Hover Detail
Hover Detail is the Salesforce UI feature that surfaces a popup preview of a record when a user hovers over its name or link in a list view, related list, lookup picker, or report.
Definition
Hover Detail is the Salesforce UI feature that surfaces a popup preview of a record when a user hovers over its name or link in a list view, related list, lookup picker, or report. The popup shows the Compact Layout fields (the same field set that drives the Highlights Panel) for the hovered record, letting the user inspect key attributes without navigating away. The feature reduces clicks; an admin scanning a Contacts list view can see each contact''s email, phone, and account at a glance by hovering, without opening each record.
Hover Detail is a Lightning Experience feature; the legacy Classic UI had a similar but separately configured Mini Page Layout that powered hover previews. In Lightning, the hover content is derived directly from the Compact Layout assigned to the record type, so customizing the Compact Layout customizes the hover detail at the same time. There is no separate Hover Detail editor in modern Salesforce; the Compact Layout is the single source of truth.
How Hover Detail uses the Compact Layout to power record previews
Where Hover Detail appears
Lightning surfaces Hover Detail in several contexts. List views: hovering over a Name field in a row shows the popup. Related lists: hovering over a child record''s name on a parent page. Lookup picker dropdowns: hovering over a search result. Reports: hovering over a record name in the result table. Each surface uses the same Compact Layout-driven content; the popup is consistent across the platform.
Compact Layout as the configuration point
The hover preview is not separately configurable. Editing the Compact Layout (Setup, Object Manager, pick object, Compact Layouts) changes what appears in the hover popup at the same time as it changes the Highlights Panel. This means a single configuration change updates the hover preview, the record header, the mobile view, and the search results all at once.
Disabling Hover Detail
Hover Detail is on by default in Lightning. Some orgs disable it for accessibility reasons or because the popup interferes with users on touch devices. Setup, User Interface lets admins control hover behavior at the org level. Disabling means users must click into each record to see the details; this is rarely the right answer for sales-team users but sometimes correct for service-team workflows.
Mobile and touch device behavior
Hover Detail requires a hover gesture, which exists on desktop but not on touch devices. The Salesforce mobile app uses tap-to-preview or simply navigates to the record on tap. The Lightning desktop UI on tablets falls back to a tap behavior when no mouse is detected, which can produce unintended navigations.
Performance and the SOQL underneath
Each hover triggers a small SOQL query to fetch the Compact Layout fields for the previewed record. For most users this is imperceptible. For users browsing very long list views, the cumulative effect of dozens of hovers can hit the org''s background-query budget. Salesforce caches recent previews to mitigate; admins generally do not need to tune this.
Field-level security and the popup
Hover Detail respects field-level security. A user with no read access to a field that is configured in the Compact Layout sees the field hidden from the hover popup with no placeholder. As with the Highlights Panel, this can leave gaps; design the Compact Layout with the most restricted profile in mind.
Classic Mini Page Layouts as the predecessor
Salesforce Classic used a separate Mini Page Layout to drive hover previews. Lightning unified the configuration with Compact Layouts. An org migrating from Classic to Lightning may find that the Compact Layout does not match the old Mini Page Layout; the migration is mostly automatic but worth verifying for high-traffic objects.
Configure the fields that appear on hover
Customization is purely a Compact Layout exercise. There is no separate Hover Detail editor in Lightning.
- Pick the object
Setup, Object Manager, click the object whose hover preview you want to change.
- Open Compact Layouts
Click Compact Layouts in the left nav. Find the Master layout or any custom one.
- Edit the field set
Edit the layout to include the four to six fields most useful in a quick preview (Name, Account, Phone, Email, Status, etc.).
- Save and verify
Save the layout. Hover over any record of this object in a list view; the popup should show the new field set.
- Test by user profile
Impersonate a restrictive-profile user and verify the popup still shows the expected fields. FLS can hide fields silently.
- Compact Layout changes propagate to multiple UI surfaces simultaneously. A change to support Hover Detail also changes the Highlights Panel, mobile view, and search results.
- Touch devices do not support hover. Designing a workflow that depends on Hover Detail leaves mobile users without that signal.
- Restrictive profiles can produce hover popups with missing fields. Test with the most-restricted profile to make sure the popup still communicates the essential info.
- Classic Mini Page Layouts do not automatically migrate to Compact Layouts when an org switches to Lightning. Verify the Compact Layout matches the old Mini Page Layout for objects users hover frequently.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Compact LayoutsSalesforce Help
- Lightning Experience UI SetupSalesforce Help
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Hover Detail.
- Field-Level SecuritySalesforce 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.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is Hover Detail?
Q2. Is Hover Detail available in Lightning Experience?
Q3. Should you invest in Hover Detail for new work?
Discussion
Loading discussion…