieldType.LONGFORM:
       case FieldType.BARCODEQR:
+      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE:
         schema.text(key)
         break
-      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE: {
-        const subtype = column.subtype
-        switch (subtype) {
-          case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER:
-            schema.text(key)
-            break
-          case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS:
-            schema.json(key)
-            break
-          default:
-            throw utils.unreachable(subtype)
-        }
-        break
-      }
       case FieldType.NUMBER:
         // if meta is specified then this is a junction table entry
         if (column.meta && column.meta.toKey && column.meta.toTable) {
@@ -97,7 +84,13 @@ function generateSchema(
         })
         break
       case FieldType.ARRAY:
-        schema.json(key)
+      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE:
+        if (helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(column)) {
+          // This is still required for unit testing, in order to create "deprecated" schemas
+          schema.text(key)
+        } else {
+          schema.json(key)
+        }
         break
       case FieldType.LINK:
         // this side of the relationship doesn't need any SQL work
@@ -127,6 +120,18 @@ function generateSchema(
             .references(`${tableName}.${relatedPrimary}`)
         }
         break
+      case FieldType.FORMULA:
+        // This is allowed, but nothing to do on the external datasource
+        break
+      case FieldType.ATTACHMENTS:
+      case FieldType.ATTACHMENT_SINGLE:
+      case FieldType.AUTO:
+      case FieldType.JSON:
+      case FieldType.INTERNAL:
+        throw `${column.type} is not a valid SQL type`
+
+      default:
+        utils.unreachable(columnType)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/googlesheets.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/googlesheets.ts
index 7215c337d7..da98ac4875 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/googlesheets.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/googlesheets.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import {
   TableRequest,
   TableSourceType,
   DatasourcePlusQueryResponse,
+  BBReferenceFieldSubType,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { OAuth2Client } from "google-auth-library"
 import {
@@ -52,17 +53,30 @@ interface AuthTokenResponse {
   access_token: string
 }
 
-const ALLOWED_TYPES = [
-  FieldType.STRING,
-  FieldType.FORMULA,
-  FieldType.NUMBER,
-  FieldType.LONGFORM,
-  FieldType.DATETIME,
-  FieldType.OPTIONS,
-  FieldType.BOOLEAN,
-  FieldType.BARCODEQR,
-  FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-]
+const isTypeAllowed: Record<FieldType, boolean> = {
+  [FieldType.STRING]: true,
+  [FieldType.FORMULA]: true,
+  [FieldType.NUMBER]: true,
+  [FieldType.LONGFORM]: true,
+  [FieldType.DATETIME]: true,
+  [FieldType.OPTIONS]: true,
+  [FieldType.BOOLEAN]: true,
+  [FieldType.BARCODEQR]: true,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: true,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: true,
+  [FieldType.ARRAY]: false,
+  [FieldType.ATTACHMENTS]: false,
+  [FieldType.ATTACHMENT_SINGLE]: false,
+  [FieldType.LINK]: false,
+  [FieldType.AUTO]: false,
+  [FieldType.JSON]: false,
+  [FieldType.INTERNAL]: false,
+  [FieldType.BIGINT]: false,
+}
+
+const ALLOWED_TYPES = Object.entries(isTypeAllowed)
+  .filter(([_, allowed]) => allowed)
+  .map(([type]) => type as FieldType)
 
 const SCHEMA: Integration = {
   plus: true,
@@ -350,6 +364,7 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
           rowIndex: json.extra?.idFilter?.equal?.rowNumber,
           sheet,
           row: json.body,
+          table: json.meta.table,
         })
       case Operation.DELETE:
         return this.delete({
@@ -371,9 +386,11 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
   }
 
   buildRowObject(headers: string[], values: string[], rowNumber: number) {
-    const rowObject: { rowNumber: number; [key: string]: any } = { rowNumber }
+    const rowObject: { rowNumber: number } & Row = {
+      rowNumber,
+      _id: rowNumber.toString(),
+    }
     for (let i = 0; i < headers.length; i++) {
-      rowObject._id = rowNumber
       rowObject[headers[i]] = values[i]
     }
     return rowObject
@@ -430,14 +447,6 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
         }
       }
 
-      // clear out deleted columns
-      for (let key of sheet.headerValues) {
-        if (!Object.keys(table.schema).includes(key)) {
-          const idx = updatedHeaderValues.indexOf(key)
-          updatedHeaderValues.splice(idx, 1)
-        }
-      }
-
       try {
         await sheet.setHeaderRow(updatedHeaderValues)
       } catch (err) {
@@ -458,7 +467,7 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
     }
   }
 
-  async create(query: { sheet: string; row: any }) {
+  async create(query: { sheet: string; row: Row }) {
     try {
       await this.connect()
       const sheet = this.client.sheetsByTitle[query.sheet]
@@ -474,7 +483,7 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
     }
   }
 
-  async createBulk(query: { sheet: string; rows: any[] }) {
+  async createBulk(query: { sheet: string; rows: Row[] }) {
     try {
       await this.connect()
       const sheet = this.client.sheetsByTitle[query.sheet]
@@ -573,7 +582,12 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
     return { sheet, row }
   }
 
