Limitations of list view search

The following limitations apply to List View Search in Salesforce Lightning Experience. These behaviors are a result of the underlying SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) technology.

Limitation 1: Search Terms Must Contain at Least Two Characters

SOSL requires a minimum of two characters in the search term. If only one character is entered, Salesforce returns an error message.

Workaround: Enter at least two characters when performing a search.

Limitation 2: Certain Field Types Are Not Searchable

The following field types are not searchable through List View Search:

• Lookup fields
• Derived fields
• Formula fields
• Non-text fields (such as Integer and Currency)

Workaround: Use list view filters or searchable text fields instead.

Limitation 3: External Object List Views Cannot Be Searched

List views based on External Objects are not searchable using List View Search.

Limitation 4: Person Accounts Have Limited Search Support

Person Account records can appear in a list view when they match the filter criteria. However, searching within Person Account list views is not fully supported, and results may not always match the applied filters.

Limitation 5: Search Is Limited to the First 2,000 Records

List View Search only searches records that are included in the list view. Because list views return a maximum of 2,000 records, records outside that limit cannot be found through the search.

Workarounds:

• Sort the list (for example, from Z to A) so the required records fall within the first 2,000 results.
• Apply additional filters to reduce the number of records in the list view.

Limitation 6: Partial Searches Are Supported Only for Record Name Fields

Partial search terms are supported only for Record Name fields.

For objects that use an Auto Number as the record name, partial searches work only when an eligible Secondary Field is configured through Customize Search Layouts.

Limitation 7: List View Search Is Intended for Filtered Record Sets

List View Search is designed to search within a filtered collection of records, not to locate a single specific record across Salesforce.

Recommendation: Use Global Search when searching for an individual record.