---
schema_version: "1"
id: 112800abf96654bb945ab273eca32026f1aa79b49d5015cf0a5a782aca485243
title: Customize Standard Fields
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/customize_stdfields.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_stdfields.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 1fdba49cd66f1761643537209624e2d173608568c762067063f7d7d424f0bb8d
description: You can customize several aspects of standard fields, such as the values in picklists, the format for auto-number fields, tracking field history, lookup filters on relationship fields, and field-level help.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
  - Security
release: "264"
---
# Customize Standard Fields

You can customize several aspects of standard fields, such as the values in picklists, the format for auto-number fields, tracking field history, lookup filters on relationship fields, and field-level help.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition"><colgroup><col></colgroup><tbody><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: <strong>All</strong> Editions except for <strong>Database.com</strong>.</td></tr></tbody></table>

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small permission">
        <colgroup>
          <col style="width:50%">
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        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
          <tr class="">
            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d148012e67">User Permissions Needed</th>
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        <tbody>
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            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d148012e67 ">To change standard fields:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d148012e67 ">Customize Application</td>

          </tr>
        </tbody>
      </table>

![Tip](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-extend_click-264-0-0-production-enus/5f7d9219-b7b1-4552-8891-f1aba9b289fc/images/icon_tip.png)

Tip You can’t delete standard fields, but you can remove them from your page layouts.

1. Navigate to the fields page for your object.
2. Click the field label.
3. To add custom help text, click **Edit**.
4. On the field’s information page, you can—depending on your edition—set field-level security, view accessibility settings, and configure validation rules.

You can also do more, depending on the field’s type. For example, if the field is a picklist, you can add, delete, and reorder its values, and set dependencies. You can’t increase the field length of a standard field. If you need a longer text area, consider creating a custom field.

![Note](https://sf-zdocs-cdn-prod.zoominsoftware.com/tdta-platform-extend_click-264-0-0-production-enus/5f7d9219-b7b1-4552-8891-f1aba9b289fc/images/icon_note.png)

Note What does that **Indexed** checkbox mean on a field, and how did it get there?

If a field is indexed, you can use sidebar search or advanced search to find values in the field. Having a field indexed can also speed up other operations on the field, such as reporting. See this blog post to find out more: [Know Thy Salesforce Field Indexes for Fast Reports, List Views, and SOQL](https://developer.salesforce.com/blogs/engineering/2015/06/know-thy-salesforce-field-indexes-fast-reports-list-views-soql.html).

- **[Capturing Gender-Related Data with Standard Fields](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.inclusive_fields.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5)**  
    Represent the diversity of your customer base by recording gender-related data in Salesforce. Use standard, optional fields with vetted value sets to help you personalize your data, build trust, and close data gaps in your system of record.

#### See Also

- [Create a Custom Field](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.adding_fields.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Capture your unique business data by storing it in custom fields. When you create a custom field, you configure where you want it to appear and optionally control security at the field level.")
- [Add or Edit Picklist Values](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.updating_picklists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Add new values or rename existing values in a custom picklist from the fields area of an object. If the picklist uses a global picklist value set, you can change its values only by editing the global value set. Your changes affect all picklists that inherit their values from that global value set.")
- [Rename Object, Tab, and Field Labels](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customize_rename.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "You can change the name of almost any object, field, or tab in Salesforce. This simple adjustment lets you continue using the terminology your users already know and helps them transition to using Salesforce. However, Salesforce Help and most pages in Setup always display the original names for standard objects, fields, and tabs.")
- [Field-Level Help](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.customhelp_getting_started_flh.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Field-level help lets you provide help text detailing the purpose and function of any standard or custom field. Before defining field-level help, review these implementation tips and best practices.")
- [Lookup Filters](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_lookup_filters.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Improve user productivity and data quality with lookup filters. Lookup filters are administrator settings that restrict the valid values and lookup dialog results for lookup, master-detail, and hierarchical relationship fields.")