Text
Text is a Salesforce field data type that stores a single line of alphanumeric content up to 255 characters.
Definition
Text is a Salesforce field data type that stores a single line of alphanumeric content up to 255 characters. It's the most common field type for short strings - names, codes, brief descriptions, external IDs - and the SOQL WHERE-clause default for equality comparisons. Text fields support unique constraints, case-sensitivity rules, default values, and can be set as External ID for upsert operations. For longer content Salesforce offers Text Area (255 chars, multi-line), Long Text Area (up to 131,072 chars), and Rich Text Area (HTML-formatted).
In plain English
“Text is a Salesforce field data type that stores a single line of alphanumeric text up to 255 characters. It's the basic short text field for things like names, codes, or brief descriptions.”
Worked example
A Salesforce admin at Greenfield Logistics creates a custom Text field External_Order_Id__c on the Opportunity object - 50 chars max, marked Unique and External ID - to store the primary key from their ERP. An integration from the ERP upserts Opportunities using this field as the match key, so ERP order updates flow into Salesforce without duplicating records. A sales rep's short Text "Market" field on Account uses a default value and a validation rule to constrain inputs (the admin opts not to use a Picklist because market names change frequently).
Why Text matters
Text is a Salesforce field data type that stores a single line of alphanumeric text up to 255 characters, used for short text entries like names, codes, or brief descriptions. It's one of the most commonly used field types because so many data points are short text.
Text fields support a configurable maximum length (up to 255 characters), external ID designation, unique value enforcement, and case sensitivity settings. Mature data models specify text field lengths deliberately rather than defaulting to 255 for everything, which helps communicate expected content.
How organizations use Text
Uses Text fields for names, codes, and short identifiers across their data model.
Specifies text field lengths deliberately to communicate expected content.
Treats text field configuration as part of data model design.
Test your knowledge
Q1. What is Text field type?
Q2. What's the max length?
Q3. When use Text vs Text Area?
Discussion
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