salesforce compact layout assignment metadata

Guidance on how to retrieve and deploy Compact Layout assignment using Custom object and Record type metadata types

What metadata type to select in the filter?

Compact layout assignments are stored in the Custom object metadata within the RecordType sub-component.

So in order to deploy Compact Layout assignment, you'll need to include Custom object + RecordType in your metadata filter. ​ Alternatively, you can use Gearset's default Basic comparison metadata filter, which already includes Custom object metadata. ​

When to include only 'Custom object' metadata type without any of its sub-components?

Below is an example of a Compact Layout assignment stored directly within the 'Account' Custom object metadata type. ​

In this Salesforce org you'd find it in Account > Compact Layouts . ​ If you've reassigned System Default Compact Layout on a specific standard object, then you'd only need to include Custom object in your metadata filter (without any of its sub-components). ​ This is when the Compact Layout assignment is being stored within Custom object metadata.

Preview in the Compare 2.0

Note: The user interface of the comparison results may differ slightly if you're using Compare 2.0 to retrieve the same Compact Layout assignment, in which case the interface would look as below.

When to include both 'Custom object' and 'Record type' metadata types?

You would need both Custom object and RecordType metadata types included in the filter when Compact Layout assignment is set up for a specific RecordType on a Custom object .

Below is an example of a Compact Layout assignment found in the comparison within the Record type .

In this Salesforce org its location is: Case (object) > Record Types > 'CSE Support' Record Type.

Preview in the Compare 2.0:

When to include 'Custom object' and 'Compact Layout' metadata types?

You'd normally include both Custom object and its sub-component Compact Layout when you're aiming to retrieve the Compact Layout as a top level component.

​This means that you'd have the Custom Layout separated from the Custom object in your comparison results, as per below image.

About 15 mins

Learning Objectives

More fun with mobile customization, compact layouts, create a compact layout, assign the compact layout to users, test the compact layout in the salesforce mobile app.

• Challenge +500 points

Customize Compact Layouts

• Explain why it’s important to customize compact layouts.
• Create a new compact layout.
• Assign a compact layout to users.

Now that you have your black belt in quick actions, we can move on to the next mobile customization tool. In this unit, we introduce you to compact layouts.

Before diving in, we just want to acknowledge that the whole “layout” thing can be confusing. Action layouts...global publisher layouts...page layouts…compact layouts. For crying out loud, must everything have a layout?

Well...yes. That’s part of what makes Salesforce such a flexible CRM platform. You can customize the appearance of so much stuff that we’re literally bursting at the seams with layouts. But don’t worry. Once you get comfortable with all the customization tools, you won’t even think about the terminology anymore.

So what the heck is a compact layout?

When you open a record in the Salesforce mobile app, you see highlights about that record in the header of the page. Compact layouts control which fields appear in the header. For each object, you can assign up to 10 fields, including the Name field, to display in that area.

Creating and customizing compact layouts for your objects isn’t required because system defaults are provided out of the box. However, we recommend using compact layouts to put important fields into record headers to help your mobile users get the information they need quickly.

Let’s look at an example from DreamHouse Realty. D’Angelo has been experimenting with compact layouts for the Property object, and he’s pleased with the results. Check out screenshots of a property header in the mobile app before and after he customized the object’s compact layout.

If you put key fields on an object’s compact layout, mobile users can see important details at a glance.

D’Angelo already took care of the compact layout for the property object, but he’s not done customizing his record headers yet. He also wants to improve the appearance of the contact detail page, so he’ll create a compact layout for the contact object. Then brokers can get information about prospective buyers as fast as possible.

• From the Object Manager, enter Contact in the Quick Find box, then select Contact .
• From the Contact object management settings, go to Compact Layouts and click New .
• In the Field Label field, enter Mobile Contact Layout .
• Add the following fields to the layout: Name, Phone, Stage, Email. You can include up to 10 fields, including the Name field. Not all fields appear in the list. Compact layouts don’t support text areas, long text areas, rich text areas, or multi-select picklists.

• Click Save .

Even though we created a compact layout, the Salesforce mobile app will continue to use the system default until we tell it otherwise. So now we just need to set our new layout as the primary one for the contact object. Here’s something to keep in mind: Unlike with page layouts where you can assign a different layout to each profile, one compact layout is applied to all users.

