Lookup Icon
A Lookup Icon in Salesforce is the small object icon that Lightning Experience renders next to a record so users can tell at a glance which object the record belongs to.
Definition
A Lookup Icon in Salesforce is the small object icon that Lightning Experience renders next to a record so users can tell at a glance which object the record belongs to. The same icon appears in lookup dialog results, global search results, related list headers, the navigation bar, the highlights panel, and list views. It comes from the Salesforce Lightning Design System (SLDS) icon set, which groups icons into action, standard, custom, doctype, and utility categories.
The icon is not a separate setting you toggle on its own. It is defined by the object's Tab Style, the color-and-icon pairing chosen for the object's tab. Because every Lightning surface reads that single Tab Style, picking one icon controls how the object looks everywhere, on desktop and in the Salesforce mobile app. Standard objects ship with a default icon, and custom objects choose one when their tab is created.
How the Lookup Icon is wired into Lightning Experience
One Tab Style, many surfaces
The Lookup Icon is not configured per screen. It is derived from the object's Tab Style, which is the icon-and-color pairing attached to the object's tab. Once that style is set, Lightning Experience reuses it everywhere a record needs an object marker. You see it in the navigation bar, in the highlights panel at the top of a record page, beside each result row in the lookup dialog, beside each hit in global search results, in related list headers, in list view headers, and in the activity timeline. Because all of these surfaces read the same source, an admin never has to set the icon five times. Change the Tab Style once and every surface updates together. This unification is deliberate. It keeps an Opportunity looking like an Opportunity whether the user found it through search, opened it from a related list, or picked it in a lookup field. The icon becomes a consistent visual handle for the object across the whole interface, which is why teams that pay attention to it report faster scanning in dense list and search views.
The SLDS icon categories
Salesforce publishes its icons through the Lightning Design System, and they are grouped into five categories that each serve a purpose. Action icons sit on buttons and quick actions, like New Task or Log a Call. Standard icons represent the platform's standard objects and common entities, with names such as standard:account, standard:contact, and standard:opportunity. Custom icons are the colorful set offered to custom objects, things like a cup, a heart, or a wrench, so admins can pick something that fits their object without uploading artwork. Doctype icons represent file types in Files and attachments, such as PDF, Excel, and image. Utility icons are the small monochrome glyphs used inline for controls, like the magnifying glass, the chevron, and the close X. A Lookup Icon for a record almost always comes from the standard or custom category, because those are the object-level icons. Developers reference the same set in code through the lightning-icon component, passing an icon name and a size, which keeps custom components visually aligned with the rest of Lightning Experience.
Where the icon comes from for standard objects
Every standard object ships with a default SLDS icon, and those defaults are what most users see day to day. Account renders as a building, Contact as a person, Opportunity as a briefcase, Case as a headset, and Lead as a person with a plus. These defaults exist so a fresh org already looks coherent before anyone touches configuration. A common myth is that standard object icons can never be changed. In Lightning Experience that is not strictly true. The object's Tab Style still governs the icon, and where the platform exposes the Tab Style for an object, an admin can adjust it. Some standard tabs lock the style and some allow edits, so the safe rule is to check the object in the Tab settings rather than assume. For custom objects there is no ambiguity. They always carry an editable Tab Style, so their Lookup Icon is fully under admin control from the moment the tab is created.
Choosing a Tab Style for a custom object
When you create a tab for a custom object, Salesforce asks you to pick a Tab Style. The picker is a grid of SLDS Custom icons, each paired with a default background color. You choose by clicking the icon that best matches the object's meaning, then save. The goal is recognizability. If the object is named Equipment, a wrench or a box reads instantly, while a random heart icon would only confuse people later. The Tab Style you select is stored with the tab and becomes the object's Lookup Icon across Lightning Experience and the mobile app. You can also create a brand new custom style during the same flow if nothing in the grid fits. The background color is part of the choice, not an afterthought, because the icon is rendered on that colored square in search results and the highlights panel. Spending a minute on a sensible icon-and-color pairing pays off every time a user scans a crowded search result or a long related list and finds the right object faster.
