Icons

Icons is a Setup feature for managing and customizing the icons used for custom objects, tabs, and applications in the Salesforce user interface. Administrators can choose from the Salesforce icon library or upload custom icons to help users visually distinguish different objects and apps.

Every custom object, custom tab, and Lightning app needs an icon - the small shape that appears next to its name in the navigation, on tabs, and in record headers. Icons is the Setup feature that lets you pick from Salesforce's library or upload custom imagery. It's the kind of thing that seems trivial until users start hunting through their nav for "the one that looks like a folder" instead of remembering names.

The reason a five-minute task like assigning icons earns attention is that visual differentiation reduces cognitive load. An org with twelve custom objects all using the default cube icon is harder to use than one where each object has a distinct visual mark. Pick icons that suggest the concept (a clipboard for a Task object, a box for inventory, a coin for billing), keep custom imagery on-brand, and revisit them whenever a redesign happens.