Tab
A Tab in Salesforce is the navigational element for an object, a Visualforce page, a Lightning component, or a web tab pointing to an external URL.
Definition
A Tab in Salesforce is the navigational element for an object, a Visualforce page, a Lightning component, or a web tab pointing to an external URL. Tabs appear in the navigation bar of every Lightning App and in the App Launcher's All Items list. Clicking a tab opens the related list view (for object tabs), the configured page (for Visualforce or Lightning tabs), or the external URL (for web tabs). Tabs are the entry point for users browsing a specific object's records or accessing a specific page on the platform.
Custom Tabs are admin-defined and used to surface custom objects, custom Visualforce pages, custom Lightning components, and external URLs as first-class navigation entries. Standard Tabs ship with the platform for every standard object (Accounts, Contacts, Cases, Opportunities, Leads, and others). Each tab has a Tab Style (icon and color), visibility settings (per profile), and an inclusion list (which Lightning Apps it appears in). The Tab is the metadata that lets an object or page show up in navigation, distinct from the underlying object or page itself.
How Tabs organize Salesforce navigation
Standard tabs, Custom Object tabs, Visualforce tabs, Lightning tabs, Web tabs
Tabs come in several flavors. Standard Tabs are platform-provided and exist for every standard object (Account, Contact, Lead, Case, Opportunity, others). Custom Object Tabs are created for custom objects: a Project__c object gets a Projects tab. Visualforce Tabs surface a Visualforce page as a tab. Lightning Tabs surface a Lightning component (typically an Aura or LWC component) as a tab. Web Tabs point to an external URL with optional sidebar styling. Each tab type has slightly different configuration but the same role in navigation.
Tab Style and the icon library
Every tab has a Tab Style: an icon and color combination that appears next to the tab name. Salesforce ships hundreds of pre-built Tab Styles (briefcase, document, gear, lightning bolt, dozens of others). Admins pick a style at tab creation or upload a custom icon set. The style is a visual signal: users learn to recognize tabs by icon faster than by name. Picking a thematic icon (a refund icon for the Refund Request object) helps daily navigation. Picking a default icon for everything leads to a sea of identical tabs.
Visibility: profile-driven
Each tab has a visibility setting per profile: Default On, Default Off, or Hidden. Default On means the tab appears in the user's navigation by default. Default Off means the tab exists but is hidden from the navigation bar by default; users can customize their navigation to add it. Hidden means the tab is invisible to the profile entirely. Permission Sets can extend visibility beyond the profile grant. The visibility settings drive which tabs appear in the App Launcher All Items list and in the Lightning App navigation bar.
Inclusion in Lightning Apps
Beyond per-profile visibility, each tab can be included or excluded from specific Lightning Apps. The Sales app might include Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Reports. The Service Console might include Cases, Knowledge, Live Chat Transcripts. Excluding a tab from an app does not hide it system-wide; the user can still reach it through the App Launcher. The app-level inclusion is what shapes the navigation bar of each Lightning App. Admins configure this in the App Manager when editing each Lightning App.
Tab order and the personal navigation customization
Inside each Lightning App, the order of tabs in the navigation bar is admin-configurable. Setup, App Manager, the app, Navigation Items, drag to reorder. Users can also personalize their own navigation: drag tabs to reorder, add tabs from the All Items dropdown, remove tabs they do not use. Personal customization is per-user and per-app, persistent across sessions. This is the second-level customization layer on top of the admin-defined default order.
Custom Tab on a custom object: the automatic case
When you create a custom object, the Object Manager wizard asks whether to create a tab automatically. Checking the box creates a Tab record with a default Tab Style. Most admins always check the box; the tab is what makes the object visible to users. Skipping the tab creates an invisible object accessible only through related lists or programmatic reference. This is occasionally intentional (utility objects, junction objects that should not have their own navigation) but more often a mistake.
Web Tabs and external system integration
Web Tabs point to an external URL and render the URL's content inside the Salesforce navigation. The tab can use a sidebar template (Salesforce header above, external content below) or full-page (the external URL renders edge-to-edge). Web Tabs are an older integration pattern, mostly superseded by Lightning Components or Connected Apps that handle authentication. They still appear in older orgs and remain useful for simple "link to internal SharePoint dashboard" scenarios where deeper integration is not needed.
Creating a Tab for a custom object or page
Creating a Custom Tab is a Setup workflow: pick the tab type, configure the Tab Style and label, set per-profile visibility, include in the relevant Lightning Apps.
- Open Tabs in Setup
Setup, Quick Find Tabs, click the link under User Interface. The page lists existing Custom Object Tabs, Custom Web Tabs, and Visualforce Tabs.
- Pick the tab type and click New
For a Custom Object Tab, scroll to Custom Object Tabs and click New. For a Visualforce Tab, scroll to Visualforce Tabs and click New.
- Configure the tab specifics
For a Custom Object Tab, pick the target object. For a Visualforce Tab, pick the Visualforce page. For a Web Tab, enter the URL.
- Pick a Tab Style
Pick from the Tab Style library: a pre-built icon and color combination. The choice affects how recognizable the tab is in navigation.
- Set the Label and Plural Label
The Label is the singular form (Project). The Plural Label is what appears on the tab itself (Projects). The two can differ for grammatical reasons.
- Set per-profile visibility
Default On for profiles that should see the tab in their default navigation. Default Off for tabs available but hidden. Hidden for profiles that should not see the tab at all.
- Add to Lightning Apps
Setup, App Manager, edit each Lightning App where the tab should appear, Navigation Items, add the tab. Save the app configuration.
Custom Object Tab, Visualforce Tab, Lightning Component Tab, or Web Tab. Pick at creation; cannot be changed later.
Singular and plural forms shown on the tab and in navigation. Defaults from the target object name.
Icon and color combination from the Salesforce Tab Style library. Required for visual identification.
The object, page, component, or URL the tab points to. Varies by Tab Type.
Default On, Default Off, or Hidden. Sets the per-profile baseline for tab visibility.
- Custom Object Tabs are not auto-created with the custom object. The Object Manager wizard offers to create one, but skipping the offer leaves the object invisible to users.
- Tab Style choices are permanent in the sense that changing them after launch confuses users. Pick deliberately.
- Hidden visibility on a profile blocks the tab entirely. A user with Hidden visibility cannot reach the tab even through the App Launcher All Items list.
- Web Tabs do not handle authentication. The external URL must support session sharing or single sign-on for the user to land authenticated.
- Lightning Component Tabs require the component to be marked for the lightning__Tab target in its meta XML. Components not marked for this target do not appear in the tab picker.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Tab.
- Create Custom TabsSalesforce Help
- Tab VisibilitySalesforce Help
- Create Lightning AppsSalesforce Help
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. What is a Tab?
Q2. What types of tabs exist?
Q3. How do you control visibility?
Discussion
Loading discussion…