-  async update(query: { sheet: string; rowIndex: number; row: any }) {
+  async update(query: {
+    sheet: string
+    rowIndex: number
+    row: any
+    table: Table
+  }) {
     try {
       await this.connect()
       const { sheet, row } = await this.getRowByIndex(
@@ -589,6 +603,15 @@ class GoogleSheetsIntegration implements DatasourcePlus {
           if (row[key] === null) {
             row[key] = ""
           }
+
+          const { type, subtype, constraints } = query.table.schema[key]
+          const isDeprecatedSingleUser =
+            type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
+            subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER &&
+            constraints?.type !== "array"
+          if (isDeprecatedSingleUser && Array.isArray(row[key])) {
+            row[key] = row[key][0]
+          }
         }
         await row.save()
         return [
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/tests/googlesheets.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/tests/googlesheets.spec.ts
index c6e073d602..97ac35787d 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/tests/googlesheets.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/tests/googlesheets.spec.ts
@@ -129,10 +129,11 @@ describe("Google Sheets Integration", () => {
       })
       expect(sheet.loadHeaderRow).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
       expect(sheet.setHeaderRow).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
-      expect(sheet.setHeaderRow).toHaveBeenCalledWith(["name"])
-
-      // No undefined are sent
-      expect((sheet.setHeaderRow as any).mock.calls[0][0]).toHaveLength(1)
+      expect(sheet.setHeaderRow).toHaveBeenCalledWith([
+        "name",
+        "description",
+        "location",
+      ])
     })
   })
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/integrations/utils/utils.ts b/packages/server/src/integrations/utils/utils.ts
index e2fba11a4e..892d8ae034 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/integrations/utils/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/integrations/utils/utils.ts
@@ -383,6 +383,7 @@ function copyExistingPropsOver(
         case FieldType.ATTACHMENT_SINGLE:
         case FieldType.JSON:
         case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE:
+        case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE:
           shouldKeepSchema = keepIfType(FieldType.JSON, FieldType.STRING)
           break
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search.ts
index e347a8657d..2d194ab196 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search.ts
@@ -79,7 +79,9 @@ export async function search(
   }
 
   const table = await sdk.tables.getTable(options.tableId)
-  options = searchInputMapping(table, options)
+  options = searchInputMapping(table, options, {
+    isSql: !!table.sql || !!env.SQS_SEARCH_ENABLE,
+  })
 
   if (isExternalTable) {
     return external.search(options, table)
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/tests/utils.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/tests/utils.spec.ts
index 18dc4ef3f0..0698f727df 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/tests/utils.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/tests/utils.spec.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const tableWithUserCol: Table = {
   schema: {
     user: {
       name: "user",
-      type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+      type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
       subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
     },
   },
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ const tableWithUsersCol: Table = {
     user: {
       name: "user",
       type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
-      subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS,
+      subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
     },
   },
 }
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/utils.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/utils.ts
index fc0c218e71..62f5af2b70 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/rows/search/utils.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {
   RowSearchParams,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { db as dbCore, context } from "@budibase/backend-core"
-import { utils } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+import { helpers, utils } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 
 export async function paginatedSearch(
   query: SearchFilters,
@@ -49,13 +49,19 @@ function findColumnInQueries(
   }
 }
 
-function userColumnMapping(column: string, options: RowSearchParams) {
+function userColumnMapping(
+  column: string,
+  options: RowSearchParams,
+  isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn: boolean = false,
+  isSql: boolean = false
+) {
   findColumnInQueries(column, options, (filterValue: any): any => {
     const isArray = Array.isArray(filterValue),
       isString = typeof filterValue === "string"
     if (!isString && !isArray) {
       return filterValue
     }
+
     const processString = (input: string) => {
       const rowPrefix = DocumentType.ROW + SEPARATOR
       if (input.startsWith(rowPrefix)) {
@@ -64,40 +70,60 @@ function userColumnMapping(column: string, options: RowSearchParams) {
         return input
       }
     }
+
+    let wrapper = (s: string) => s
+    if (isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn && filterValue && isSql) {
+      // Decreated single users are stored as stringified arrays of a single value
+      wrapper = (s: string) => JSON.stringify([s])
+    }
+
     if (isArray) {
       return filterValue.map(el => {
         if (typeof el === "string") {
-          return processString(el)
+          return wrapper(processString(el))
         } else {
           return el
         }
       })
     } else {
-      return processString(filterValue)
+      return wrapper(processString(filterValue))
     }
   })
 }
 
 // maps through the search parameters to check if any of the inputs are invalid
 // based on the table schema, converts them to something that is valid.
-export function searchInputMapping(table: Table, options: RowSearchParams) {
+export function searchInputMapping(
+  table: Table,
+  options: RowSearchParams,
+  datasourceOptions: { isSql?: boolean } = {}
+) {
   if (!table?.schema) {
     return options
   }
   for (let [key, column] of Object.entries(table.schema)) {
     switch (column.type) {
-      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE: {
+      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE: {
         const subtype = column.subtype
         switch (subtype) {
           case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER:
-          case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS:
             userColumnMapping(key, options)
             break
+
           default:
             utils.unreachable(subtype)
         }
         break
       }
+      case FieldType.BB_REFERENCE: {
+        userColumnMapping(
+          key,
+          options,
+          helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(column),
+          datasourceOptions.isSql
+        )
+        break
+      }
     }
   }
   return options
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
index 65d44b9af4..92ff309cc9 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/internal/sqs.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const FieldTypeMap: Record<FieldType, SQLiteType> = {
   [FieldType.BIGINT]: SQLiteType.TEXT,
   // TODO: consider the difference between multi-user and single user types (subtyping)
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: SQLiteType.TEXT,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: SQLiteType.TEXT,
 }
 
 function buildRelationshipDefinitions(
diff --git a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/migration.ts b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/migration.ts
index ae47897289..d0decf01f6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/migration.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/sdk/app/tables/migration.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import {
   FieldSchema,
   BBReferenceFieldSubType,
   InternalTable,
-  isBBReferenceField,
   isRelationshipField,
   LinkDocument,
   LinkInfo,
@@ -12,6 +11,8 @@ import {
   RelationshipType,
   Row,
   Table,
+  FieldType,
+  BBReferenceSingleFieldMetadata,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import sdk from "../../../sdk"
 import { isExternalTableID } from "../../../integrations/utils"
@@ -24,25 +25,58 @@ export interface MigrationResult {
 
 export async function migrate(
   table: Table,
-  oldColumn: FieldSchema,
-  newColumn: FieldSchema
+  oldColumnName: string,
+  newColumnName: string
 ): Promise<MigrationResult> {
-  if (newColumn.name in table.schema) {
-    throw new BadRequestError(`Column "${newColumn.name}" already exists`)
+  if (newColumnName in table.schema) {
+    throw new BadRequestError(`Column "${newColumnName}" already exists`)
   }
 
