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Notes on Predefined Field Values for Quick Actions

Setting predefined field values for quick actions is especially important if you remove required or Always on Layout fields from the action layout.

Required Editions

Available in: both Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience
Available in: Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Contact Manager, Database.com, and Developer Editions
  • You can set predefined values for any field available in the action layout editor, with these exceptions.
    • Dependent picklists
    • Multi-select picklists
    • Read-only field types like auto-number, formula, and roll-up summary fields
  • If you set a predefined value for the lookup field that’s used as the action’s relationship field, the action ignores the predefined value and uses the parent record ID instead.
  • You can’t use a dependent picklist to set a predefined value.
  • If a field on an action has both a predefined value and a default value set, the action uses the predefined value, not the default value.
  • If a picklist field on a quick action has both a predefined specific value and a predefined formula value, the formula value takes precedence over the specific value.
  • If you set a predefined value for a field and leave it on the action layout, that value displays as the default value for the field.
  • If you use a rich text field as a predefined field value, any text formatting that was applied in the rich text field is removed in the new field.
  • When you have a required field with a predefined value and remove the field from the action layout, you must add the required field back to the action layout if you later delete the field’s predefined value. Otherwise, users can’t save the record.
  • Formulas can’t reference fields on external objects, so you can’t reference an external object field to set a predefined field value for a quick action.
  • You can use a TEXT(picklist) value in a predefined value field.
  • A predefined field value for a lookup field must be a reference to a record Id field or another lookup field.
  • To set the value for an email action’s recipient, predefine the To, CC, or BCC fields. You can use ID fields, such as Contact.Id, or string fields, such as Contact.custom_email_field to predefine the value.
    • Contact, lead, and person account IDs are supported.
    • Use an ID field if you want to log the email on the recipient’s record.
    • Use a string field to predefine an email recipient for a custom object or custom field.
    • If you use a string field, the email isn’t logged on the recipient’s record.

See Also