• Click Compact Layout Assignment .
• Click Edit Assignment .

• Click Save . Tip: If an object has more than one record type, you’ll see a Record Type Overrides section when you select the primary layout. With it, you can assign specific compact layouts to different record types.

Now it’s time to switch over to the mobile app so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor. Let’s check out the new contact detail page for our prospective buyers.

• Open Salesforce on your device.

• Select the contact you created earlier.

Ta-dah! The contact record page has some new key details. Sure, it’s a minor change. But that’s how the customization process works. All those little changes add up, and they make a world of difference to mobile users.

• Salesforce Help: Compact Layouts
• Get personalized recommendations for your career goals
• Practice your skills with hands-on challenges and quizzes
• Track and share your progress with employers
• Connect to mentorship and career opportunities

• App Building
• Be Release Ready – Summer ’24
• Integration
• Salesforce Well-Architected ↗
• See all products ↗
• Career Resources
• Essential Habits
• Salesforce Admin Skills Kit
• Salesforce Admin Enablement Kit

Home » Article » Pro Tip: Harness Your Salesforce Metadata in Lightning Experience

• Pro Tip: Harness Your Salesforce Metadata in Lightning Experience

Tune into the Lightning Experience Pro Tips blog series to learn about setting up Lightning Experience and how to avoid common gotchas along the way.

You’ve invested valuable time and effort into setting up your Salesforce org to work just the way your teams need it to. So it’s natural to wonder if moving to Lightning Experience means you’ll have to redo all that work over again. The answer is: nope! That’s because the information about how your org looks, feels, and functions—think page layouts, fields, actions, related lists, record types—is Salesforce metadata. And all of that metadata seamlessly transitions to Lightning Experience.

The difference is the way the metadata is presented in Lightning Experience. Pages in the new interface are built using Lightning components—building blocks that you can arrange to display just the right information, in just the right place. So let’s look at how your existing object page layouts dovetail with Lightning components and where things fit on Lightning Experience pages.

How It Works

Here’s how the same account record page displays in Salesforce Classic and Lightning Experience.

In both interfaces, these areas of the page are populated by the object page layout:

• The Chatter feed and Chatter publisher with its actions (1)
• Standard and custom buttons (2)
• Record details (3)
• Related lists (4)

Tip : Notice the section of fields at the top of the Lightning Experience page? It’s called the highlights panel and we’ll talk more about how it’s populated later on.

Now let’s take a closer look at how the Salesforce metadata for each of these areas translates to pages in Lightning Experience.

Actions and Buttons

Salesforce Classic uses page layouts to determine the quick actions that appear in the Chatter publisher and the buttons that appear in the record’s details. Lightning Experience also uses page layouts but draws from the Salesforce Mobile and Lightning Experience Actions section, which groups all quick actions and buttons together. Where an action appears on a record page in Lightning Experience depends on the action’s type and function.

In Salesforce Classic, the Chatter publisher includes all quick actions in one long list (1). In Lightning Experience, the Chatter publisher includes fewer actions (2). That’s not a glitch. By design, the Chatter tab provides standard Chatter actions only: Post, Poll, and Question (and if you have Groups, the Announcement action).

So where are the rest of the quick actions from the Chatter publisher? To optimize workflow, they’re grouped by function. All activity-related actions are included in the Activities component, on the Activity tab (3). The rest of your quick actions, plus all supported standard and custom buttons, appear in the page-level action menu (4). The Chatter Follow button appears here too.

That said, there are a couple of objects that don’t follow all of the Lightning Experience rules. On case and work order records, the page-level action menu contains custom buttons and supported standard buttons only. All other actions appear on the Chatter tab.

Record Details

The fields, sections, and custom links on object page layouts are present and accounted for in Lightning Experience. These elements are included in the Record Details component, on the Details tab.

Changes you make to the object detail section on a page layout—adding or deleting fields and custom links, moving items around, or adding and removing sections—are automatically reflected in Lightning Experience.

Related Lists

Do you have a lot of related lists on your page layouts? In Lightning Experience, users no longer have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see them. Instead, they’re included in the Related Lists component, on the Related tab.

For easier scannability, the Related tab highlights the first few fields on a related list (1). To see all of the fields, users click View All (2). Also, related lists in Lightning Experience contain only the standard buttons normally found on related lists. Usually, that’s just the New button (3).

