Definition
A Salesforce sharing mechanism that allows record owners (and users with appropriate permissions) to grant access to specific records to other users, roles, or groups beyond what org-wide defaults and sharing rules provide.
Real-World Example
a Salesforce administrator at Coastal Health recently implemented Manual Sharing to maintain data quality and enforce organizational policies across the platform. By properly setting up Manual Sharing, they prevent common data entry errors and ensure that users follow established business processes, which saves the support team hours of cleanup work each week.
Why Manual Sharing Matters
Manual Sharing is a Salesforce sharing mechanism that allows record owners (and users with appropriate permissions) to grant access to specific records to other users, roles, or groups beyond what org-wide defaults and sharing rules provide. It's a record-by-record exception mechanism for situations where the standard sharing model doesn't grant access but you want to give it for one specific case.
Manual Sharing is useful for one-off scenarios but doesn't scale: managing access through hundreds of manual shares becomes unmaintainable. Salesforce has tightened manual sharing in recent releases, recognizing that it can be a source of accidental over-sharing if used carelessly. Mature orgs use sharing rules and role hierarchies for systematic access and reserve manual sharing for genuine exceptions. In Lightning Experience, manual sharing is accessed through the Sharing button on records (when enabled). For programmatic sharing, Apex Managed Sharing provides similar functionality with code control.
How Organizations Use Manual Sharing
- •BrightEdge Solutions — Uses manual sharing for occasional one-off cases where a sales rep needs to share a deal with a specialist outside the standard team.
- •NovaScale — Audits manual sharing periodically because it can accumulate over time and create access patterns that aren't visible in the standard sharing model.
- •Cobalt Ventures — Reserves manual sharing for exceptions only, using sharing rules for any access that should be systematic.