---
schema_version: "1"
id: e7678ec463b395c248ad9e0f06621f0e26f22e6d42fef2588f806dacf045fa99
title: Lookup Relationship Fields on External Objects
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/external_object_lookup_relationships.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.external_object_lookup_relationships.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: c0d8e3f514f3050849ee252e6a492becd6b1712b3e3542317e6ed54df8b00856
description: Use a lookup relationship when the external data includes a column that identifies related Salesforce records by their 18-character IDs.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
  - Security
release: "264"
---
# Lookup Relationship Fields on External Objects

Use a lookup relationship when the external data includes a column that identifies related Salesforce records by their 18-character IDs.

### Required Editions

<table class="slds-table slds-table_bordered slds-max-medium-table_stacked slds-m-bottom_small edition">
      <colgroup>
        <col>
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          <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;">
            <p>Salesforce Connect is available in: <strong>Developer</strong> Edition and for an extra
              cost in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>, <strong>Performance</strong>, and <strong>Unlimited</strong> Editions</p>
            <p><span id="external_object_lookup_relationships__files_connect_cloud_editions"><a name="external_object_lookup_relationships__files_connect_cloud_editions"><!-- --></a>Files Connect for cloud-based external data
                sources is available in: <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Enterprise</strong>,
                <strong>Performance</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong>
                Editions</span></p>
            <p style="margin-bottom:0;">Federated Search is available in: <strong>Enterprise</strong>,
              <strong>Professional</strong>, <strong>Unlimited</strong>, and <strong>Developer</strong> Editions
            </p>
          </td>

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

A lookup relationship field links a child standard, custom, or external object to a parent standard or custom object. A user who’s editing a child record can click the field’s lookup icon to select a specific parent record, and a user who’s viewing a parent record can view a related list of child records.

When you create a lookup relationship field on an external object, enter the External Column Name that contains the 18-character Salesforce IDs for identifying the parent records.

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

Example

- Account record (parent standard object) displays a related list of external SAP sales orders (child external object).
- Account record (parent standard object) displays a related list of support cases (child standard object).

#### See Also

- [External Object Relationships](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.external_object_relationships.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "External objects support standard lookup relationships, which use the 18-character Salesforce record IDs to associate related records with each other. However, data that’s stored outside your Salesforce org often doesn’t contain those record IDs. Therefore, two special types of lookup relationships are available for external objects: external lookups and indirect lookups.")
- [Create Custom Fields](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.adding_fields.htm&type=5&language=en_US)
- [Considerations for Object Relationships](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.relationships_considerations.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Review these considerations before creating relationships between objects.")
- [Include a Files Connect Data Source in Global Search](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=experience.admin_files_connect_search.htm&type=5&language=en_US)