Loading

EDA: Contact Phone field cannot be cleared when Preferred Phone is set to Mobile Phone

Publish Date: May 27, 2026
Description

In orgs with Education Data Architecture (EDA) installed, the standard Contact Phone [Phone] field cannot be set to blank. When you save the record, EDA automatically copies the value from the phone field selected as Preferred Phone back into the standard Phone field. Attempting to clear Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c] separately may also be blocked when Require Preferred Phone is enabled in EDA Settings.

Root cause: The CON_PreferredPhone_TDTM trigger handler shipped with EDA 1.82 and later keeps the standard Phone field synchronized with whichever source field is selected in Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c]. On any save — UI, API, Data Loader, or batch — the trigger reads the source field (for example, MobilePhone) and writes its value back into Phone [Phone], reversing any attempt to blank it in the same transaction.

Affected configuration:

  • Editions: All editions with Education Data Architecture (EDA) version 1.82 or later installed
  • Profiles: All user profiles, including System Administrator
  • Trigger: Contact save operations via UI, API, Data Loader, or batch
  • Condition: Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c] has a value (Mobile Phone, Home Phone, Work Phone, or Other Phone) and the corresponding source field is populated
Prerequisite(s)
  • Education Data Architecture (EDA) version 1.82 or later installed
  • System Administrator profile or equivalent access to EDA Settings
  • Access to the affected Contact records
  • If performing a bulk update: Data Loader or batch Apex access
Resolution

Follow the cause that matches your goal. The steps differ depending on whether you want to remove the phone number entirely or keep a phone value on a different field while leaving standard Phone blank.

Cause 1: Preferred Phone is set, so EDA syncs the source value into standard Phone

  1. Open the Contact record where the standard Phone field cannot be cleared.
  2. Identify the current value of Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c]. For example, if it is Mobile Phone, the source field is Mobile [MobilePhone].
  3. Decide the desired end state:
    • To remove the phone number entirely: Clear the source field first (for example, set Mobile [MobilePhone] to blank), then clear Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c].
    • To keep the Mobile value but stop it from populating standard Phone: This is not supported while CON_PreferredPhone_TDTM is enabled. EDA always syncs the Preferred Phone source value into standard Phone [Phone].
  4. Click Edit on the Contact, set Mobile [MobilePhone] (or whichever source field matches Preferred Phone) to blank, and click Save.
  5. Click Edit again, set Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c] to blank, and click Save. The standard Phone [Phone] field is now empty.

Cause 2: Require Preferred Phone is enabled and blocks clearing Preferred Phone

  1. From the App Launcher, open EDA Settings.
  2. Navigate to People and Groups > Contact Information.
  3. Click Edit. Set Require Preferred Phone to off. Leave Enhanced Preferred Phone Functionality on so the trigger handler continues to receive future EDA updates.
  4. Click Save.
  5. Return to the Contact record and clear Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c] together with the source phone field as described in Cause 1.

Cause 3: Standard Phone must remain blank while a source phone field has a value

  1. EDA's documented behavior is that the Preferred Phone value is always synced to standard Phone [Phone] while CON_PreferredPhone_TDTM is enabled. Salesforce strongly recommends against disabling this trigger handler, because doing so opts the org out of future EDA updates to Preferred Phone logic.
  2. If your business process requires standard Phone to be blank while a custom phone field holds a value, leave Preferred Phone [hed__PreferredPhone__c] blank on those Contacts. With no Preferred Phone selected and the standard Phone field empty, EDA does not overwrite Phone.
  3. To enforce this in bulk, run an update that sets both Phone [Phone] and hed__PreferredPhone__c to blank in the same DML operation, after first clearing each source phone field that previously fed Preferred Phone.

Confirm the fix: Open the Contact, click Edit, leave Phone [Phone] blank, click Save, and verify that Phone [Phone] remains blank after the page reloads.

Knowledge Article Number

005385186

 
Loading
Salesforce Help | Article