Definition
Release Updates is a Setup page that lists upcoming and recently enforced Salesforce platform changes that may affect the org. Each update includes a description, impact assessment, enforcement date, and the option to test the update before it is automatically enforced, giving administrators time to prepare.
Real-World Example
The admin at Velocity Partners reviews Release Updates and sees that a security update requiring HTTPS for all Visualforce pages will be enforced next quarter. She clicks "Test This Update" to enable it in a sandbox, identifies three legacy Visualforce pages that reference HTTP resources, updates them, and is ready well before the enforcement date.
Why Release Updates Matters
Release Updates is a dedicated Setup page in Salesforce that lists upcoming platform changes which may impact your org's behavior, security posture, or customizations. Each update includes a clear description, an impact assessment, an enforcement date, and critically, a Test This Update button that lets administrators enable the change in a sandbox before automatic enforcement. This advance notice system is Salesforce's way of ensuring that potentially breaking platform changes do not blindside organizations, giving admins a structured window to assess, prepare, and remediate.
As orgs accumulate customizations over time -- custom Apex, Visualforce pages, Lightning components, and integrations -- the risk from platform-enforced changes grows significantly. A security update that requires HTTPS for all Visualforce pages might break dozens of legacy pages that reference HTTP resources. Organizations that ignore Release Updates until enforcement day often face emergency scrambles to fix broken functionality while users are impacted. Proactive admins review Release Updates quarterly, test each one in a sandbox, document the impact, and schedule remediation work alongside their normal release cadence.
How Organizations Use Release Updates
- Velocity Partners — Velocity's admin reviews Release Updates and spots an upcoming security enforcement requiring HTTPS for all Visualforce pages. She tests it in sandbox, discovers three legacy pages with HTTP references, fixes them, and is production-ready weeks before the enforcement date. Users never experience a disruption.
- Ironclad Manufacturing — Ironclad's admin team creates a quarterly Release Update review ritual where they assess every pending update, categorize each as no-impact, low-impact, or high-impact, and create user stories for anything requiring code changes. This process is baked into their sprint planning, ensuring release updates never compete with feature work for attention.
- Brightpath Education — Brightpath's admin notices a Release Update that changes how Guest User access works for their student-facing community portal. By testing early, she discovers that several public pages lose access. She reconfigures sharing rules and guest user profiles in sandbox, then promotes the changes before enforcement. Students never lose access to their course materials.