Definition
A Sharing Rule in Salesforce grants additional record access to specific groups of users beyond what is defined by the org-wide default sharing settings and the role hierarchy. Sharing Rules can be criteria-based (sharing records that match specific field values) or owner-based (sharing records owned by certain users or roles).
Real-World Example
At Horizon Pharma, the org-wide default for the Account object is Private, so reps can only see their own Accounts. The admin creates a criteria-based Sharing Rule that shares all Accounts with Industry = "Healthcare" with the Compliance team's public group, giving them read-only access. This allows compliance officers to review healthcare accounts without opening up all Account data to the entire company.
Why Sharing Rule Matters
A Sharing Rule in Salesforce extends record access beyond what the Organization-Wide Defaults and Role Hierarchy provide. There are two types: owner-based Sharing Rules share records owned by users in specific roles or groups, and criteria-based Sharing Rules share records that match specific field values regardless of ownership. For example, a criteria-based rule can share all Accounts with Industry = 'Healthcare' with the compliance team's Public Group, giving them read-only access to relevant records without exposing the entire Account object. Sharing Rules can grant either Read Only or Read/Write access and are applied automatically by the platform whenever a record meets the rule's criteria.
Sharing Rules are the primary tool for granting lateral access in Salesforce — access that does not follow the upward flow of the Role Hierarchy. As organizations grow, the number of sharing rules tends to increase, and without governance, the sharing architecture can become unwieldy. Each object has a limit of 300 owner-based and 50 criteria-based sharing rules, and exceeding these limits requires architectural alternatives. Additionally, Sharing Rules trigger recalculation of the sharing table whenever they are created or modified, which can be time-consuming on objects with millions of records. Admins should consolidate redundant rules, use Public Groups as targets instead of individual roles, and monitor recalculation impact to keep the sharing architecture performant.
How Organizations Use Sharing Rule
- Horizon Pharma — Horizon's OWD for Accounts is Private, but the compliance team needs to see all healthcare-industry accounts. The admin created a criteria-based Sharing Rule that shares Accounts with Industry = 'Healthcare' with the Compliance public group as Read Only. This gives compliance officers targeted access without exposing all Account data to the entire company.
- Summit Dynamics — Summit uses owner-based Sharing Rules to share Opportunities owned by reps in the East Coast role with the West Coast sales team, enabling cross-regional collaboration on multi-location deals. The rule grants Read Only access, allowing West Coast reps to reference existing deals without being able to modify them.
- Pinnacle Property Management — Pinnacle created a criteria-based Sharing Rule that shares all Work Orders with Status = 'Emergency' with their executive leadership public group. This ensures that senior leaders have immediate visibility into critical maintenance issues without having to wait for escalation through normal channels, reducing emergency response time by 40%.