Not all related lists are supported in Lightning Experience. And some have evolved. For example, the Open Activities and Activity History related lists have been replaced by the activity timeline, on the Activity tab. (Check out this Pro Tip blog post for more details about this change.)

Highlights Panel

Okay, let’s talk about the section of fields that appears at the top of Lightning Experience record pages—the highlights panel. This component makes record page headers more robust by showing an at-a-glance view of a record’s most important details.

In Salesforce Classic, record page headers contain very minimal information. Not only that, but you can’t customize these headers.

In Lightning Experience, you can customize the highlights panel for each object to show a unique set of fields. The highlights panel leverages your existing record detail metadata. But instead of using page layouts, it derives its fields and how they’re arranged from compact layouts . In other words, this region is not defined by the Highlights Panel section on page layouts.

You can customize compact layouts from Setup in Lightning Experience, using the Object Manager. To learn more about compact layouts, check out the Additional Resources section, below.

Beyond the Basics

We’ve seen how the existing metadata for your object page layouts is surfaced in Lightning Experience via Lightning components. So all of your business-critical actions, custom fields, related lists, and more are automatically available when users make the switch to Lightning Experience. You can leave it at that. Or you can kick it up a notch with the Lightning App Builder to rearrange components, add new components, and deliver your users just what they need on their record pages.

The Lightning App Builder helps with detective work too! If you can’t figure out which compact layout or page layout is providing the data for a specific Highlights Panel or Record Detail component, open the record page, select the component, and view its properties in the panel on the right side of the page.

You see exactly which layouts are involved. And you can link directly to the layouts to quickly make any necessary changes.

Additional Resources

Want to learn more about how Salesforce metadata is presented in Lightning Experience? These resources are your best bet.

• Webinar: Get Nerdy with Lightning Experience Page Layouts
• Trailhead: Lightning Experience Customization
• Help: Actions in Lightning Experience
• Help: Page Layouts in Lightning Experience
• Help: Compact Layouts
• Help: Create and Configure Lightning Experience Record Pages
• Blog: Learn Lightning Experience—Compact Layouts   

And check out the other posts in the Lightning Experience Pro Tips blog series for more help with your Lightning Experience rollout.

Michelle Chapman-Thurber

Michelle Chapman-Thurber has been a technical writer at Salesforce since 2009, writing for the Salesforce Platform. She’s written for Force.com Sites, workflow, approvals, Visual Workflow, page layouts, and currently writes for Lightning App Builder and actions. She’s even written a few Trailhead modules.

• Break Up Your Record Details with Dynamic Forms

Related Posts

Salesforce Mobile App Highlights | Learn MOAR Summer ’23

By Andrew Mangano | May 15, 2023

The Salesforce mobile app is the flagship mobile app of Salesforce, enabling the world’s #1 CRM and Salesforce Customer 360 on mobile. Built on the Lightning platform, users have access to their Lightning apps, and admins can create custom apps and experiences for mobile users in Lightning App Builder. Let’s dive into a few of […]

Updates to the Salesforce UI That Will Improve Accessibility for Low-Vision Users

By Timothy Yeh | May 3, 2023

Editor’s note: This post was updated on August 21, 2023, with the latest information and resources. We’re about to make a big update to the user interface (UI) in your Salesforce environments. How big, you might ask? Well, it’s going to affect all Lightning UI and should dramatically improve the experience for your users with […]

Learn About Data Visibility and Access with the Updated Who Sees What Video Series

By Eugenia Kang | April 28, 2023

You asked; we listened. We’re proud to announce the new Who Sees What Lightning Experience series, updated with the latest best practices on data visibility and access. Follow along with this video series to ensure you’re adhering to the best practice of least privilege access: giving your users the data access they need—and only what […]

Welcome to my blog

I have been working with Salesforce for quite a while, so don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or want some advice.

Email Address*

What are Compact Layouts in Salesforce And How to Create Them?

Datatype in salesforce.

What is a compact layout? How do they benefit our users? Are they all bad? In this Salesforce Compact Layouts tutorial, I go over all things related to creating and using compact layouts in your org.

You will learn what is Compact Layouts in Salesforce and How to Create blog posts. I will show you how to create layouts in a compact setup, what are the benefits of compact layout configuration and why a compact setup could be a good idea for you. Salesforce Compact Layouts create a better user experience and make navigating the application easier and faster.

