Cannot See Lookup Field Even if the Field is Visible on the Page Layout

The user will require at least 'Read' access to the object in which the lookup field is referencing to see the lookup field.

In Lightning Experience

1. Navigate to gear icon | Setup | Object Manager
2. Select the object where the affected field resides.
3. In the Field & Relationship, look under the "Data Type" column and see that the Data Type was set to Lookup.
4. The text within the parenthesis (  ) is the object to which the affected user needs to have at least read access.
5. Grant the appropriate access to the object found in step 4, via profile or permission set.

In Salesforce Classic

1. Click Setup | Quickfind | Select the object where the affected field resides | Click Fields | Look under the "Data Type" column and see that the Data Type is Lookup
2. The text within the parenthesis (  ) is the object to which the affected user needs to have at least read access.
3. Grant the appropriate access to the object found in step 2, via profile or permission set.

 

To Grant 'Read' Access to the Object

1. Navigate to Setup | Quick Find Profiles
2. Click Profiles

• If you are using Enhanced Profile Interface, click the profile | Click Object Settings | look for and click the object under All Object Settings | Click Edit | select the Read the checkbox | Save 

• If you are using Standard Profile Interface, click Edit next to the profile | look for the object under Standard Object Permission or Custom Object Permissions | select the Read the checkbox | Save

If the object used in the lookup is part of an installed package, verify the user has a license to the package. Even with the Create, Read, Edit, and Delete object permissions in their profile, users won’t be able to access packages metadata including objects and fields.

To check, follow the steps:

1. Go to Setup
2. Look for Installed Packages in the Quick find box
3. Click Installed Packages
4. Open the package to which the object belongs and click Manage Licenses

Confirm the affected user is added to the list. If not, add them by clicking the “Users” button.

See Also:

• Administrator tip sheet: Tips & Hints for Page Layouts and Field-Level Security
• Page Layouts and Field-Level Security
• Create Page Layouts
• Edit Object Permissions in Profiles
• Trailhead: Control Access to Objects
• Control Access to Records in Trailhead 
• Salesforce Support Video: Custom Field Not Showing Up Even Though it's In the Page Layout