Loading
Extend Salesforce with Clicks, Not Code
Table of Contents
Filter by (0)Add
Select Filters

          No results
          No results
          Here are some search tips

          Check the spelling of your keywords.
          Use more general search terms.
          Select fewer filters to broaden your search.

            Search all of Salesforce Help
            Search all of Salesforce Help
            Considerations for Creating a Custom Field

            You are here:

            1. Salesforce Help
            2. Docs
            3. Extend Salesforce with Clicks, Not Code

            Considerations for Creating a Custom Field

            Keep these considerations in mind when you create a custom field.

            Required Editions

            Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience

            Available in: Contact Manager, Group, Essentials, Starter, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer, and Database.com Editions

            Salesforce Connect external objects are available in: Developer Edition and for an extra cost in: Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited Editions

            Custom fields aren't available on Activities in Group Edition

            Layouts aren't available in Database.com
            Important
            Important Where possible, we changed noninclusive terms to align with our company value of Equality. We maintained certain terms to avoid any effect on customer implementations.

            Data Types

            • Some data types are available for certain configurations only. For example, the Master-Detail Relationship option is available for custom objects only when the custom object doesn’t already have a master-detail relationship.
            • Custom settings and external objects allow only a subset of the available data types.
            • Relationship fields count toward custom field limits.
            • Field types correspond to API data types.
            • If your org uses Shield Platform Encryption, ensure that you understand how to encrypt custom fields using the Shield Platform Encryption offering.
            • Only dates within a certain range are valid. The earliest valid date is 1700-01-01T00:00:00Z GMT, or just after midnight on January 1, 1700. The latest valid date is 4000-12-31T00:00:00Z GMT, or just after midnight on December 31, 4000. These values are offset by your time zone. For example, in the Pacific time zone, the earliest valid date is 1699-12-31T16:00:00, or 4:00 PM on December 31, 1699.

            Availability

            • You can’t add a multi-select picklist, rich text area, or dependent picklist custom field to opportunity splits.
            • Additional field types can appear if an AppExchange package using those field types is installed.
            • The Roll-Up Summary option is available only on certain objects.
            • By default, a custom field isn’t visible or editable for portal profiles unless the field is universally required.
            • When you’re close to the limit of 800 custom fields and you delete or create fields, field creation can fail. The physical delete process reclaims and cleans fields, making them count temporarily toward the limit. The delete process runs only when the queue is full, so it can take days or weeks to start. In the meantime, the deleted fields are still counted as part of the limit. To request immediate deletion of fields, contact Salesforce Support.
            • For lead custom fields, you can click Map Lead Fields to specify which custom lead fields to map to custom account, contact, and opportunity fields during a lead conversion.
            • If your org uses Translation Workbench, notify your translators that new fields need translation.

            Merge Fields

            • Ensure that the custom field name and label are unique for the object.
              • If standard and custom fields have identical names or labels, the merge field displays the custom field value.
              • If two custom fields have identical names or labels, the merge field can display an unexpected value.
              If you create a custom field label called Email and a standard field labeled Email exists, the merge field is unable to distinguish between the fields. Add a character to the custom field name to make it unique. For example, Email2.

            Layouts

            • Newly created custom fields are added as the last field in the first two-column section of the page layout, with these exceptions.
              Field Location on Page Layout
              Long text area End of the first one-column section.
              User Bottom of the user detail page.
              Universally required Can’t remove it from page layouts or make it read only.
            • When new custom fields are added to Dynamic Forms-enabled Lightning pages, here's what happens.
              • Fields are added as the last field in the first column on the first field section on the page in top-down, left-to-right order. If the field section is in a container, such as a Tabs or Accordion component, then the first field section is chosen from the first tab or the first accordion section. The “active” tab doesn’t matter. If the first field section on a page is the Dynamic Highlights Panel, then new fields are added to the second field section instead.
              • After the field creation wizard is complete, it can take up to 5 seconds after you save the field for the page you selected to be updated with the new field. This process can take longer if your system is under heavy loads.
              • Standard Lightning pages and pages installed from managed packages don’t appear in the list of available pages for your custom field.

            Notifications

            • Creating fields can require changing a large number of records at once. If your request is queued to process these changes efficiently, you receive an email notification when the process is completed.
            • Sometimes an error notification email is sent even if a field is successfully created.
             
            Loading
            Salesforce Help | Article