Search Highlight
A Salesforce search feature that visually highlights the matching search terms within the returned results, making it easier for users to identify why each record appeared and quickly scan for relevant matches.
Definition
A Salesforce search feature that visually highlights the matching search terms within the returned results, making it easier for users to identify why each record appeared and quickly scan for relevant matches.
In plain English
“Search Highlight is a Salesforce search feature that visually highlights matching search terms within the results. It makes it easier to see why each record appeared and quickly scan for the most relevant results.”
Worked example
A receptionist at Cypress Hill Hospitality searches Salesforce for "honeymoon suite" to find guest reservations matching that request. The search returns 18 results across Reservations, Cases, and Notes; each match has the phrase "honeymoon suite" highlighted in yellow within the result snippet. She instantly sees why each record matched - the highlight pulls her eye to the relevant text in each row without her having to click into each record to find it. Search Highlight is a small UX feature that pays off thousands of times a day across all the searches users run.
Why Search Highlight matters
Search Highlight is a Salesforce search feature that visually highlights the matching search terms within the returned results, making it easier for users to identify why each record appeared and quickly scan for relevant content. Highlighted terms stand out visually, drawing the eye to the matching content within each result.
Search highlighting is a standard search UX pattern that improves result scanning efficiency. Without highlighting, users have to read through each result to figure out why it matched; with highlighting, the matching terms are immediately visible. This small feature significantly improves the search experience for users who search frequently.
How organizations use Search Highlight
Ensures search highlighting is enabled for better user search experience.
Trains users on using search highlighting to quickly scan results.
Treats search highlighting as part of baseline search UX configuration.
🧠 Test your knowledge
Q1. What is Search Highlight?
Q2. Why is highlighting useful?
Q3. Is it a standard search pattern?
Discussion
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