The Salesforce Winter '25 release is here, and it's a significant one! There's a focus on AI, Flows, and enhancing setup tools, aimed at improving the configuration experience for Salesforce instances across the board. Depending on your instance, you'll be upgraded on one of the following dates:

• September 6th
• October 4th
• October 12th

If you want to find out exactly which weekend your Salesforce instance will be upgraded, head over to Salesforce Trust and click on ‘Maintenance.’ You’ll need to know which instance your org is running on, so to find out, go to your Setup menu and click on Company Information.

If you’d like a full run-through of the release, check out this Salesforce Help article for the breakdown. These updates are sure to make you say, “Slay!” (Or for those who speak Gen Z, “Ate and left no crumbs!”). Here are some of the top improvements from the Winter '25 release.

See How Object Access Is Granted in Object Manager

You can now see how access is granted for objects in Object Manager! You’ll gain a clear overview of which permission sets, permission set groups, and profiles allow access, along with the specifics of that access. The read-only Object Access Summary makes it easy to check permissions when troubleshooting, conducting reviews, or determining how to grant user access. Think of it as your easy pass to check permissions!

Make Inline Edits with the Enhanced User List View

Another fantastic Salesforce Winter '25 update is the enhanced user list view. You can now view, sort, and filter user records in a list format, making it easy to manage entries directly inline.

Configure Record Highlights in Lightning App Builder

Now, you no longer need to go to Setup and use Compact Layouts to configure fields in the highlight panel. With the new Dynamic Highlights Panel, you can set up your most important fields directly in the Lightning App Builder. Plus, you can include up to 12 fields!

Make Record Fields Stand Out with Conditional Formatting

Who doesn't love Conditional Formatting and a splash of color? Salesforce Winter '25 introduces a fantastic feature that allows you to assign custom icons and colors to fields on Dynamic Forms-enabled pages. These elements can appear, disappear, or change color based on the criteria you set.

This idea came straight from IdeaExchange, so it's a great reminder to stay active there—your ideas truly matter!

Expand Your Email Reach by Using CC and BCC Options in Send Email Action

Once again, Salesforce has outdone itself! The maximum number of recipient email addresses has been increased from 5 to 150. You can now easily add CC and BCC recipients when using the Send Email Action in Flow Builder. 

Provide a Better Screen Flow Experience with Action Buttons

Imagine you are building a house and instead of having to go to different rooms to turn on the lights, you could just press a single button on your smartphone. How convenient is that?

That's exactly what the new Action Button component in Salesforce offers! With just one click, users can trigger actions within a screen flow. By linking the action button to specific tasks, you can automate workflows and create a smoother, more efficient user experience.

Add Calculated Fields to Your Data Cloud Reports with Einstein Generative AI

With Einstein Generative AI, you no longer need to be an expert in data models, objects, fields, or formula limitations to create calculated fields. For those with Data Cloud and Einstein 1, simply head to Setup, select Einstein Setup, and turn on Einstein. From there, you can choose to Create Formula, Add Summary Formula, or Add Row-Level Formula in the Columns menu.
There are multiple ways to generate the formula you need:

• Describe the calculation you want.
• This makes formula creation accessible and straightforward!
• Ask questions like, “How many days did it take for each opportunity to close?” or “After deducting taxes and expenses, what are our net earnings?”

The Messaging for In-App and Web API Is Generally Available

Salesforce has always been a leader in innovation, and this messaging upgrade takes it to the next level! With Messaging for In-App and Web API, you can craft highly customized conversations, send messages instantly, and manage chat sessions just like your favorite messaging app. It’s all about making communication feel effortless and natural!

So, there you have it—our favorite picks from the Salesforce Winter '25 Release Highlights!

Summary

Many of the features mentioned in this blog require some background knowledge of Salesforce Administration and how to configure an environment. As always if you need any assistance applying these improvements and tools to your system, don’t hesitate to reach out. We hope you enjoy exploring all the new functionality available in the Salesforce Winter ‘25 release.