Console Settings
Console Settings is a Setup page where administrators configure behavior and appearance options for the Salesforce Console (both Service Console and Sales Console).
Definition
Console Settings is a Setup page where administrators configure behavior and appearance options for the Salesforce Console (both Service Console and Sales Console). Settings include keyboard shortcuts, tab limits, navigation behavior, and whether to show pinned lists or the footer component.
In plain English
“Here's a simple way to think about it: Console Settings tunes the workspace power users live in. Tab limits, navigation, keyboard shortcuts, footer behavior - settings that compound across 8-hour console sessions.”
Worked example
The admin at QuickAssist Insurance configures Console Settings to increase the maximum number of open tabs from 10 to 20, since agents frequently work on multiple cases simultaneously. She also enables keyboard shortcuts so agents can quickly navigate between tabs using Alt+1 through Alt+9, reducing their average handle time.
Why Console Settings tune the workspace power users live in all day
The Service Console and Sales Console are workspaces, not record pages - multiple records open in tabs, a utility bar pinned at the bottom, keyboard shortcuts to jump between them. Console Settings is the page where you configure the behaviour that distinguishes a console from the standard navigation: how many tabs can be open, whether navigation creates a new tab or reuses the current one, which keyboard shortcuts exist, and whether the footer and pinned lists appear.
The reason these settings matter disproportionately is that console users open the app at 9 a.m. and don't close it until 5 p.m. Small choices compound - a wrong tab limit produces "the console is freezing" tickets, a wrong keyboard shortcut conflicts with a screen reader, and the wrong default navigation pattern doubles every navigation step. Sit with one of your power users, watch them work, and tune this page based on what they actually do - not on what feels reasonable in isolation.
How to set up Console Settings
Console Settings configure the Service Console (and Sales Console) — multi-tab navigation, split view, keyboard shortcuts, Lightning Page assignments. The settings live per-Lightning App, not org-wide, since each Console is its own Lightning App.
- Open Setup → App Manager
Setup gear → Quick Find: App Manager → App Manager.
- Click into your Service Console (or Sales Console) Lightning App
Edit the app, not view.
- Configure Navigation Style: Console Navigation
Console Navigation = multi-tab; Standard Navigation = single page. Pick Console for service workflows.
- Set Navigation Items
What tabs appear in the top nav. Drag to order them.
- Set Utility Items
What's in the utility bar at the bottom — History, Notes, Macros, Omni-Channel widget, etc.
- Set Personalization Options
Whether end users can customize their nav, what's hidden, what's visible.
- Save
Settings are applied. Users in this App now see the configured Console layout.
Console (multi-tab) vs Standard (single-page). Console is for high-throughput service work.
Tabs in the top nav. Drag to order; click X to remove.
Items in the utility bar — Notes, History, Macros, Omni-Channel, Voice.
Per-app, per-object Lightning Page assignment — overrides the org default.
- Console settings are per-app. Service Console and Sales Console can have different settings — change in one doesn't propagate to the other.
- Some utility items require feature licenses (Omni-Channel, Voice). Adding them to the utility bar without licensing shows a placeholder, not a working widget.
- Personalization Options affect agent productivity. Letting users customize sounds nice but can lead to inconsistency — many service orgs lock down personalization for compliance / training reasons.
How organizations use Console Settings
Tuned tab limit and navigation; agent productivity rose because the workspace fit actual workflows.
Keyboard shortcut review with power users surfaced conflicts with screen readers; remediated.
Test your knowledge
Q1. Can a Salesforce admin configure Console Settings without writing code?
Q2. What is the primary benefit of Console Settings for Salesforce administrators?
Q3. In which area of Salesforce would you typically find Console Settings?
Discussion
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