Assigning and managing feature licenses involves the User record for single assignments, Data Loader for bulk, and Company Information for monitoring. The steps below cover the full lifecycle.
- Check available allocation
Setup > Company Settings > Company Information. Scroll to Feature Licenses. Confirm the license has available units before assigning.
- Assign to individual user
Setup > Users > select the user > Edit. Check the feature license checkbox (Marketing User, Service Cloud User, etc.). Save.
- Bulk assign through Data Loader
Export current users, populate the relevant UserPermissions field (UserPermissionsMarketingUser = true), and update through Data Loader. Test with a small batch first.
- Verify the assignment
Reload the user record, confirm the checkbox is set. Or query: SELECT UserPermissionsMarketingUser FROM User WHERE Id = ... and confirm true.
- Add corresponding permission set
The feature license unlocks the capability; the permission set or profile grants access to specific objects, fields, and actions. Both are required for the user to actually use the feature.
- Monitor consumption
Build a report on User by feature license fields. Schedule weekly for the IT operations team. Catch shortfalls before they block new hires.
- Reclaim from deactivated users
Run a quarterly audit of inactive users with assigned licenses. Deactivate any user no longer at the company; their licenses return to the allocation automatically.
Unlocks Campaign access and marketing capabilities.
Unlocks Service Cloud objects: Case, Knowledge, Live Agent.
Unlocks the Knowledge object for editing and publishing articles.
Unlocks chat session handling for support agents.
Unlocks CRM Content (Libraries) features. Legacy feature; superseded by Salesforce Files.
- Feature licenses are distinct from Permission Set Licenses. Newer features use the permission set model; confirm which applies before troubleshooting.
- Freezing a user does not release their license. Only deactivation does. Frozen accounts are a common silent drain on allocation.
- Assignment fails per row when bulk loading. A partial failure leaves a mix of assigned and unassigned users; plan a rollback before starting.
- Feature license alone does not grant access. The user also needs the corresponding permission set or profile; assigning only the license produces unexpected access denial errors.
- Some feature licenses are bundled with the base user license (Mobile User in modern orgs). Assigning explicitly is redundant or even produces errors.