How to Show Only the Latest Entry in a Notion Database

Problem Background

Although Notion databases have a page load limit, the minimum is still 10 entries, so there is no direct way to display only the last entry:

To achieve this, we need the help of another database and some formulas.

Here is the basic approach:

1. Relate all pages (A1, A2, A3, A4, etc.) from Database 01 to a page B in Database 02 (named "Last Updated Entry")
2. Create a Formula property in Database 02
3. Use a formula to find the most recently updated page

Step 1: Create a Default Template

Since all pages in Database 01 need to be related to the "Last Updated Entry" page in Database 02, we can use a default template to automatically create this relation when a new page is added:

The relation between the two databases looks like this:

Step 2: Process with a Formula Property

Create a Formula property in Database 02 and use the following formula:

Database 01.map(current.Last edited time).sort().reverse().slice(0,1).map(lets( lastTime,current, lastPage,Database 01.find(current.Last edited time==lastTime),lastPage ))

Here is a detailed breakdown of the formula:

1. prop("Database 01") — Retrieves all pages from the database named "Database 01", returning a list of all pages.
2. .map(current.prop("Last edited time")) — Iterates through each element in the list and extracts the "Last edited time" property from each page, resulting in a new list of all edit times.
3. .sort() — Sorts the time list in chronological order (oldest to newest).
4. .reverse() — Reverses the list order so it goes from newest to oldest.
5. .slice(0,1) — Keeps only the first element in the list, which is the most recent edit time.
6. .map(lets(…)) — Uses the map function again, combined with the lets function to define and use temporary variables:
   • lastTime, current: Assigns the most recent edit time to the lastTime variable.
   • lastPage, prop("Database 01").find(current.prop("Last edited time")==lastTime): Finds the page in "Database 01" whose last edited time matches lastTime, and assigns it to the lastPage variable.
   • lastPage: Finally returns this most recently edited page.

Final Result

Here is the formula in action — when you edit a page, Database 02 automatically displays the most recently edited page:

If you switch to gallery view, you can embed it in a column layout for a cleaner look: