What are the types of records in Salesforce?

Records in Salesforce can be broken down into three categories, depending on what they're for and who will see or edit it. There's standard (or base) records that everyone sees when viewing any given object, personalization records that only certain users can access, and custom objects that don't fall under either category.

Let's take a closer look at each one.

Why are the record types used?

When using Sales Cloud, there is no reason to have more than one record type per Object Type. This provides maximum flexibility since most people won't need all fields associated with their particular contact, account, opportunity, lead, etc., while others may want to add additional information. It also helps keep your data clean by not having extraneous information cluttering up your database. You'll still be able to filter out fields based on record type if needed, but this would require some extra effort.

For example, let's say you've created two Contact Record Types - Standard and Personalized. The default view of a new Contact shows both these types together as "Contact" along with any other Custom Objects related to contacts (e.g., Account). But once you select a specific Contact from the search results, it filters out everything except for the selected contact's Address Book Entry (AOE), Phone Number, Email address, Birthdate, Gender, Mobile phone number, Notes field, External ID, Company name, Industry, Website URL, Social Media profile(s), Relationship status, Additional addresses, and Photo/Video cover thumbnail. If you wanted to change the view so that just the AOE was shown instead, you'd have to switch over to the Edit View (which requires admin privileges).

The same goes for Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Campaigns, Contacts, Notebooks, Cases, Service Contracts, and even Visual Force pages. All of those listed above share the same Default Record Type which means a user can easily navigate through different types without getting lost or confused. In addition, it makes things like changing labels easier because the changes apply across multiple records rather than making separate edits for every single instance of said label throughout your system.

If you ever run into issues where you have too many non-standard records due to customization, you should probably consider creating another record type for whatever needs its own unique set of fields. For example, maybe you have a handful of accounts that need slightly different formatting or branding. Or perhaps you have several opportunities that utilize custom tabs. These situations could benefit greatly from a dedicated Record Type. And remember, you can always delete or hide individual instances of a Record Type within the Settings section of that record type itself.

It's worth mentioning here that there are times where having more than one Record Type per Object Type isn't ideal. One such situation involves bulk editing. Since Bulk Editing doesn't support Record Types, you might encounter problems trying to assign existing Records to newly created ones. However, this shouldn't cause much trouble since you wouldn't normally perform large batch operations anyway. Another scenario happens when using Lightning Experience. While Lightning does allow for multiples Record Types per Object Type, it has limited functionality compared to Classic. Therefore, it's recommended that you stick to 1 Record Type per Object Type unless absolutely necessary.

How do you create a record type?

Here's how to go about doing that:

Click Create & Choose Your First Record Type.

Enter a Name for the type and choose whether you want it to be Public or Private.

Next, scroll down until you reach the bottom of the page and click Save Changes. That's it! Don't forget to save yourself first before proceeding onto the next step. Otherwise, you'll end up losing your work.

How do I find record types in Salesforce?

To locate Record Types, open any Object Panel, e.g., Opportunity, Lead, Case, etc. Then simply enter Record Type in the Search box located near the top right corner of the screen. When searching for Record Types via this method, make sure to include the words Record Type somewhere in the text. Also, note that not all Record Types show up in the dropdown menu provided below the search bar. Some are hidden away behind Other Related Lists.

However, if you know exactly what Record Type you're looking for, then you can skip the hassle of going through the list manually and head straight to the Advanced Find window. Clicking on More Results brings up a few options including Show Hidden List Items and Filters. By selecting Options, you can further expand your search capabilities by allowing for partial matches and limiting your results to a specific Region, Language, Currency, Timeframe, Status, Metadata Profile, Metadata Visibility, and Platform.

Once you find the desired Record Type, double-click on it to bring up a popup window containing all available Fields for that Record Type. From here, you can customize Field Names and Labels to suit your preferences. Alternatively, you can also click Add New Field and pick whichever fits better. Once done, hit OK again and you'll now return to the main panel where you can begin populating your records.

How do you find record type?

While browsing around in the System Preferences area, you may notice something called Other Related Lists. Upon clicking on it, you'll automatically get dropped into a new tab displaying various Record Types. They appear alphabetically according to their names. Double-clicking on a certain Record Type lets you modify its settings.

You can toggle between showing public or private Record Types, enable or disable filtering, and adjust sorting methods. Furthermore, you can also remove unwanted Record Types entirely from being displayed. Just hover over the icon that looks like a trash bin and select Remove Selected Records. Lastly, you can rearrange Record Types by dragging and dropping them wherever you wish.

Now that we've covered basic uses, why not try taking advantage of Record Types' advanced features? Read our guide detailing how to master Record Types for a deeper understanding. We hope you enjoyed learning about Record Types and how they came to be!

Have questions regarding anything mentioned in this article? Feel free to leave us a comment below!

When you create custom objects and fields, you may want to keep some things as simple as possible so that your app can be easily understood by everyone who uses it. For this reason, there's something called Record Type Data Type which allows you to set default values for field options when creating new records. This guide will go over what they are, why you should care about them, and how to find out more information on how to change or add new ones.

What is record type data type in Salesforce?

If you've ever created any kind of object like Contact, Account, Opportunity, etc., then you're familiar with the concept of Fields. These allow users to input various pieces of info into each individual item. However, if you wanted all Contacts to have their own unique phone numbers (for example), but didn't want to have to create a whole bunch of separate fields just for that one thing, then you'd need to use Field Sets instead. The only difference between these two aside from name would be where they appear within Setup -- Field Sets show up under Customization " Components while standard fields appear under Customizations " Objects & Related Lists.

However, using Field Sets has its disadvantages. Namely, you won't be able to see everything related to those particular fields unless you click on Show All [Custom] Links. If you do end up getting rid of anything later, it'll disappear without warning. And even though you might not notice, every time someone creates a new contact, they could accidentally remove certain fields because they were confused as to whether or not they needed to select them. That's where Record Types come in! They're basically Field Sets that you don't get access to through the UI. Instead, they show up right below whatever component/object you selected during setup. You can also edit them yourself via Apex code. There are three main benefits to doing this:

You can hide specific fields entirely. When editing existing records, you wouldn't need anyone else's permission to delete or modify certain fields since they aren't visible anyway. This is great for making sure people don't mess around with stuff that shouldn't be touched.

It gives you access to additional functionality. Depending upon the Record Type, you might gain access to extra features such as workflow automation, reporting tools, email triggers, or other goodies that make working with the system easier.

It keeps track of everything. Since Standard vs. Developer Edition limits you to 500 active fields per instance, most developers opt to store extra functions elsewhere than within the database itself. In fact, many recommend keeping important information outside of the ORM altogether. By storing this information directly onto the Record Type, however, you can avoid having to worry about what happens if someone deletes an entire table of records. It makes sense if you think about it: both databases contain similar amounts of data, but one contains it inside of actual tables (meaning it's harder to move) whereas the other stores it on an entirely different level.

What is the record type?

The term "record" comes from the way Salesforce handles changes made to Records. Whenever someone updates an entry, it doesn't actually update the original copy of the data, but rather adds a new version. As long as nothing goes wrong along the way (such as a user deleting the row before saving), the old file remains untouched. Once again, this prevents accidental deletion. After adding a new version, the process runs an algorithm that determines what exactly changed. Then, based off of this criteria, it decides whether or not the Record needs to stay exactly the same.

There are several reasons why you'd want to prevent this behavior:

To take advantage of batch processing. With Batch Processing enabled, you can run multiple actions at once without needing to manually save each one individually. This saves tons of time and effort for large projects.

For security purposes. Having duplicate versions means that someone could theoretically alter the content of a record without being caught since they never had direct control over said record.

To improve performance. When dealing with smaller batches of records, the overhead of running calculations isn't necessary. But if you're looking to work on huge chunks of data simultaneously, duplicating files helps speed things up immensely.

As mentioned earlier, Record Types are essentially Field Sets stored away in plain sight. To view them, head back into Setup and scroll down until you reach Customize Your Application. Clicking Edit next to Object Hierarchy reveals a list of every single Component currently available. Each section represents a type of entity (e.g. Accounts, Leads, Opportunities, Cases, etc.) and underneath it shows whichever sub-component(s) you chose to include in that category. Underneath each section, you'll spot a small dropdown menu labeled Default Settings. Select View Code to open up the page containing the relevant logic behind these settings. From here, you can adjust everything from what appears on the frontend to how much priority this group receives when sorting entries within lists. At the very bottom, you'll find a button labeled Advanced Setup that opens up another panel containing dozens of other settings, including record type definitions.

