Highlights Panel
The Highlights Panel is the strip of key fields displayed at the top of a Salesforce record page in Lightning Experience.
Definition
The Highlights Panel is the strip of key fields displayed at the top of a Salesforce record page in Lightning Experience. It surfaces the four to eight most important attributes of the record (Account Name, Amount, Close Date, and Owner on an Opportunity, for instance), keeping them in view as the user scrolls through related lists and Chatter feeds. Admins configure which fields appear via the Compact Layout assigned to the record type, and the Highlights Panel renders the chosen fields automatically; there is no separate Highlights-Panel layout editor.
The component is one of the highest-leverage UX surfaces in Salesforce. A well-tuned Highlights Panel surfaces the answer to "What is this record about?" in three seconds. A neglected one shows whatever fields happen to sit at the top of the alphabet on the master layout, often missing the field the user actually needs. The Lightning App Builder includes a Highlights Panel as one of the default record-page components; admins can also build custom highlights via Lightning Record Page Header components when the standard panel falls short.
Why the Compact Layout is the lever that moves the Highlights Panel
Compact Layout controls Highlights Panel content
Salesforce uses the Compact Layout to decide which fields the Highlights Panel displays. Setup, Object Manager, pick the object, Compact Layouts. Drag the fields you want shown into the layout in the order they should appear; save and assign to record types. The Highlights Panel renders the first four to eight fields based on screen width.
Compact Layout assignment by record type
Each record type can have its own Compact Layout assignment. An Opportunity record type for New Business shows Amount and Close Date; the Renewal record type shows Renewal Date and Ramp Schedule. Setup, Object Manager, Compact Layouts, Record Type Assignments lets admins pick which layout fires for each record type, including the master layout as the fallback.
Mobile, Salesforce 1, and Lightning consistency
The Compact Layout drives more than just the Highlights Panel. It also drives the mobile app record view, the Lightning record search results preview, and the activity timeline summary cards. A field added to the Compact Layout shows up everywhere; this consistency is one of the reasons Salesforce uses one configuration point instead of separate panels.
The default Master Compact Layout
Every object ships with a System Default compact layout populated by Salesforce. The default picks the Name field plus a handful of standard fields based on object type. The default is rarely the right choice for a mature org; one of the first customization tasks on any new implementation is editing the Master Compact Layout to surface the org''s actual key fields.
Custom record-page components
When the standard Highlights Panel does not provide enough flexibility (conditional rendering, computed fields, color-coded indicators), admins build a Lightning Record Page Header component or a custom Lightning Web Component that sits in the same region. The custom component can read the record at runtime, apply business logic, and render anything. Most orgs stick with the standard panel; the custom path is reserved for specialized use cases.
Display behavior at different screen widths
The Highlights Panel adapts to screen width. Wide desktops show all configured fields up to eight. Narrow tablets show four to six. Mobile collapses to a stacked layout. Admins should test the layout on the smallest target screen size; a panel that looks great on a 27-inch monitor can be unreadable on a tablet.
Field-level security and permission filtering
The Highlights Panel respects field-level security. A user without read access to a field configured in the Compact Layout sees the field hidden, with no placeholder. This can leave gaps in the panel for users on restrictive profiles; design the Compact Layout with the lowest-permission profile in mind.
Customize the Highlights Panel on a key object
Highlights Panel customization is purely a Compact Layout exercise. The work runs through Object Manager.
- Open Compact Layouts
Setup, Object Manager, pick the object (Opportunity for the canonical example), click Compact Layouts. The list shows the System Default and any custom layouts.
- Edit the Master Compact Layout
Click Edit next to the Master layout. The drag-and-drop editor shows available fields on the left and the layout on the right.
- Pick the four to eight most important fields
Add fields in the order they should appear. For Opportunity, a typical sequence is Account Name, Amount, Close Date, Stage, Owner.
- Save the layout
Save. The change applies to the master layout immediately and propagates to any record type assigned to it.
- Verify on a record
Open a record of the object. The Highlights Panel at the top should show the new field set in the chosen order.
- Assign per record type if needed
For record types that need different highlights, create a separate Compact Layout and assign it via Record Type Assignments.
- The Compact Layout drives mobile views and search previews, not just the Highlights Panel. Changes affect every surface, not just the desktop record header.
- Different record types can have different Compact Layouts. Forgetting to update all assignments leaves users on some record types seeing the old layout.
- Field-level security can blank out fields on the panel for restrictive profiles. Design with the lowest-permission user in mind.
- The Highlights Panel does not support conditional logic. Use a custom Lightning Web Component when business rules require show-or-hide behavior beyond what FLS provides.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Compact LayoutsSalesforce Help
- Lightning Highlights PanelSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Highlights Panel.
- Lightning Experience PagesSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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