Salesforce Report and List View Performance: Why Runtimes Vary and How to Improve Them

Why Report and List View Runtimes Vary

When a report or list view is run for the first time — or after its cached data has expired — Salesforce queries the database directly. This direct query is slower than reading from cached data. Running the report again may allow it to complete successfully by leveraging the cached results from the first run.
If the report is timing out, running it a second time may reduce the runtime and allow it to complete successfully.

Common Reasons for Slow Report or List View Performance

The following factors commonly cause reports and list views to run slowly. Review each to determine which applies to your situation:

• Too many objects queried: Reports that join data from more than 2–3 object relationships significantly increase query complexity and runtime.
• Intricate object relationships: Reports on objects with many lookup or master-detail relationships require more processing time to compile results.
• Too many fields included: Including a large number of columns increases the amount of data Salesforce must retrieve and render. Reducing the report to only essential fields can substantially improve load time.

Please see the below articles for tips on improving report and list view performance:

Improve Report Performance: Best Practices
Improve List View Speed and Performance