Default Field Value Considerations

Default field values automatically insert the value of a custom field when a new record is created. You can use a default value on a formula for some types of fields or exact values, such as Checked or Unchecked for checkbox fields. Review the following considerations before incorporating default field values in your organization.

• If a default value is based on the value of a merge field, Salesforce uses the value of the merge field at the time the default value is executed. If the value of the merge field changes later, the default value is not updated.
• Users can change or remove the default field value on a record.
• Don’t assign default values to fields that are both required and unique, because uniqueness errors can result.
• If you make an activity custom field universally required, you must also provide a default value.
• If an activity custom field is unique, you cannot provide a default value.
• Default field values are different from formula fields in the following ways: they are only executed once, at record creation; they are not read only; and the user can change the value but cannot restore the default field value.
• Since the default value is inserted before users enter any values in the new record, you cannot use the fields on the current record to create a default field value. For example, you cannot create a default field value on a contact that uses the first initial and last name because those values are not available when you click New to create a contact record. However, you can use the record type because it is selected before the record edit page displays.
• Record type default field values have precedence over an object’s default field values.
• To apply a different default value for different record types, use the record type as a merge field in a CASE function within the default field value setup.
• Fields that are not visible to the user due to field-level security are still available in the formula for a default field value.
• Connect Offline and Salesforce for Outlook do not display default values. However, Salesforce inserts the default values when a user syncs unless the user entered a value.
• Default field values are not available in the Self-Service portal.
• Lead conversion, Web-to-Lead, and Web-to-Case do not execute default field values.
• Visualforce pages don’t support default field values.

Note You can define a formula for default values only where appropriate. For example, the default value options for a checkbox field are limited to the options available for those types of fields, such as Checked or Unchecked.

For picklists, a valid formula result is either a constant or the API name of an entry in the Values list. The formula result has higher precedence than the default assigned in the Values list. If the formula doesn’t generate a valid result, the default assigned in the Values list is entered in the field. If a default isn’t assigned to the Values list, no value is entered in the picklist field.