Uploading a custom image icon
For teams that want full brand control, Salesforce lets you create a custom tab style backed by an uploaded image instead of a stock SLDS icon. The image is uploaded into a Documents folder that all users can read, then selected as the tab's icon. Salesforce expects small square artwork, commonly around 16 by 16 pixels for the small rendering, and supports standard web image formats. This is how a company puts its own product logo on a custom object so the record header and search results carry the brand. The tradeoff is real. A custom image steps outside the SLDS look, so it will not automatically match the weight, padding, and color treatment of the stock icons around it. It also will not adapt to SLDS theming the way native icons do. Most admins reserve uploaded images for a few flagship objects and let everything else use the standard Custom icon grid, which keeps the interface clean and consistent while still giving the important objects a distinct, branded marker.
Color, theming, and the icon background
Each SLDS icon is drawn on a colored background square, and that color is part of the Tab Style rather than a separate setting. In the highlights panel and in search results, the icon and its background read as a single colored badge for the object. Because of that, the color you pick should sit well next to your org's overall look. Salesforce orgs can apply a theme through Themes and Branding in Setup, which controls the broader palette of the navigation and brand elements. A Lookup Icon whose background fights the active theme can look off, like a bright clashing tile in an otherwise muted header. There is no hard technical break, the icon still works, but the polish suffers. The practical move is to preview a new icon in context after setting it, opening a record and a search to see the badge against the live theme. When the icon color and the theme palette are chosen with each other in mind, the object's badge looks intentional and the interface feels finished.
The icon in lookup dialogs and search
The Lookup Icon does its most useful work in the two places where records from many objects appear side by side. The first is the lookup dialog, the picker that opens when a user clicks into a lookup field to relate one record to another. Each candidate row shows the object's icon, so when a search returns a mix of records, the icons help the user pick the right type quickly. The second is global search, where results can span Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Cases, and custom objects all in one list. The per-row icon turns a wall of text into a scannable list grouped visually by object. What appears alongside the icon, the fields shown in each result row, is governed by the object's Search Results layout under Search Layouts, while the icon itself comes from the Tab Style. The two settings work together. The Search Layout decides which details are visible, and the Lookup Icon supplies the instant visual cue for which object each row represents, which is exactly the kind of small touch that adds up across a busy workday.
Set a custom object's Lookup Icon
Set a custom object's Lookup Icon by choosing its Tab Style in Setup. The style you pick becomes the icon shown in search results, lookup dialogs, related lists, and the navigation bar across Lightning Experience and mobile.
- Open the tab settings
In Setup, type Tabs in Quick Find and open Tabs. Find your custom object's tab in the Custom Object Tabs list and click Edit, or click New if the object has no tab yet.
- Open the Tab Style picker
Next to the Tab Style field, click the magnifying glass lookup. A grid of SLDS Custom icons appears, each with a default background color.
- Pick a meaningful icon
Click the icon that best matches the object's purpose so users recognize it instantly. If nothing fits, choose Create your own style to upload a custom image stored in a shared Documents folder.
- Save and verify in context
Save the tab. Open a record and run a global search for it, then confirm the new icon shows in the highlights panel, the search results, and a lookup dialog.
The icon-and-color pairing that becomes the object's Lookup Icon everywhere in Lightning Experience.
A stock colored icon from the Lightning Design System custom set, the recommended choice for consistency.
The option to upload a custom image as the icon for full brand control, at the cost of SLDS consistency.
The colored square the icon is drawn on in search and the highlights panel, which should suit your org theme.
- Standard object tabs may lock their Tab Style, so an icon you can edit on a custom object might be fixed on a standard one. Check before assuming.
- Uploaded image icons must live in a Documents folder readable by all users, or some people will see a broken icon.
- A custom image will not match the SLDS icons around it and ignores theme adjustments, so reserve it for a few important objects.
- The Search Results layout controls which fields show next to the icon, not the icon itself. Update the Tab Style to change the icon.
Prefer this walkthrough as its own page? How to Lookup Icon in Salesforce, step by step
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- lightning-icon Component ReferenceSalesforce
- Create Custom Object TabsSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Lookup Icon.
Hands-on resources to go deeper on Lookup Icon.
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 the Lookup Icon in Salesforce?
Q2. From which library do admins choose an object's Lookup Icon?
Q3. For a custom object, where does an admin set its Lookup Icon?
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