It’s 80 degrees, I’m in a T-shirt and shorts, and I’m writing a blog about Winter ’23. We are so far from actual winter here in North America. But yet, here we are. It’s release time! Let’s talk about the newest, shiniest features for you and your end users that will hit your sandboxes and production orgs soon.
As always, I encourage you to read the release notes for features that are important to you, as an admin, and your company.
Once you’ve read the summarized list of features below, head over to your Winter ’23 sandbox and test-drive these features yourself. You can also get hands-on in a Winter ’23 pre-release org here. Check the Maintenance Calendar for exactly when your Salesforce org will get the Winter ’23 features. Scroll through the list and check your Salesforce instance (NA__, EMEA__) against the release dates listed in the calendar.
All enhancements below apply to Lightning Experience unless specified otherwise.
Releases include Pilot, Beta, and Generally Available (GA) features.
Below are a few Winter ’23 features I thought your users would find helpful!
Find Knowledge articles fast with Einstein Search (GA)
Your service agents can find those Knowledge articles quicker while servicing customers with Einstein Search. To enable this, go to Setup | Einstein Search | Settings and select to turn on Einstein Search for Knowledge enhancements (requires Actionable Instant Results).
Hide sensitive emails on the activity timeline
When an email is received in the activity timeline that contains a Social Insurance Number (SIN) for Canada (in addition to emails received with SSN), Einstein Activity Capture will mark the email as Don’t Share and also as sensitive.
Choose MOAR options for From addresses in list emails
You can now choose to have a list email appear to come from a group email or a user. To use this feature, the user must be able to use org-wide email addresses or have multiple connected accounts via Inbox or Einstein Activity Capture.
Sales team can collaborate in Slack using the Sales Cloud for Slack app (GA)
Your sales team can collaborate on an account or opportunity in Slack using the Sales Cloud for Slack app in account- and opportunity-focused Slack channels. They can access, update, and share Salesforce records, and get notifications on key accounts and opportunities right in Slack! No application swiveling needed. Users must be assigned a permission set with these two permissions: Connect Salesforce with Slack and Slack Sales User. Work with your Slack workspace admin to configure the setup in both Salesforce and Slack. So don’t slack, get going today! (See what I did there?)
Get swarming in Slack with the Service Cloud for Slack app (GA)
You can now use the Service Cloud for Slack app for your agents to swarm on customer issues in Slack. Users need to be assigned a permission set that contains these two permissions: Connect Salesforce with Slack and Slack Service User. Once use is approved by a Slack workplace admin and installed in Slack, you can start using this tool.
Collaborate on data using Lightning reports and dashboards in Slack
Using the CRM Analytics for Slack app, Salesforce users can browse, search, view, share, and subscribe to reports and dashboards using the Slack app. No need to go into Salesforce to access this analytics data.
Subscribe to Lightning reports and dashboards right in Slack
You can subscribe to up to seven reports and dashboards right in Slack. It’s as easy as clicking the Subscribe button in the Details window of a Lightning report or dashboard in the CRM Analytics for Slack app.
Review a custom report type’s structure when you create a report
When you create a report, you can now view the overall structure of a custom report type. This will show the object and join details, right at your fingertips.
View optimized reports on mobile using Enhanced Reports (Beta)
With the new Enhanced Reports feature, you can now view reports that are optimized for mobile viewing without having to do a thing. This will also give you a faster user interface (UI), quicker load times, and more consistent performance. Yes, please!
Here are a few Winter ’23 features for #AwesomeAdmins!
Prepare your org for multi-factor authentication auto-enablement
The requirement to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) when accessing Salesforce products went into effect on February 1, 2022. All users must now use MFA when logging in to Salesforce with Salesforce username/password credentials or single sign-on (SSO). To help customers satisfy this requirement, in the first half of 2023, Salesforce will auto-enable MFA for direct logins for all other orgs. In the fall of 2023, we’re enforcing MFA as it will become a permanent part of the Salesforce login process. To avoid disruptions to your users when these milestones occur, enable MFA as soon as possible. For more information, see MFA To Be Auto-Enabled for Some Customers in Spring ’23 (Release Update). To monitor the MFA enforcement milestone schedule, see the MFA Enforcement Roadmap.
