Tightening a picklist so it only accepts approved values is one of the most common data-quality wins. Here is how to restrict a custom picklist and tidy its values in Object Manager.
- Open the field
In Setup, go to Object Manager, choose the object, open Fields and Relationships, and click the picklist field you want to control.
- Enable restriction
Click Edit, then select "Restrict picklist to the values defined in the value set." Save, fixing any non-conforming records the system flags first.
- Order and default the values
Use the Reorder screen to arrange values or turn on alphabetical sorting, and mark one value as the default if a safe default exists.
- Clean up with Bulk Manage
Use Bulk Manage Picklist Values to deactivate stale values or replace duplicates so they merge across existing records in one pass.
Rejects any value not in the active list at save time, across the UI, API, and imports.
Sorts the dropdown alphabetically instead of the manual order you arranged.
Pre-selects one value on new records to speed entry; leave unset when no value is universally safe.
Choose a local list unique to this field or a shared global value set used by many fields.
- Switching a field to restricted fails if existing records hold values outside the set; clean those first.
- New values added under manual ordering do not sort themselves, so reorder them after adding.
- Apply one global value set to more than about thirteen objects and you lose the ability to replace or delete its values.
- Deactivating a value hides it from the dropdown but keeps it valid on records that already use it.