Create a Salesforce Formula Showing the Value of a Multi-Select Picklist From Parent to Child Object

To create a formula field on a child object that displays all selected values from a multi-select picklist on the parent object, follow the steps below.

Create the Formula Field

1. Go to the object where you want to create the field.
   1. Lightning Experience: Gear Icon | Setup | Object Manager | [Object] | Fields & Relationships
   2. Salesforce Classic: Setup | Customize | [Object] | Fields
2. Click New.
3. Select Formula for the Data Type.
4. Name the field and select Text for the Formula Return Type.
5. Click Next.
6. Enter your formula syntax (see below).

Formula Syntax

This formula uses the INCLUDES() function to check whether each value in the parent object's multi-select picklist is selected. For each selected value, it appends that value as a text string. The & operator concatenates all checked values into a single output.
Replace "parent.multipicklist__c" with your actual parent object and field API names. Replace "Value 1", "Value 2", etc. with your actual picklist values.
IF ( INCLUDES ( parent.multipicklist__c , "Value 1" ), "Value 1; ", null ) & IF ( INCLUDES ( parent.multipicklist__c , "Value 2" ), "Value 2; ", null ) & IF ( INCLUDES ( parent.multipicklist__c , "Value 3" ), "Value 3; ", null ) & IF ( INCLUDES ( parent.multipicklist__c , "Value 4" ), "Value 4; ", null ) & IF ( INCLUDES ( parent.multipicklist__c , "Value 5" ), "Value 5; ", null )

Example Output

Depending on which picklist values are selected on the parent record, this formula returns results such as:

• All five selected: Value 1; Value 2; Value 3; Value 4; Value 5;
• Three selected: Value 1; Value 4; Value 5;
• Two selected: Value 2; Value 5;
• One selected: Value 4;

You can use other separators or use BR() instead of separator characters to list return values on separate lines.