Back up and restore feature in the Salesforce Authenticator limited to Salesforce users
The enhanced back up and restore feature in the Salesforce Authenticator app will back up accounts only if the Salesforce account is connected to the app.
The following are enhancements made to Email-to-Case.
Set FLS for a field on permission sets instead of a profile during field creation (Beta)
I can hear #AwesomeAdmins around the world applauding to this new feature! Big clappy moment here—thank you, Cheryl Feldman! Finally, when we create a new field, set field-level security (FLS), or change the field type on a field, we can set the FLS to a permission set rather than just to profiles. To enable this, go to Setup | User Management Settings, and enable Field-Level Security for Permission Sets During Field Creation (Beta). If you must assign FLS to profiles, turn off this feature on the User Management Settings page. Note: View Field Accessibility is not currently updated by this feature.
Manage your permission assignments with User Access and Permissions Assistant
With this feature, formerly known as Permissions Helper, you can manage your permission set groups easily and convert to permission sets. Download the app from the AppExchange and give it a test drive today! Tell Cheryl Feldman what you think about it.
Use scoping rules in Performance and Unlimited Editions
You can now use scoping rules on supported objects without contacting Salesforce.
Allow multiple values in restrictions or scoping rule record criteria
With this release, you can set up a restriction or scoping rule with multiple values using a comma-separated list of IDs in a record criteria. Add double quotes around the value that includes a comma to ensure the rule works as intended.
Use sharing and Sharing Hierarchy actions for 45 new standard objects
Check out the 45 new standard objects that both the Sharing and Sharing Hierarchy action can be used for.
Apply scoping rules to SOQL, reports, and list views to filter records
Your users must now apply scoping rules in order to filter records in Salesforce Object Query Language (SOQL), reports, and list views to not see scoped results in searches, lookups, Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL), and the activity timeline.
Moving forward with our plans to retire workflow rules (WFRs), in this release, we’ve disabled the ability to create net new WFRs. You still have the ability to activate, deactivate, and modify existing WFRs. We highly recommend you start plans to migrate your WFRs to record-triggered flows.
I personally do not recommend a lift and shift and a move that would result in one WFR being replaced by one record-triggered flow. The goal is not to start off with 20 WFRs and end up with 20 record-triggered flows at the end of the day. Take the time to analyze your processes and consolidate your automation where it makes sense, but try to create a record-triggered flow from scratch. I know it can be a daunting task, but your org will thank you in the future. You can use the Migrate to Flow tool to do your migration if needed. Watch the Automate This! episode where we specifically discuss migrating WFRs and processes to Flow.
Use Formula Builder in Flow Resources and Collection Filter elements
You first saw the fully functional Formula Builder in entry criteria for a record-triggered flow in the Summer ’22 Release. Now, you can also use the enhanced Formula Builder in Flow Formula-type resources and the Collection Filter flow element. This means you can now check your syntax and find and resolve issues BEFORE you go to save your flow. This is HUGE. Cue the confetti!
Use ISCLONE in a record-triggered flow formula
Record-triggered flows that run on new and updated records now support the ISCLONE formula function. Use the $Record global variable – ISCLONE ($Record.x).
Update related records with a record-triggered flow
Now, you can update any record related to a triggering record in Flow. Use the Update Records flow element and select the new Update records relocated to the objectName record that triggered the flow, and select the related records to update. This will update all related records. You can also set filters to further define the related records.
Use In and Not In operators to find related records
Want to find related records but not use a Loop flow element? Wha-ut?! Using the new In and Not In operators, your flow does fewer SOQL queries and DML statements (any action touching Salesforce such as creating, updating, getting, and deleting a record), allowing it to perform faster. These operators support collections of data type Text, Number, Date, Date/Time, Currency, and Boolean (that is, checkbox) and are available in Get Records, Update Records, and Delete Records flow elements. To ensure your flow doesn’t hit governor limits, use the In operator.
Note: Use an Assignment flow element to place IDs in a text collection, since the In and Not In operators don’t support accessing values on record collections in the Winter ’23 Release.
Filter picklists by record type in screen flows
#AwesomeAdmins, let me hear the cheers! Using Dynamic Forms for Flow, you can now see picklist values relevant by record type. To filter picklist values by record type, set the record type ID for the record variable before using the picklist in a Screen element. If you want to show all picklist values regardless of record type, use the picklist choice set or the record resource without setting the record type ID.