Related Posts

Salesforce Dev Tools Chrome Extension for Salesforce Developer

Streamline Your Salesforce Development with Top Dev Tools

How to Use Salesforce Advanced Code Searcher Extension?

Post a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Product Area

Feature impact.

• Emergency Program Management for Public Health
• Emergency Program Management for Public Sector
• Get the Prerequisites for Emergency Management in Health Cloud
• Install Health Cloud
• Enable Digital Experiences for EPM Sites
• Protect Your Sensitive Data with Salesforce Shield
• Set Up an Organization-Wide Email Address
• Assign Emergency Program Management Permission Set Licenses
• Emergency Response Management Permission Sets
• Create Emergency Program Management Users
• Enable Person Accounts in Emergency Program Management
• Add an Approval Path to an Application Page
• Create an Emergency Program Management Site
• Create an Emergency Response Community User Profile
• Create an Emergency Public Health Portal User Profile
• Create a Contact Tracer Community User Profile
• Configure Pages for the Emergency Public Health Portal
• Configure Pages for the Contact Tracer Community
• Configure Pages for the Emergency Response Community
• Style Your Community with CSS
• Make Pages Publicly Available
• Configure the Guest User Profile for the Emergency Public Health...
• Set Up Lightning Scheduler Sharing Rules for the Guest User Profile
• Define Trusted Sites for the Emergency Public Health Portal
• Add Members to Your Site
• Preview Your Site
• Publish the Changes to Your Site
• Create Relationships Between Health Cloud Products and Emergency...
• Self-Assessments and Appointments
• Configure Service Resource and Service Appointment
• Enable Maps and Addresses
• Set Up a Work Type and Work Type Group
• Set Up Operating Hours
• Set Up Data for Your Organization
• Enable Surveys
• Create a Survey
• Create an Email Template
• Configure Emails in Your Org
• Set Up a Queue to Process Responses
• Configure the Assessment Scheduling Custom Metadata Type
• Schedule Apex Jobs
• Pre-Configured Flows Included in Emergency Program Management
• Customize Standard Flow Templates
• Contact Tracing for Public Health
• Contact Tracing for Employees
• Contact Tracing Setup Checklist
• Install Health Cloud and Contact Tracing Packages
• Map Employee and Person Account Record Types
• Assign Contact Tracing Permission Sets and Permission Set Licenses
• Create a Lead Record Type

