Understanding Read and Unread Status on Salesforce Leads

A user has a list of unread leads that they own and can view from the list view of My Unread Leads. When a lead is read, it’s no longer displayed in My Unread Leads. When you transfer ownership of a lead, the lead appears in the new owner’s My Unread Leads list view until they view or edit it. 

A lead is “Read” when:

• The owner of the lead views or edits the lead in the user interface.

• The owner of the lead makes an inline edit to the lead. 

A lead is “Unread” when:

• A mass action outside of the user interface views or edits the lead record (Example: A mass email is sent to many leads through the API). The only mass action that changes the status of a lead to Read is when the “Unread by Owner” field is updated through the API. 

• Someone other than the lead owner views or edits the lead record.

• The lead is owned by a Queue. The status of the lead remains Unread even if a member of the queue reviews the lead. 

• The owner of the lead edits the lead through the Change Status button on a list view.