What is a Salesforce record type?

A Record Type consists of a few parts:

Type ID - A number identifying the type of record. For example, 001 stands for contacts, 000 stands for leads, and 012 stands for opportunities.

Name - An optional title describing your type of record better.

Description - A short description explaining what sets apart your type of record from others.

Is Deletable - Whether or not your type of record can be deleted. Only records of a non-deletable type can be removed from the database.

Default Value 1 - What value gets assigned automatically whenever a new record is added.

Default Value 2 - Similar to above, except it applies to updating existing records.

After choosing your desired variables, you can either assign them to preconfigured templates or write your own Apex class to handle everything. Templates tend to provide greater flexibility, but require less customization, while classes give you complete control but take longer to develop. Either approach is fine depending on your preferences.

What are the different types of record data?

Once you've learned how Record Types work, you probably wonder how you'd know what type of data belongs in which categories. Luckily, the best way to learn is by going through the components themselves. Let's say we haven't talked much about Contacts yet, but we did talk about calling cards. So far, we've established that our Contact Record Type should consist of basic details such as First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Birthday, Gender, Company, Job Title, Department, Website URL, Social Media Profiles, and Notes. While this seems pretty straightforward, you might encounter a situation where you want to customize it further for a particular purpose. One solution is to check out the Visibility tab on the left side of Setup. Here, you can choose to display certain fields publicly or privately, giving you the ability to decide what kinds of information users can enter. Another option is to simply switch up the Layout of the component itself. Doing this will completely transform how it looks, allowing you to tell the difference between a regular Contact and one belonging to the Staff category. Lastly, you can always try adding a new column with a Visual Force editor. Just search for ColumnSet and drag whichever fields you wish to change into place.

When you're creating new objects or editing existing ones, it's important that you know which type of fields they contain and what kind of data those fields store. This is especially true when using Record Types because not all fields require their own unique set of rules for validation, formatting, etc.

In this article we'll go over some common questions about Record Types in Salesforce so you can better understand how to utilize them. We will also provide examples for each question throughout the article. Let's get started!

1) How many record types can be created in Salesforce?

The number of record types available depends on your organization size but generally speaking, you should only need two more than the total users currently signed up with Sales Cloud. For example if you've got 500 users signed up, then you'd need 5 different record types (500 * 2 = 1000). If you had 1,000 employees instead of just 500, then you would need 10 record types.

2) How many record types can an object have in Salesforce?

This varies based on whether you want to create a Custom Object or Standard Object. However, as mentioned above, the maximum limit is 20 per user. You could theoretically have 50 custom objects stored per user but most people don't even come close to needing that amount. In addition, any field within these objects can become part of other record types without issue.

3) How many types of records are there in Salesforce?

There are 11 primary record types in Salesforce: Account, Campaign, Contact, Community, Lead, Opportunity, Pricebookentry, Queue, Task, User, and Vendor. Each one corresponds to its own tab in the UI, and has various attributes associated with it such as required fields and lookup relationships. The table below lists all of them along with additional information:

Account - Contains basic contact details like name, account number, address, phone numbers, faxes, email addresses, website URL, mailing preferences, preferred language, and billing ZIP code. There aren't too many requirements for accounts since they exist primarily to serve as templates for future use by contacts. Accounts do support multi-currency though, meaning you can add multiple currencies to the same profile without duplicating anything.

Campaign - A campaign contains both lead capture forms and followup emails and is used mostly for marketing purposes. It's similar to an opportunity in terms of functionality except campaigns cannot be cancelled once they begin. As soon as someone submits a form, it goes into a queue where it waits until a person reviews it before being sent out. Once a recipient responds via email, it moves off the queued status and becomes active again.

Contact - A standard salesperson typically needs access to Contacts in order to make appointments and track leads. Since every single individual uses Contacts daily, it makes sense to consolidate everything under one roof. All fields within Contacts are editable, making customization much easier. One downside to having Contacts be a separate entity is that it requires extra steps to delete a particular contact from a specific account. They must first open the main "My Contacts" page, select the contact, click Delete next to the Delete button, confirm the deletion, then finally exit back onto the My Contacts screen.