-  if (newColumn.name === "") {
+  if (newColumnName === "") {
     throw new BadRequestError(`Column name cannot be empty`)
   }
 
-  if (dbCore.isInternalColumnName(newColumn.name)) {
+  if (dbCore.isInternalColumnName(newColumnName)) {
     throw new BadRequestError(`Column name cannot be a reserved column name`)
   }
 
+  const oldColumn = table.schema[oldColumnName]
+
+  if (!oldColumn) {
+    throw new BadRequestError(
+      `Column "${oldColumnName}" does not exist on table "${table.name}"`
+    )
+  }
+
+  if (
+    oldColumn.type !== FieldType.LINK ||
+    oldColumn.tableId !== InternalTable.USER_METADATA
+  ) {
+    throw new BadRequestError(
+      `Only user relationship migration columns is currently supported`
+    )
+  }
+
+  const type =
+    oldColumn.relationshipType === RelationshipType.ONE_TO_MANY
+      ? FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
+      : FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
+  const newColumn: FieldSchema = {
+    name: newColumnName,
+    type,
+    subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+  }
+
+  if (newColumn.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
+    newColumn.constraints = {
+      type: "array",
+    }
+  }
+
   table.schema[newColumn.name] = newColumn
   table = await sdk.tables.saveTable(table)
 
-  let migrator = getColumnMigrator(table, oldColumn, newColumn)
+  const migrator = getColumnMigrator(table, oldColumn, newColumn)
   try {
     return await migrator.doMigration()
   } catch (e) {
@@ -75,11 +109,14 @@ function getColumnMigrator(
     throw new BadRequestError(`Column "${oldColumn.name}" does not exist`)
   }
 
-  if (!isBBReferenceField(newColumn)) {
+  if (
+    newColumn.type !== FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE &&
+    newColumn.type !== FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
+  ) {
     throw new BadRequestError(`Column "${newColumn.name}" is not a user column`)
   }
 
-  if (newColumn.subtype !== "user" && newColumn.subtype !== "users") {
+  if (newColumn.subtype !== BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER) {
     throw new BadRequestError(`Column "${newColumn.name}" is not a user column`)
   }
 
@@ -96,7 +133,7 @@ function getColumnMigrator(
   }
 
   if (oldColumn.relationshipType === RelationshipType.ONE_TO_MANY) {
-    if (newColumn.subtype !== BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER) {
+    if (newColumn.type !== FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE) {
       throw new BadRequestError(
         `Column "${oldColumn.name}" is a one-to-many column but "${newColumn.name}" is not a single user column`
       )
@@ -107,22 +144,23 @@ function getColumnMigrator(
     oldColumn.relationshipType === RelationshipType.MANY_TO_MANY ||
     oldColumn.relationshipType === RelationshipType.MANY_TO_ONE
   ) {
-    if (newColumn.subtype !== BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS) {
+    if (newColumn.type !== FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
       throw new BadRequestError(
         `Column "${oldColumn.name}" is a ${oldColumn.relationshipType} column but "${newColumn.name}" is not a multi user column`
       )
     }
+
     return new MultiUserColumnMigrator(table, oldColumn, newColumn)
   }
 
   throw new BadRequestError(`Unknown migration type`)
 }
 
-abstract class UserColumnMigrator implements ColumnMigrator {
+abstract class UserColumnMigrator<T> implements ColumnMigrator {
   constructor(
     protected table: Table,
     protected oldColumn: RelationshipFieldMetadata,
-    protected newColumn: BBReferenceFieldMetadata
+    protected newColumn: T
   ) {}
 
   abstract updateRow(row: Row, linkInfo: LinkInfo): void
@@ -192,7 +230,7 @@ abstract class UserColumnMigrator implements ColumnMigrator {
   }
 }
 
-class SingleUserColumnMigrator extends UserColumnMigrator {
+class SingleUserColumnMigrator extends UserColumnMigrator<BBReferenceSingleFieldMetadata> {
   updateRow(row: Row, linkInfo: LinkInfo): void {
     row[this.newColumn.name] = dbCore.getGlobalIDFromUserMetadataID(
       linkInfo.rowId
@@ -200,7 +238,7 @@ class SingleUserColumnMigrator extends UserColumnMigrator {
   }
 }
 
-class MultiUserColumnMigrator extends UserColumnMigrator {
+class MultiUserColumnMigrator extends UserColumnMigrator<BBReferenceFieldMetadata> {
   updateRow(row: Row, linkInfo: LinkInfo): void {
     if (!row[this.newColumn.name]) {
       row[this.newColumn.name] = []
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
index 0908d6b031..d69fe73052 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
@@ -9,26 +9,57 @@ import { InvalidBBRefError } from "./errors"
 
 const ROW_PREFIX = DocumentType.ROW + SEPARATOR
 
-export async function processInputBBReferences(
-  value: string | string[] | { _id: string } | { _id: string }[],
-  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER | BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-): Promise<string | string[] | null> {
-  let referenceIds: string[] = []
+export async function processInputBBReference(
+  value: string | { _id: string },
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+): Promise<string | null> {
+  if (value && Array.isArray(value)) {
+    throw "BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE cannot be an array"
+  }
+  let id = typeof value === "string" ? value : value?._id
 
