Creating a Case is most often done by an automated capture path. The manual create flow still matters for rep-driven captures (phone-in support, in-person escalations) and for testing the routing configuration after every change to assignment rules.
- Open the Cases tab
From the App Launcher, search Cases and open the list view. Service reps usually default to a specific queue view rather than the All Open Cases list.
- Click New
The New button sits at the top of the list view. If your profile lacks Create on Case, the button is hidden. Some service orgs hide manual create entirely to force reps to use capture paths that pre-populate Case Origin correctly.
- Pick a record type if prompted
Many orgs use record types to separate Customer Support, Internal IT, Billing, Returns, and other case categories, each with its own page layout and required fields. Pick the one that matches the work.
- Fill Subject and Description
Subject becomes the report headline; Description becomes the body Knowledge searches against. Write Subject like a summary, not like an email greeting. Avoid pasting entire conversation chains into Description; keep it to the actionable summary.
- Set Contact and Account
Contact is the person reporting the issue. Account is the company they belong to. Both fields drive entitlement checks, sharing, and SLA calculations. If the customer is not yet a Contact, create the Contact first and then the Case; do not file Contactless Cases as a workaround.
- Set Priority, Origin, and Type
Origin captures how the Case came in (Phone, Email, Web, Chat); Priority captures urgency; Type captures the work category. All three drive routing and reporting. Default values are fine for testing but should be overridden for real Cases.
- Save and let assignment rules fire
Click Save. Active assignment rules route the Case to the right queue or owner based on criteria. Confirm the assignment landed where you expected before stepping away.
Required. The summary line that shows up in every Case list view and report.
Required by most orgs (not platform-required). The detail Knowledge searches against and reps read first when picking up a Case.
- Email-to-Case has no sender authentication on the default routing address. Add SPF and DKIM verification at the email gateway, layer a duplicate-prevention rule, and route the email-to-case mailbox through Salesforce Email Service or your existing email security stack before pointing it at a public address.
- Milestones do not start their clocks unless an Entitlement Process applies to the Case. Configure Entitlements and attach them to Accounts (or Assets, Contracts) first, then turn on Milestones.
- ClosedDate is the field reporting reads, not LastModifiedDate. If you allow Cases to reopen, build a Closed-Twice metric to catch the double-resolution pattern; default reports treat the second close as the resolution time.
- Case Comments with isPublished=true are visible to the customer. Reps who paste investigation notes into a published comment send them to the customer. Lock the public-comment field down by layout and train new reps before they touch a real Case.