---
schema_version: "1"
id: b6c92c6ababf09e5b68b755a64ea35866747fdf7220555d7e82136250c2e237c
title: Create a Global Picklist Value Set
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/fields_creating_global_picklists.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_creating_global_picklists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 8b790cefe24c9eac189f0bd160ddb7dfe01e18a4676cf6a36731c7992eb0e9a3
description: Use a global picklist value set to share values across objects and custom picklist fields, and to restrict the picklists to only the values that you specify.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
  - Security
release: "264"
---
# Create a Global Picklist Value Set

Use a global picklist value set to share values across objects and custom picklist fields, and to restrict the picklists to only the values that you specify.

### 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: Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience</td></tr><tr class=""><td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;">Available in: all editions</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%">
          <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="d177986e60">User Permissions
              Needed</th>
          </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody>
          <tr class="">
            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d177986e60 ">To create or change custom fields:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d177986e60 ">Customize Application</td>

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A custom picklist is tied to a particular object as a field on the object. Unlike a custom picklist field, a global picklist exists independently as a global picklist value set. Its values are shared with any picklist that’s based on it. A global picklist is a restricted picklist by nature. Only a Salesforce admin can add to or modify its values. Users can’t add unapproved values, even through the API.

1. If you need to, first review the considerations information at the end of this topic. From Setup, enter Picklist in the Quick Find box, then select **Picklist Value Sets**.
2. Next to Global Value Sets, click **New**.
3. Enter a label for the global value set. This name appears in Setup, and when users create a picklist based on this global value set.
4. To tell users what these values are for, enter a specific description of the global value set. This text appears on the Picklist Value Sets list page in Setup.
5. Enter the values, one per line.
6. Optionally choose to sort the values alphabetically or to use the first value in the list as the default value, or both.
    
    If you select both options, Salesforce alphabetizes the entries and then sets the first alphabetized value as the default.
7. Click **Save**.

Your global value set is ready to be used in custom picklist fields. To arrange values or re-alphabetize them, use **Reorder**. You can’t undo a custom picklist field’s association with a global value set. If you need a picklist field to use a different global value set or different individual values, delete the custom picklist field, and create a new one in its place.

To create a picklist that uses a global picklist value set, see [Create a Custom Picklist Field](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_creating_picklists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Create custom picklist fields to let your users select values from lists that you define."). To see all the fields where this value set is used, look under Fields Where Used on the global picklist’s detail page.

As you add new values to an existing global picklist, you can add the new values to all record types that use the picklist. Select **Add the new picklist values to all Record Types that use this Global Value Set**; otherwise, you have to add the new values to existing records types manually.

There are limits for global picklist value sets.

- Global picklist value sets have a combined active and inactive limit of 1,000.
- You can have up to 500 picklist global value sets in an org.
- There’s no limit on the number of custom picklists that use global picklist value sets.
- If you apply a global picklist value set to more than 13 different objects, you can deactivate values from the picklist value set, but you can’t replace any picklist values or delete values from the set.

#### See Also

- [Manage Inactive Picklist Values](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_manage_inactive_picklist_values.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Establish upper bound limits, deactivate, reactivate, or remove a value from a restricted or unrestricted picklist.")
- [Create a Custom Picklist Field](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_creating_picklists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "Create custom picklist fields to let your users select values from lists that you define.")
- [Make Your Custom Picklist Field Values Global](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_promote_picklists.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "When you create a custom picklist, it’s only available to the current object. To share the values with other objects, promote the picklist to a global value set. The original custom picklist references the global value set for its values, and the global value set is also available to other custom picklists.")