-  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
-    referenceIds.push(
-      ...value.map(idOrDoc =>
-        typeof idOrDoc === "string" ? idOrDoc : idOrDoc._id
-      )
-    )
-  } else if (typeof value !== "string") {
-    referenceIds.push(value._id)
+  if (!id) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  switch (subtype) {
+    case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER: {
+      if (id.startsWith(ROW_PREFIX)) {
+        id = dbCore.getGlobalIDFromUserMetadataID(id)
+      }
+
+      try {
+        await cache.user.getUser(id)
+        return id
+      } catch (e: any) {
+        if (e.statusCode === 404) {
+          throw new InvalidBBRefError(id, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        }
+        throw e
+      }
+    }
+
+    default:
+      throw utils.unreachable(subtype)
+  }
+}
+export async function processInputBBReferences(
+  value: string | string[] | { _id: string }[],
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType
+): Promise<string[] | null> {
+  if (!value || !value[0]) {
+    return null
+  }
+
+  let referenceIds
+  if (typeof value === "string") {
+    referenceIds = value
+      .split(",")
+      .map(u => u.trim())
+      .filter(u => !!u)
   } else {
-    referenceIds.push(
-      ...value
-        .split(",")
-        .filter(x => x)
-        .map((id: string) => id.trim())
+    referenceIds = value.map(idOrDoc =>
+      typeof idOrDoc === "string" ? idOrDoc : idOrDoc._id
     )
   }
 
@@ -44,6 +75,8 @@ export async function processInputBBReferences(
   })
 
   switch (subtype) {
+    case undefined:
+      throw "Subtype must be defined"
     case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER:
     case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS: {
       const { notFoundIds } = await cache.user.getUsers(referenceIds)
@@ -55,11 +88,54 @@ export async function processInputBBReferences(
         )
       }
 
-      if (subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS) {
-        return referenceIds
+      if (!referenceIds?.length) {
+        return null
       }
 
-      return referenceIds.join(",") || null
+      return referenceIds
+    }
+    default:
+      throw utils.unreachable(subtype)
+  }
+}
+
+interface UserReferenceInfo {
+  _id: string
+  primaryDisplay: string
+  email: string
+  firstName?: string
+  lastName?: string
+}
+
+export async function processOutputBBReference(
+  value: string | null | undefined,
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+): Promise<UserReferenceInfo | undefined> {
+  if (!value) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  switch (subtype) {
+    case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER: {
+      let user
+      try {
+        user = await cache.user.getUser(value as string)
+      } catch (err: any) {
+        if (err.statusCode !== 404) {
+          throw err
+        }
+      }
+      if (!user) {
+        return undefined
+      }
+
+      return {
+        _id: user._id!,
+        primaryDisplay: user.email,
+        email: user.email,
+        firstName: user.firstName,
+        lastName: user.lastName,
+      }
     }
     default:
       throw utils.unreachable(subtype)
@@ -67,14 +143,12 @@ export async function processInputBBReferences(
 }
 
 export async function processOutputBBReferences(
-  value: string | string[],
-  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER | BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-) {
-  if (value === null || value === undefined) {
-    // Already processed or nothing to process
-    return value || undefined
+  value: string | null | undefined,
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType
+): Promise<UserReferenceInfo[] | undefined> {
+  if (!value) {
+    return undefined
   }
-
   const ids =
     typeof value === "string" ? value.split(",").filter(id => !!id) : value
 
@@ -87,7 +161,7 @@ export async function processOutputBBReferences(
       }
 
       return users.map(u => ({
-        _id: u._id,
+        _id: u._id!,
         primaryDisplay: u.email,
         email: u.email,
         firstName: u.firstName,
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
index 8cb03de948..b71f40e870 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,9 @@ import {
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import { cloneDeep } from "lodash/fp"
 import {
+  processInputBBReference,
   processInputBBReferences,
+  processOutputBBReference,
   processOutputBBReferences,
 } from "./bbReferenceProcessor"
 import { isExternalTableID } from "../../integrations/utils"
@@ -160,10 +162,10 @@ export async function inputProcessing(
       if (attachment?.url) {
         delete clonedRow[key].url
       }
-    }
-
-    if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE && value) {
+    } else if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE && value) {
       clonedRow[key] = await processInputBBReferences(value, field.subtype)
+    } else if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE && value) {
+      clonedRow[key] = await processInputBBReference(value, field.subtype)
     }
   }
 
@@ -252,6 +254,16 @@ export async function outputProcessing<T extends Row[] | Row>(
           column.subtype
         )
       }
+    } else if (
+      !opts.skipBBReferences &&
+      column.type == FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
+    ) {
+      for (let row of enriched) {
+        row[property] = await processOutputBBReference(
+          row[property],
+          column.subtype
+        )
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/bbReferenceProcessor.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/bbReferenceProcessor.spec.ts
index 8d691662fb..c5a7b7fc84 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/bbReferenceProcessor.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/bbReferenceProcessor.spec.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@ import _ from "lodash"
 import * as backendCore from "@budibase/backend-core"
 import { BBReferenceFieldSubType, User } from "@budibase/types"
 import {
+  processInputBBReference,
   processInputBBReferences,
+  processOutputBBReference,
   processOutputBBReferences,
 } from "../bbReferenceProcessor"
 import {
@@ -22,6 +24,7 @@ jest.mock("@budibase/backend-core", (): typeof backendCore => {
       ...actual.cache,
       user: {
         ...actual.cache.user,
+        getUser: jest.fn(actual.cache.user.getUser),
         getUsers: jest.fn(actual.cache.user.getUsers),
       },
     },
@@ -31,6 +34,9 @@ jest.mock("@budibase/backend-core", (): typeof backendCore => {
 const config = new DBTestConfiguration()
 
 describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
+  const cacheGetUserSpy = backendCore.cache.user.getUser as jest.MockedFunction<
+    typeof backendCore.cache.user.getUser
+  >
   const cacheGetUsersSpy = backendCore.cache.user
     .getUsers as jest.MockedFunction<typeof backendCore.cache.user.getUsers>
 