Assign Page Layouts and Record Types to Profiles

• Customize Status Group Picklist Values
• Activate Apps and Record Pages
• Create Lookup Filters for Contacts
• Configure the Clinical Assessment Flow Setting Custom Metadata
• Configure the Patient Task Assignment Queue Custom Metadata
• Configure the Status Group Config Custom Metadata Type
• Configure the Assessment Status Mapping Custom Metadata Type
• Configure the Contact Tracing Settings Custom Metadata Type
• Help Contract Tracers to Easily Navigate the App
• Create Queues for Assigning Public Health Contact Tracing Tasks
• Create Queues for Employee Contact Tracing Tasks
• Create an Employee Health Emergency Care Program
• Create a Public Health Emergency Care program and Its Related Products
• Associate Consent Documents with an Employee Care Program
• Associate Consent Documents with a Public Health Care Program
• Create a Care Barrier Type
• Customize Life Events to Show a Patient’s Condition History
• Personalize Life Events with Custom Icons
• Customize the Contact Tracing Graph Labels
• Create the New Clinical Assessment Quick Action Button
• Create the New Contact Encounter and New Household Member Quick...
• Create the Contact Outreach Quick Action Button
• Create the New Employee Evaluation Quick Action Button
• Create a Lead Process for Status Assignment
• Configure and Activate the Employee Contact Collection Flow
• Use Process Builder to Convert Leads to Patients
• Synchronize Employee Records with Person Account Records
• Configure the Employee Person Account Field Mapping Custom Metadata...
• Customize Employee Crisis Assessment Picklist Values
• Add the Contact Tracing Status Report to the Command Center Dashboard
• Create Person Accounts for Self-Registering Site Users
• Add Related Lists to Page Layouts
• Add Custom Visit Priorities
• Customize Picklist Values for Emergency Services
• Create a Queue for Incoming Service Requests
• Create Records for Emergency Service Organizations
• Create an Emergency Request
• Create Records for Different Types of Emergency Services
• Create a Business Type
• Create an Inspection Type for Emergency Services
• Create Emergency Service Authorizations
• Create Records for Emergency Service Products
• Create Record Types for Each Application Type
• Customize Application Status Picklist Values
• Create Locations for Location Access Permits
• Customize Emergency Service Application Status Values
• Enable Paths
• Create Paths to Track Application Statuses in the Review Process
• Create an Application Queue for Reviewers
• Create an Approval Process for Applications
• Use Process Builder to Submit Requests or Applications
• Create an Email Template with a QR Code
• Enable Notes
• Add the Inspections App to the List of Navigation Items
• Customize Inspection App Picklist Values
• Create an Emergency Service Regulatory Code
• Create an Emergency Service Assessment Indicator Definition
• Create an Emergency Service Regulatory Code Assessment Indicator
• Create Assessment Tasks
• Create Assessment Task Definitions
• Create an Emergency Service Violation Type
• Create a Violation Enforcement Action
• Create an Inspection Type
• Create an Inspection Action Plan Template
• Associate Tasks with an Action Plan Template
• Create an Action Plan Template
• Publish a Template
• Configure and Customize Visits
• Add Create New Visit Quick Action Button
• Configure the Visit Flow Custom Metadata Type
• Create a Visit
• Add Action Plans to the Visit Page
• Create Training Courses
• Install Salesforce Maps
• Create Base Objects to Plot on Maps
• Additional Configurations for Salesforce Maps
• Create Shape Layers
• Assign Permission Sets and Permission Set Licenses
• Assign User Profile and User License for Volunteers
• Create the Volunteer Project Page Layout
• Create the Volunteer Shift Page Layout
• Configure the Community User Profile
• Configure the Guest User Profile
• Set Up Self-Registration for Your Site
• Configure the Volunteer Project Page
• Configure the Shifts Page
• Configure the Volunteer Project Details Page
• Configure the Volunteer Shift Details Page
• Configure the Location Type Picklist
• Configure Sharing Settings
• Configure Default Navigation Access Levels
• Configure the Standard ERM User Profile
• Configure Volunteer Shift Cancellation Settings
• Configure the Default Shift Status
• Enable CRM Analytics
• Assign Analytics for Emergency Program Management Administrator...
• Grant Permission to the Analytics Integration User
• The Data Needed to Create the Analytics for Emergency Program...
• Set Field-Level Security to Enable Creation of the Analytics for...
• Create an App from the Analytics for Emergency Response Template
• Share the Analytics for Emergency Response Template App
• Schedule the Dataflow for the App
• Understand Analytics for Emergency Program Management Limitations
• Analytics Metrics Definitions

Make sure that contact tracers have access to the record types and page layouts they need by assigning the record types, page layouts, and compact page layouts to profiles. A user’s profile determines which page layout he or she sees.

You can assign page layouts from the following places.

• The object's customize page layout
• The original or enhanced profile user interface.

To verify that users have the correct access to fields based on the page layout and field-level security, you can check the field accessibility grid. From Setup, enter Field Accessibility in the Quick Find box, then select Field Accessibility . From this page, choose a particular object to view and then select whether you want to check access by profiles, record types, or fields.

Add or enable the following record types and layouts for the corresponding objects, and then assign the layouts to the appropriate user profiles.

Cookie Consent Manager

General information, required cookies, functional cookies, advertising cookies.

We use three kinds of cookies on our websites: required, functional, and advertising. You can choose whether functional and advertising cookies apply. Click on the different cookie categories to find out more about each category and to change the default settings. Privacy Statement

Required cookies are necessary for basic website functionality. Some examples include: session cookies needed to transmit the website, authentication cookies, and security cookies.

Functional cookies enhance functions, performance, and services on the website. Some examples include: cookies used to analyze site traffic, cookies used for market research, and cookies used to display advertising that is not directed to a particular individual.

Advertising cookies track activity across websites in order to understand a viewer’s interests, and direct them specific marketing. Some examples include: cookies used for remarketing, or interest-based advertising.

Cookie List

• Marketing Cloud

Experiences

Access Trailhead, your Trailblazer profile, community, learning, original series, events, support, and more.

Search Tips:

• Please consider misspellings
• Try different search keywords

Get Compact Layouts Using sObject CompactLayouts