Record
A Record in Salesforce is a single row of data stored in an object.
Definition
A Record in Salesforce is a single row of data stored in an object. Each record has a unique 15- or 18-character Salesforce ID and contains field values defined by the object's schema. Records are the fundamental units of data in Salesforce and can be created, read, updated, and deleted through the UI, APIs, or automation.
In plain English
“Okay, picture this: Think of Salesforce like a giant digital notebook. Record is one of the important pages in that notebook. It helps people at work remember who they talked to, what they promised, and what needs to happen next - kind of like how you'd keep a list of your best friends and what games they like to play.”
Worked example
When a sales rep at PrimeLogic creates a new Account for "Henderson & Associates," that Account becomes a single record with a unique ID (e.g., 001Dn00000xyz123). The record stores the company name, industry, phone number, and all other field values. Every interaction, opportunity, and case linked to Henderson & Associates traces back to this one Account record.
Why record is the unit of data every Salesforce user already thinks in
A Record is a single row in an object - one Account, one Contact, one Case, one Opportunity. Each record has a unique ID (15 characters in the UI, 18 case-safe), a set of field values defined by the object's schema, and a sharing scope that determines who can see and edit it. For users, records are the things they open, edit, share, and report on; for admins, records are the units sharing rules, permissions, and validation rules apply to.
The reason record is the right vocabulary even casually is that the platform's user-facing language uses it consistently - record types, record pages, record-triggered flows, record-level security all reference the same concept. Using row or entity or document in conversation introduces translation; using record is what every Trailhead, every help article, every UI tooltip already uses. Default to it, and the rest of the documentation lines up.
How organizations use Record
Use a Master Record Type pattern across every standard object - one default Record Type per object that handles 80% of cases, with specialized types only when the layout, picklist values, or assignment rules genuinely diverge. The discipline keeps Record Type proliferation in check.
Treat the Record ID as the canonical primary key for every external system that integrates with Salesforce. The 18-character ID is the form they pass; the 15-character form is computed only when explicitly needed for legacy compatibility.
Use Record-level Sharing rules to enforce a strict "visible to your team only" policy across every Opportunity. The default sharing is Private; ad-hoc sharing is granted per-record by the Opportunity owner. The discipline produces audit-clean record visibility for their compliance reviews.
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. Who would typically configure or interact with Record?
Q2. What happens when Record data is not maintained properly in Salesforce?
Q3. Which Salesforce Cloud is Record most closely associated with?
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