@@ -56,6 +62,64 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
     jest.clearAllMocks()
   })
 
+  describe("processInputBBReference", () => {
+    describe("subtype user", () => {
+      it("validate valid string id", async () => {
+        const user = _.sample(users)
+        const userId = user!._id!
+
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processInputBBReference(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toEqual(userId)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userId)
+      })
+
+      it("throws an error given an invalid id", async () => {
+        const userId = generator.guid()
+
+        await expect(
+          config.doInTenant(() =>
+            processInputBBReference(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+          )
+        ).rejects.toThrow(
+          new InvalidBBRefError(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+      })
+
+      it("validate valid user object", async () => {
+        const userId = _.sample(users)!._id!
+
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processInputBBReference({ _id: userId }, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toEqual(userId)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userId)
+      })
+
+      it("empty strings will return null", async () => {
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processInputBBReference("", BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toEqual(null)
+      })
+
+      it("should convert user medata IDs to global IDs", async () => {
+        const userId = _.sample(users)!._id!
+        const userMetadataId = backendCore.db.generateUserMetadataID(userId)
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processInputBBReference(userMetadataId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+        expect(result).toBe(userId)
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
   describe("processInputBBReferences", () => {
     describe("subtype user", () => {
       it("validate valid string id", async () => {
@@ -66,7 +130,7 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
           processInputBBReferences(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
         )
 
-        expect(result).toEqual(userId)
+        expect(result).toEqual([userId])
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith([userId])
       })
@@ -93,7 +157,7 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
           processInputBBReferences(userIdCsv, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
         )
 
-        expect(result).toEqual(userIds.join(","))
+        expect(result).toEqual(userIds)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userIds)
       })
@@ -117,36 +181,26 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
         )
       })
 
-      it("validate valid user object", async () => {
-        const userId = _.sample(users)!._id!
-
-        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
-          processInputBBReferences(
-            { _id: userId },
-            BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
-          )
-        )
-
-        expect(result).toEqual(userId)
-        expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
-        expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith([userId])
-      })
-
       it("validate valid user object array", async () => {
-        const userIds = _.sampleSize(users, 3).map(x => x._id!)
+        const inputUsers = _.sampleSize(users, 3).map(u => ({ _id: u._id! }))
+        const userIds = inputUsers.map(u => u._id)
 
         const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
-          processInputBBReferences(userIds, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+          processInputBBReferences(inputUsers, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
         )
 
-        expect(result).toEqual(userIds.join(","))
+        expect(result).toEqual(userIds)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userIds)
       })
 
       it("empty strings will return null", async () => {
         const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
-          processInputBBReferences("", BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+          processInputBBReferences(
+            "",
+
+            BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+          )
         )
 
         expect(result).toEqual(null)
@@ -166,7 +220,42 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
         const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
           processInputBBReferences(userMetadataId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
         )
-        expect(result).toBe(userId)
+        expect(result).toEqual([userId])
+      })
+    })
+  })
+
+  describe("processOutputBBReference", () => {
+    describe("subtype user", () => {
+      it("fetches user given a valid string id", async () => {
+        const user = _.sample(users)!
+        const userId = user._id!
+
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processOutputBBReference(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toEqual({
+          _id: user._id,
+          primaryDisplay: user.email,
+          email: user.email,
+          firstName: user.firstName,
+          lastName: user.lastName,
+        })
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userId)
+      })
+
+      it("returns undefined given an unexisting user", async () => {
+        const userId = generator.guid()
+
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processOutputBBReference(userId, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toBeUndefined()
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+        expect(cacheGetUserSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(userId)
       })
     })
   })
@@ -221,6 +310,46 @@ describe("bbReferenceProcessor", () => {
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
         expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith([userId1, userId2])
       })
+
+      it("trims unexisting users user given a valid string id csv", async () => {
+        const [user1, user2] = _.sampleSize(users, 2)
+        const userId1 = user1._id!
+        const userId2 = user2._id!
+
+        const unexistingUserId1 = generator.guid()
+        const unexistingUserId2 = generator.guid()
+
+        const input = [
+          unexistingUserId1,
+          userId1,
+          unexistingUserId2,
+          userId2,
+        ].join(",")
+
+        const result = await config.doInTenant(() =>
+          processOutputBBReferences(input, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER)
+        )
+
+        expect(result).toHaveLength(2)
+        expect(result).toEqual(
+          expect.arrayContaining(
+            [user1, user2].map(u => ({
+              _id: u._id,
+              primaryDisplay: u.email,
+              email: u.email,
+              firstName: u.firstName,
+              lastName: u.lastName,
+            }))
+          )
+        )
+        expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+        expect(cacheGetUsersSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith([
+          unexistingUserId1,
+          userId1,
+          unexistingUserId2,
+          userId2,
+        ])
+      })
     })
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/inputProcessing.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/inputProcessing.spec.ts
index 7e808f0d61..b1928b696b 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/inputProcessing.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/inputProcessing.spec.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@ import {
 import * as bbReferenceProcessor from "../bbReferenceProcessor"
 
 jest.mock("../bbReferenceProcessor", (): typeof bbReferenceProcessor => ({
+  processInputBBReference: jest.fn(),
   processInputBBReferences: jest.fn(),
+  processOutputBBReference: jest.fn(),
   processOutputBBReferences: jest.fn(),
 }))
 