Community - Communities allow teams to collaborate together while sharing files, documents, calendars, tasks, and invoices. Similar to opportunities, communities cannot be deleted once activated unless everyone leaves the company. Unlike opportunities however, communities consist of groups rather than individuals. Groups can be organized hierarchically whereas contacts cannot.

Lead - Leads represent prospective customers who may eventually sign up for products/services offered by your business. Like Opportunities, Leads cannot be deleted once they're live. But unlike opportunities, they carry no financial value and are mainly intended to help streamline the process of closing deals.

Opportunity - An opportunity consists of a product offering, price, description, target market, stage of development, estimated revenue, and deadline. Opportunities move through four stages: inquiry, qualified prospect, prequalified prospect, and ready for sale. When an opportunity reaches the end of its cycle, it expires automatically after 30 days. At expiration time, anyone still interested receives an automatic reminder email letting them know that their contract is expiring soon.

PricebookEntry - Used for setting prices or discounts on items, managing inventory levels, adding taxes, shipping costs, and supporting accounting functions. Pricing entries are often referred to as PBEs or PBEPages.

Queue - Allows administrators to schedule recurring actions so that processes run according to a defined pattern. Queues are useful for things like sending out monthly statements and autoemailing clients upon renewal of contracts. Recurring events can also be scheduled within queues.

Task - Tasks are essentially reminders for yourself. While you can assign tasks to others, they don't take up space in another person's calendar. Instead, they appear directly on your personal task list and stay there indefinitely. Because of this, you can keep track of past due tasks easily on your own calendar.

User - Users are basically profiles assigned to certain roles within the system. Every role has a corresponding user profile with its own special permissions. These include viewing private content, accessing reports, running searches, submitting workflows, and changing security settings.

Vendor - Vendors are external service providers such as Amazon Web Services, Google Apps, Square, PayPal, and Uber. Although vendors technically fall under the category of third party services, they are managed completely separately from Sales Cloud itself. That means you won't see any integration between your Sales Cloud instance and vendor dashboard whatsoever.

4) How many records can be created in Salesforce?

While there isn't a hard limitation on how many records you can create, you shouldn't try to cram too many columns into a given field. Most developers agree that less is more when dealing with large amounts of text. Consider splitting long strings across several smaller fields. Also remember that whenever you insert values into tables, duplicate rows are inserted wherever possible. So avoid inserting repetitive text in places such as names, street addresses, telephone numbers, social media URLs, reference codes, etc.

5) What are workflow automation triggers?

Workflow automations trigger refers to the ability to execute logic based on changes made elsewhere in Sales Cloud. Triggers are implemented either manually or programmatically depending on the complexity involved. Some simple triggers involve checking for empty fields, comparing values, converting currency, and performing logical comparisons. More complex triggers might involve populating dropdown menus, launching mobile apps, scheduling jobs, or executing web services. Workflow triggers are best suited for automating mundane activities that occur regularly.

6) What is a formula field?

Formula Fields are simply calculations performed against sets of data. Formula fields are great for situations where you need something calculated but don't necessarily need it populated. Examples of popular formulas include calculating totals, averages, percentages, ratios, multiplying values, subtracting values, rounding results, ANDing conditions, ORing conditions, and CONCATENATING strings together.

7) Can I customize my own Record Type?

Yes! Just visit Setup & Administration --& Define New Field Set --& Create Your Own Record Type. From here, you can define exactly what fields you wish to have included on your record type. Keep in mind that you can always change your mind later down the road if necessary.

8) Is there a difference between a VisualForce Component and RecordType?

No, they are very closely related. RecordTypes are merely visual representations of fields within VisualForce Components. Think of them as folders containing tabs. To find out more about RecordTypes specifically, check out our guide detailing how to build customized components.

9) Do RecordTypes affect search capabilities?

Not really. Search works differently for each record type. Namely, searching for People usually returns results from Contacts, while searching for Vehicles returns results from Vehicle__c. Other factors affecting search are things like sorting options and filters.

10) How does RecordType filtering work?