In my example below, I have a screen flow that captures the account. Once the account is selected, I do a Get Records to get the account record details. Next, I take the account’s record type id and assign it to the record type field of the recordid variable {!recordId.RecordTypeId}. Lastly, on the screen element, I use the recordId variable for Dynamic Forms for Flow and grab the AccountType field to display. Since I specified the record type id, this displays the picklist values by the accoun record’s record type.
Here’s a GIF that shows how to set up your screen flow to show a picklist by record type.
Use record values to control screen flow visibility
When you change values in a record field in a flow screen, and if that record field’s record variable was used in component visibility within that same screen component, you can now see that change reflected! Previously, you had to put other record changes on the next screen. It’s great that you can now show it all in one. That’s one less screen for your end users.
Make more flow screen components available in Slack (Beta)
Now, screens running in Slack can contain these flow screen components: Checkbox, CheckboxGroup, Currency, Date, Date & Time, Number, and Text. Note: To make your screen flow available in Slack, it should only include screen components supported in Slack. In the Advanced section of the flow properties, select the Make Available in Slack (Beta) checkbox.
Use input parameters for screen flows in Slack with an invocable action (Beta)
Use the Slack Send Message to Launch Flow invocable action to set input parameters for flows with text input variables. For more information, check out the release notes.
Schedule paths to run months before or after on the same calendar day of another month
You can now set your path to run before or after on the same calendar day of another month. Previously, you could only set the offset in days, hours, and minutes.
Select multiple records from a table in a screen flow (Beta)
Whoa, shut the front door! Now running natively in Flow Builder, you can use a Data Table flow component to show a list of records, make it read only, and allow users to select one or more records for use later in the flow. Users can also tweak the width of the table columns and wrap or truncate text.
Select multiple records in a flow screen lookup component
You can now select multiple records using the lookup flow screen component, and specifying the selection maximum. No more one record per lookup component, which saves on screen real estate and having to combine results from multiple lookup components for use elsewhere in your flow. Thank you, Eric Smith, for creating the original data table component! It’s great to see this feature in the native Flow Builder tool.
Find elements faster with search
When you use the Auto-layout, you can now search a flow element by name within the Add Element dialog box. It saves time scrolling to find that flow element.
Hide the Toolbox for more canvas space
When using the Auto-Layout form, the Toolbox is hidden by default. Select the Toggle Toolbox button in the upper left-hand area to make it visible.
Cut and paste flow elements in Auto-Layout
You can now move flow elements in the Auto-Layout using a new cut and paste feature. Previously, to move an item, you copied and pasted the element, deleted the original element, and then modified the API name of the flow element or switched to the Free-form layout to fix.
Launch screen flows with Lightning web components
You can now embed a screen flow from any Lightning web component (LWC) with the new ‘lightning-flow’ component. This is example code of a LWC referencing the Claims_Application flow API name.
<template>
<lightning-flow
flow-api-name=’Claims_Application’
>
</lightning-flow>
</template>
See all incoming go-to connections in one place in the Flow Toolbox
You can now open the Toolbox and click to show details of an element with connnections rather than finding them throughout the canvas.
Say goodbye to two-column layouts and hello to multicolumn flow layouts
Use the multicolumn flow layout to show record fields and screen components in up to four columns within a section component. All two-column layouts in screen flows are now ignored.
Allow users to select external data in screen flows
Use a Flow collection choice set and reference an Apex-defined collection from an external service, Apex action, or another screen component. Then, once you add your collection choice set to the choice component, your users can now select data populated from external data. Previously, external data was shown in screen flows using the Display Text or default values in inputs, but no user selection ability was allowed.
In addition to all the things you can do from the Beta product introduced in the last release, you can now create tests for scheduled paths. And, you can now package your flow tests with your flow in a change list and package it up for deployment to production.
Salesforce DevOps Center provides a much-improved change and release management process to a Salesforce org that makes the deployment process more efficient than using change sets. Admins and developers can use this tool to work together to deploy no-code, to code solutions in a scalable way using a point-and-click interface. No more manually tracking your changes on sticky notes. I can hear you admins cheering from here! Instead, changes are captured in a source control system (GitHub). With DevOps Center, you can collaborate between admins, developers, release managers, and QA as you deploy changes from a sandbox to production.
