---
schema_version: "1"
id: dff872558e0fffd9f1db2393f28e82b544a459baa54e59a1217453c7af4d462e
title: Establish a Picklist Upper Bound Limit
collection: admin
version: current
locale: en-us
portal_url: https://docs.salesforce.com/admin/current/en-us/platform/264-0-0/fields_establish_upper_bound_limit.md
canonical_url: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_establish_upper_bound_limit.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5
source_site: help.salesforce.com
content_type: documentation
content_hash: 05724a15c5889aa9cb7a3ddb0f95e1c784706f30ad3fbc9d0d69bd14ab2fadca
description: You can enforce an upper bound limit of inactive values on existing picklists. The limit is enforced on the inactive values of unrestricted, custom picklists whose numbers don’t exceed the allowable limit. By default, all new unrestricted picklists have an enforced limit of 4,000 inactive values.
products:
  - Salesforce Platform
  - Security
release: "264"
---
# Establish a Picklist Upper Bound Limit

You can enforce an upper bound limit of inactive values on existing picklists. The limit is enforced on the inactive values of unrestricted, custom picklists whose numbers don’t exceed the allowable limit. By default, all new unrestricted picklists have an enforced limit of 4,000 inactive values.

### 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:<strong> All</strong> 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%">
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        <thead class="slds-text-title_caps ">
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            <th scope="colgroup" class="slds-cell-wrap" colspan="2" style="text-align:center;vertical-align:top;" id="d135935e63">User Permissions Needed</th>
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            <td data-label="User Permissions Needed" class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d135935e63 ">To create or change custom fields:</td>

            <td class="slds-cell-wrap" style="vertical-align:top;" headers="d135935e63 ">Customize Application</td>

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1. From **Setup**, in the Quick Find box, enter Picklist Settings, and then select **Picklist Settings**.
2. On the Picklist Settings page, click **Establish upper bound on existing picklists**.

A query runs to identify picklists that have fewer than 4,000 inactive values. The limit is then enforced only on those picklists. A message appears to show the number of picklists that were bound to the limit, or that there are no unbound picklists that meet the limit.

You can run the upper bound on existing picklists multiple times. For example, if you delete picklist values, you can potentially reduce the total number of values to be less than the limit. Admins or Salesforce can’t configure the limit of 4,000 inactive values.

#### See Also

- [Convert a Text Field to a Picklist Field](https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=platform.fields_converting_field_to_picklist.htm&release=264.0.0&type=5 "By default, an upper bound limit of 4,000 is applied to inactive unrestricted picklists for each field. If you exceed this limit when converting a text field to a picklist field, you get an error message.")