@@ -19,7 +21,64 @@ describe("rowProcessor - inputProcessing", () => {
     jest.resetAllMocks()
   })
 
-  it("processes BB references if on the schema and it's populated", async () => {
+  const processInputBBReferenceMock =
+    bbReferenceProcessor.processInputBBReference as jest.Mock
+  const processInputBBReferencesMock =
+    bbReferenceProcessor.processInputBBReferences as jest.Mock
+
+  it("processes single BB references if on the schema and it's populated", async () => {
+    const userId = generator.guid()
+
+    const table: Table = {
+      _id: generator.guid(),
+      name: "TestTable",
+      type: "table",
+      sourceId: INTERNAL_TABLE_SOURCE_ID,
+      sourceType: TableSourceType.INTERNAL,
+      schema: {
+        name: {
+          type: FieldType.STRING,
+          name: "name",
+          constraints: {
+            presence: true,
+            type: "string",
+          },
+        },
+        user: {
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+          name: "user",
+          constraints: {
+            presence: true,
+            type: "string",
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    }
+
+    const newRow = {
+      name: "Jack",
+      user: "123",
+    }
+
+    const user = structures.users.user()
+
+    processInputBBReferenceMock.mockResolvedValue(user)
+
+    const { row } = await inputProcessing(userId, table, newRow)
+
+    expect(bbReferenceProcessor.processInputBBReference).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(
+      1
+    )
+    expect(bbReferenceProcessor.processInputBBReference).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "123",
+      "user"
+    )
+
+    expect(row).toEqual({ ...newRow, user })
+  })
+
+  it("processes multiple BB references if on the schema and it's populated", async () => {
     const userId = generator.guid()
 
     const table: Table = {
@@ -56,9 +115,7 @@ describe("rowProcessor - inputProcessing", () => {
 
     const user = structures.users.user()
 
-    ;(
-      bbReferenceProcessor.processInputBBReferences as jest.Mock
-    ).mockResolvedValue(user)
+    processInputBBReferencesMock.mockResolvedValue(user)
 
     const { row } = await inputProcessing(userId, table, newRow)
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/outputProcessing.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/outputProcessing.spec.ts
index c22fd1c69d..fd48f46016 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/outputProcessing.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/tests/outputProcessing.spec.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ import { generator, structures } from "@budibase/backend-core/tests"
 import * as bbReferenceProcessor from "../bbReferenceProcessor"
 
 jest.mock("../bbReferenceProcessor", (): typeof bbReferenceProcessor => ({
+  processInputBBReference: jest.fn(),
   processInputBBReferences: jest.fn(),
+  processOutputBBReference: jest.fn(),
   processOutputBBReferences: jest.fn(),
 }))
 
@@ -20,10 +22,12 @@ describe("rowProcessor - outputProcessing", () => {
     jest.resetAllMocks()
   })
 
+  const processOutputBBReferenceMock =
+    bbReferenceProcessor.processOutputBBReference as jest.Mock
   const processOutputBBReferencesMock =
     bbReferenceProcessor.processOutputBBReferences as jest.Mock
 
-  it("fetches bb user references given a populated field", async () => {
+  it("fetches single user references given a populated field", async () => {
     const table: Table = {
       _id: generator.guid(),
       name: "TestTable",
@@ -40,7 +44,7 @@ describe("rowProcessor - outputProcessing", () => {
           },
         },
         user: {
-          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
           subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
           name: "user",
           constraints: {
@@ -57,12 +61,61 @@ describe("rowProcessor - outputProcessing", () => {
     }
 
     const user = structures.users.user()
-    processOutputBBReferencesMock.mockResolvedValue(user)
+    processOutputBBReferenceMock.mockResolvedValue(user)
 
     const result = await outputProcessing(table, row, { squash: false })
 
     expect(result).toEqual({ name: "Jack", user })
 
+    expect(bbReferenceProcessor.processOutputBBReference).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(
+      1
+    )
+    expect(bbReferenceProcessor.processOutputBBReference).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      "123",
+      BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+    )
+  })
+
+  it("fetches users references given a populated field", async () => {
+    const table: Table = {
+      _id: generator.guid(),
+      name: "TestTable",
+      type: "table",
+      sourceId: INTERNAL_TABLE_SOURCE_ID,
+      sourceType: TableSourceType.INTERNAL,
+      schema: {
+        name: {
+          type: FieldType.STRING,
+          name: "name",
+          constraints: {
+            presence: true,
+            type: "string",
+          },
+        },
+        users: {
+          type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+          subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+          name: "users",
+          constraints: {
+            presence: false,
+            type: "string",
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    }
+
+    const row = {
+      name: "Jack",
+      users: "123",
+    }
+
+    const users = [structures.users.user()]
+    processOutputBBReferencesMock.mockResolvedValue(users)
+
+    const result = await outputProcessing(table, row, { squash: false })
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({ name: "Jack", users })
+
     expect(
       bbReferenceProcessor.processOutputBBReferences
     ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
index 40bde42a5d..4f0feb3c93 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ export function validate(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): ValidationResults {
         type: columnType,
         subtype: columnSubtype,
         autocolumn: isAutoColumn,
+        constraints,
       } = schema[columnName] || {}
 
