How to set override to "no symbol" by default in Sketch?

Question

Let's imagine I have a Master data cell symbol and several tables that already use instances of it. There are no dividers in the Master cell symbol so far, so I want to add them. I create a master divider symbol and nest its the instance inside the cell to use as an override.

The problem is that dividers appear in all cell instances I have already used to create the tables. Thus, I have to select each cell instance in the design and manually set divider override to "no symbol".

How to set symbol override to "no symbol", when I first insert it in Master?

Answer 1

I haven't found a 'no symbol' default setting in the master. My workaround is to use an empty symbol. Here are the steps:

1. Create an empty symbol by creating an artboard of the exact same size as your divider symbol, but with nothing on the artboard. Save this artboard as a symbol.

2. In your master data cell symbol, place your empty divider symbol.

When this is done, all existing instances of your master data cell symbol will not visually change. In data cells where you want the divider to appear, override the empty symbol with your divider symbol.