Major Release
A Major Release in Salesforce is one of the three platform-wide releases shipped per year: Spring, Summer, and Winter.
Definition
A Major Release in Salesforce is one of the three platform-wide releases shipped per year: Spring, Summer, and Winter. Each major release introduces new features across every Salesforce product, deprecates older capabilities, ships breaking changes flagged by critical updates, and refreshes the underlying platform infrastructure. The releases are global; every customer org receives the same version on a staggered rollout schedule managed by Salesforce''s Customer Trust team. Salesforce publishes detailed release notes for each major release weeks in advance, and customers use the preview window to test their orgs against the new version before production migration.
The Major Release cycle is the operational rhythm of every Salesforce org. Admins read release notes, identify features that might benefit their org, test in a Preview-released sandbox, train users on new capabilities, and update documentation. Developers handle deprecated APIs, migrate code that depends on retired features, and adopt new platform capabilities. The three-major-releases-per-year cadence is faster than most enterprise software but slower than consumer apps; it produces a steady rhythm of platform evolution that customers can plan around.
The Spring-Summer-Winter Major Release cadence
Three releases per year
Salesforce ships three Major Releases per year, named after seasons: Spring (typically February), Summer (typically June), and Winter (typically October). Each release introduces new features across Sales, Service, Marketing, Experience, Industries, Platform, and Einstein products, plus deprecations and infrastructure updates. The release names are versioned (Spring 26, Summer 26, Winter 26).
Sandbox preview vs. production rollout
Salesforce releases each Major Release to sandboxes 3-6 weeks before production. Customers use this Preview window to test their orgs against the new version, identify regressions, and adapt to deprecations. Production orgs get the release on a per-instance schedule that runs over 3-5 weekends following sandbox release.
Release notes and Highlights
Salesforce publishes comprehensive release notes for each Major Release on Salesforce Help, typically 4-6 weeks before sandbox preview. The notes detail every new feature, every deprecation, every breaking change. Customers read the notes carefully to identify items relevant to their org and to surface critical updates that require action.
Critical Updates and Release Updates
Some Major Release changes are non-optional: critical security fixes, deprecated features being removed, platform behavior changes. Salesforce flags these as Release Updates with a deprecation window (typically two-three releases). Customers must address them before the deprecation deadline, or the change applies automatically.
Preview window operational rhythm
The release-preview window is the highest-stakes operational rhythm in any Salesforce org. Admins schedule preview testing on their sandboxes, build regression test suites, surface any breaking changes to the integration and dev teams. Most mature orgs treat the preview window as a code-freeze period for major new development.
Per-instance release schedule
Salesforce ships releases per pod (legacy) or per Hyperforce region (modern). The Trust portal (status.salesforce.com) publishes the per-instance release date weeks ahead. Different orgs receive the release on different weekends within the rollout window; the variance can be a few weeks between orgs on different instances.
Major vs. patch releases
Major Releases are the big quarterly drops. Salesforce also ships patch releases (point releases, security patches, hotfixes) between Major Releases. Patches typically deploy on a per-instance schedule without the customer-facing release notes process; major releases get the full release-notes treatment.
Prepare your org for the next Major Release
Major Release preparation is a quarterly operational cadence. Plan a release-preview testing cycle every 4 months; coordinate code-freeze, regression testing, and user training.
- Subscribe to release-notes notifications
Salesforce Trust portal lets admins subscribe to per-instance release notifications. Add the relevant team members.
- Review release notes 4-6 weeks before preview
Read the release notes when they publish. Highlight features relevant to the org and surface critical updates that need action.
- Test in a preview-released sandbox
Identify which sandboxes get the preview release. Run the regression test suite against the new version.
- Surface critical updates to the team
Surface critical updates and required actions in writing. Track completion of any required code or configuration changes.
- Plan user training for new features
Identify the user-facing changes that warrant training. Schedule communications and walkthroughs for the rollout date.
- Coordinate the production migration window
Know the per-instance production date. Plan code-freeze windows around it; communicate the date to users.
- Per-instance schedules vary. Different orgs get the release on different weekends; do not assume a single date for all environments.
- Critical updates have hard deadlines. Letting them lapse causes silent platform behavior changes when the deprecation enforces.
- Release notes are long. Skim for relevance; deep-read only the sections that touch the org''s configuration.
- Integration partners need their own release-preview window. Confirm they''re testing against the new version on the same cadence.
Trust & references
Cross-checked against the following references.
- Salesforce ReleasesSalesforce Help
- Salesforce TrustSalesforce
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Major Release.
- Lightning Experience Release NotesSalesforce 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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