       // If the column had an invalid value we don't want to override it
@@ -61,6 +62,12 @@ export function validate(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): ValidationResults {
         return
       }
 
+      const isRequired =
+        !!constraints &&
+        ((typeof constraints.presence !== "boolean" &&
+          !constraints.presence?.allowEmpty) ||
+          constraints.presence === true)
+
       // If the columnType is not a string, then it's not present in the schema, and should be added to the invalid columns array
       if (typeof columnType !== "string") {
         results.invalidColumns.push(columnName)
@@ -92,8 +99,9 @@ export function validate(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): ValidationResults {
       ) {
         results.schemaValidation[columnName] = false
       } else if (
-        columnType === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-        !isValidBBReference(columnData, columnSubtype)
+        (columnType === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE ||
+          columnType === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE) &&
+        !isValidBBReference(columnData, columnType, columnSubtype, isRequired)
       ) {
         results.schemaValidation[columnName] = false
       } else {
@@ -121,7 +129,7 @@ export function parse(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): Rows {
         return
       }
 
-      const { type: columnType, subtype: columnSubtype } = schema[columnName]
+      const { type: columnType } = schema[columnName]
       if (columnType === FieldType.NUMBER) {
         // If provided must be a valid number
         parsedRow[columnName] = columnData ? Number(columnData) : columnData
@@ -131,22 +139,16 @@ export function parse(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): Rows {
           ? new Date(columnData).toISOString()
           : columnData
       } else if (columnType === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
-        const parsedValues =
-          !!columnData && parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }[]>(columnData)
-        if (!parsedValues) {
-          parsedRow[columnName] = undefined
-        } else {
-          switch (columnSubtype) {
-            case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER:
-              parsedRow[columnName] = parsedValues[0]?._id
-              break
-            case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS:
-              parsedRow[columnName] = parsedValues.map(u => u._id)
-              break
-            default:
-              utils.unreachable(columnSubtype)
-          }
+        let parsedValues: { _id: string }[] = columnData || []
+        if (columnData) {
+          parsedValues = parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }[]>(columnData)
         }
+
+        parsedRow[columnName] = parsedValues?.map(u => u._id)
+      } else if (columnType === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE) {
+        const parsedValue =
+          columnData && parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }>(columnData)
+        parsedRow[columnName] = parsedValue?._id
       } else if (
         (columnType === FieldType.ATTACHMENTS ||
           columnType === FieldType.ATTACHMENT_SINGLE) &&
@@ -163,33 +165,37 @@ export function parse(rows: Rows, schema: TableSchema): Rows {
 }
 
 function isValidBBReference(
-  columnData: any,
-  columnSubtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER | BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
+  data: any,
+  type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE,
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType,
+  isRequired: boolean
 ): boolean {
-  switch (columnSubtype) {
+  if (typeof data !== "string") {
+    return false
+  }
+
+  if (type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE) {
+    if (!data) {
+      return !isRequired
+    }
+    const user = parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }>(data)
+    return db.isGlobalUserID(user._id)
+  }
+
+  switch (subtype) {
     case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER:
     case BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS: {
-      if (typeof columnData !== "string") {
-        return false
-      }
-      const userArray = parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }[]>(columnData)
+      const userArray = parseCsvExport<{ _id: string }[]>(data)
       if (!Array.isArray(userArray)) {
         return false
       }
 
-      if (
-        columnSubtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER &&
-        userArray.length > 1
-      ) {
-        return false
-      }
-
       const constainsWrongId = userArray.find(
         user => !db.isGlobalUserID(user._id)
       )
       return !constainsWrongId
     }
     default:
-      throw utils.unreachable(columnSubtype)
+      throw utils.unreachable(subtype)
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/filters.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/filters.ts
index 05b1efe0fc..1401b75e93 100644
--- a/packages/shared-core/src/filters.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/filters.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ import {
   SearchFilterOperator,
   SortDirection,
   SortType,
+  FieldConstraints,
 } from "@budibase/types"
 import dayjs from "dayjs"
 import { OperatorOptions, SqlNumberTypeRangeMap } from "./constants"
-import { deepGet } from "./helpers"
+import { deepGet, schema } from "./helpers"
 
 const HBS_REGEX = /{{([^{].*?)}}/g
 
@@ -24,9 +25,10 @@ export const getValidOperatorsForType = (
     type: FieldType
     subtype?: BBReferenceFieldSubType
     formulaType?: FormulaType
+    constraints?: FieldConstraints
   },
-  field: string,
-  datasource: Datasource & { tableId: any }
+  field?: string,
+  datasource?: Datasource & { tableId: any }
 ) => {
   const Op = OperatorOptions
   const stringOps = [
@@ -51,7 +53,7 @@ export const getValidOperatorsForType = (
     value: string
     label: string
   }[] = []
-  const { type, subtype, formulaType } = fieldType
+  const { type, formulaType } = fieldType
   if (type === FieldType.STRING) {
     ops = stringOps
   } else if (type === FieldType.NUMBER || type === FieldType.BIGINT) {
@@ -69,14 +71,11 @@ export const getValidOperatorsForType = (
   } else if (type === FieldType.FORMULA && formulaType === FormulaType.STATIC) {
     ops = stringOps.concat([Op.MoreThan, Op.LessThan])
   } else if (
-    type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-    subtype == BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+    type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE ||
+    schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(fieldType)
   ) {
     ops = [Op.Equals, Op.NotEquals, Op.Empty, Op.NotEmpty, Op.In]
-  } else if (
-    type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
-    subtype == BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
-  ) {
+  } else if (type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
     ops = [Op.Contains, Op.NotContains, Op.ContainsAny, Op.Empty, Op.NotEmpty]
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/index.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/index.ts
index e76022b14b..c33ff2ab1e 100644
--- a/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/index.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/index.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 export * from "./helpers"
 export * from "./integrations"
 export * as cron from "./cron"
+export * as schema from "./schema"
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/schema.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/schema.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..985e068be0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/helpers/schema.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import {
+  BBReferenceFieldSubType,
+  FieldSchema,
+  FieldType,
+} from "@budibase/types"
+
+export function isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(
+  schema: Pick<FieldSchema, "type" | "subtype" | "constraints">
+) {
+  const result =
+    schema.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE &&
+    schema.subtype === BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER &&
+    schema.constraints?.type !== "array"
+  return result
+}
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
index 26a7e77cd0..2b3586932a 100644
--- a/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const allowDisplayColumnByType: Record<FieldType, boolean> = {
   [FieldType.LINK]: false,
   [FieldType.JSON]: false,
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: false,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: false,
 }
 
 const allowSortColumnByType: Record<FieldType, boolean> = {
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ const allowSortColumnByType: Record<FieldType, boolean> = {
   [FieldType.ARRAY]: false,
   [FieldType.LINK]: false,
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: false,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: false,
 }
 
 export function canBeDisplayColumn(type: FieldType): boolean {
diff --git a/packages/types/src/api/web/app/table.ts b/packages/types/src/api/web/app/table.ts
index ffe59ae395..c9d63feaab 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/api/web/app/table.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/api/web/app/table.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import {
-  FieldSchema,
   Row,
   Table,
   TableRequest,
@@ -31,8 +30,8 @@ export interface BulkImportResponse {
 }
 
 export interface MigrateRequest {
-  oldColumn: FieldSchema
-  newColumn: FieldSchema
+  oldColumn: string
+  newColumn: string
 }
 
 export interface MigrateResponse {
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/app/row.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/app/row.ts
index d6a9bb7842..45436cc9c1 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/app/row.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/app/row.ts
@@ -100,13 +100,17 @@ export enum FieldType {
    */
   BIGINT = "bigint",
   /**
-   * a JSON type, called User within Budibase. This type is used to represent a link to an internal Budibase
+   * a JSON type, called Users within Budibase. It will hold an array of strings. This type is used to represent a link to an internal Budibase
    * resource, like a user or group, today only users are supported. This type will be represented as an
    * array of internal resource IDs (e.g. user IDs) within the row - this ID list will be enriched with
    * the full resources when rows are returned from the API. The full resources can be input to the API, or
    * an array of resource IDs, the API will squash these down and validate them before saving the row.
    */
   BB_REFERENCE = "bb_reference",
+  /**
+   * a string type, called User within Budibase. Same logic as `bb_reference`, storing a single id as string instead of an array
+   */
+  BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE = "bb_reference_single",
 }
 
 export interface RowAttachment {
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/constants.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/constants.ts
index ddf8b5e6ea..210ad1423d 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/constants.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { FieldType } from "../row"
+
 export enum RelationshipType {
   ONE_TO_MANY = "one-to-many",
   MANY_TO_ONE = "many-to-one",
@@ -27,5 +29,21 @@ export enum FormulaType {
 
 export enum BBReferenceFieldSubType {
   USER = "user",
+  /** @deprecated this should not be used anymore, left here in order to support the existing usages */
   USERS = "users",
 }
+
+export type SupportedSqlTypes =
+  | FieldType.STRING
+  | FieldType.BARCODEQR
+  | FieldType.LONGFORM
+  | FieldType.OPTIONS
+  | FieldType.DATETIME
+  | FieldType.NUMBER
+  | FieldType.BOOLEAN
+  | FieldType.FORMULA
+  | FieldType.BIGINT
+  | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
+  | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
+  | FieldType.LINK
+  | FieldType.ARRAY
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
index 18fbeae719..38424b26b6 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
@@ -110,9 +110,14 @@ export interface FormulaFieldMetadata extends BaseFieldSchema {
 export interface BBReferenceFieldMetadata
   extends Omit<BaseFieldSchema, "subtype"> {
   type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
-  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER | BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS
+  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType
   relationshipType?: RelationshipType
 }
+export interface BBReferenceSingleFieldMetadata
+  extends Omit<BaseFieldSchema, "subtype"> {
+  type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
+  subtype: Exclude<BBReferenceFieldSubType, BBReferenceFieldSubType.USERS>
+}
 
 export interface AttachmentFieldMetadata extends BaseFieldSchema {
   type: FieldType.ATTACHMENTS
@@ -164,6 +169,7 @@ interface OtherFieldMetadata extends BaseFieldSchema {
     | FieldType.NUMBER
     | FieldType.LONGFORM
     | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
+    | FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE
     | FieldType.ATTACHMENTS
   >
 }
@@ -179,6 +185,7 @@ export type FieldSchema =
   | BBReferenceFieldMetadata
   | JsonFieldMetadata
   | AttachmentFieldMetadata
+  | BBReferenceSingleFieldMetadata
 
 export interface TableSchema {
   [key: string]: FieldSchema
@@ -207,15 +214,3 @@ export function isManyToOne(
 ): field is ManyToOneRelationshipFieldMetadata {
   return field.relationshipType === RelationshipType.MANY_TO_ONE
 }
-
-export function isBBReferenceField(
-  field: FieldSchema
-): field is BBReferenceFieldMetadata {
-  return field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
-}
-
-export function isAttachmentField(
-  field: FieldSchema
-): field is AttachmentFieldMetadata {
-  return field.type === FieldType.ATTACHMENTS
-}