To enable DevOps Center within Setup, search for DevOps Center. You need to install DevOps Center, accept the license agreement, and install the managed package. To use DevOps Center, add your team members as users in the org where DevOps Center is installed. Users will also need a GitHub account to access their team’s repository.
Create custom address fields (GA)
You can now create custom address fields like the standard address fields. Custom address fields use the State and Country picklist values.
Note: By default, all countries, territories, and their states and provinces are visible to users. If State and Country/Territory Picklists are enabled, those picklist values are used in standard address fields. The same picklist values are automatically available in custom address fields. Note: You cannot specify separate picklist values for standard versus custom address fields.
Clean up inactive picklist values (Beta)
Bulk delete inactive picklist values from custom picklists with predefined values. To use this feature, opt in to Bulk Delete Inactive Picklist Values (Beta) from the Picklist Settings page.
Bulk manage picklist values (Beta)
You can now bulk delete, activate, deactivate, and replace multiple custom picklist values, instead of one by one. Productivity gain! To use this feature, opt in to Advanced Picklist Values Management (Beta) from the Picklist Settings page.
Clone Lightning apps (Beta)
The new (Beta) Clone action option in App Manager allows you to quickly create a custom Lightning app based on an existing custom app, saving you from needing to create a new custom app from scratch. Who doesn’t want to save time?
Use Salesforce Code Builder to develop anywhere (Beta)
Salesforce Code Builder is a web-based development tool that can be used to develop from anywhere. Install the Code Builder (Beta) managed package from the AppExchange. Go to Code Builder documentation to learn about how you can try out this tool. Code Builder is the replacement for the Dev Console in Salesforce.
Identify which sandboxes will be upgraded to preview for the next Salesforce Release
In the Release Type column on the Sandboxes page in Setup, you’ll see whether the sandbox is a Pre-release, Preview, or non-preview sandbox.
Clone Developer and Developer Pro sandboxes quickly
The Quick Clone feature is available for all Developer sandboxes hosted on Hyperforce. Using this feature, admins can create replica Developer and Developer Pro sandboxes to reduce sandbox creation wait time.
Enable lead assignment to territories (GA)
If you use Enterprise Territory Management, you can now manually assign leads to territories. To enable this, go to Territory Settings in Setup, check Enable Leads, specify the access level, and click Save. Your users can manually assign multiple leads at once using the Salesforce Maps Territory Planning (an add-on product), or by adding assignments using a .csv file via Data Loader or an equivalent tool.
Use Dynamic Forms for more object record pages
You can now use Dynamic Forms on your account, person account, contact, and opportunity record pages. Woot woot!
Add multiple filter values for picklist fields in dynamic related lists
You can now filter your dynamic related lists further and select multiple filter values for picklist fields.
MuleSoft Composer for Salesforce: Now known as Flow Integration. With this tool, admins can easily integrate data from any system using Composer flows.
MuleSoft Composer Connectors: Build powerful Composer flows with new connectors for Salesforce Marketing Cloud, HubSpot, and Microsoft Business Central. Leverage the new HTTP Connector to extend your use cases beyond systems with out-of-the-box connectors.
(Beta) MuleSoft Composer Templates: Accelerate implementation time with out-of-the-box integration templates for major systems like Jira, NetSuite, and Service Cloud, designed with best practices in mind.
MuleSoft Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Effortlessly automate repetitive processes and tasks with MuleSoft RPA. Integrate seamlessly with Salesforce Customer 360, Anypoint Platform, and Composer. MuleSoft RPA empowers every team to automate workflows instantly—whether through a UI, document, or image—with point-and-click tools, achieving end-to-end automation at scale.
MuleSoft Composer Builder Enhancements: The core builder has evolved a lot since the last release. Users can now do things like collaborate on one another’s flows with new access control and visually map picklist values between different 3rd party systems.
Assign an interactive step to credentialed Experience Cloud site visitors
You can now assign or reassign an interactive step to a credentialed Experience Cloud site visitor, a group or queue that includes only credentialed Aura site visitors, or credentialed Lightning Web Runtime (LWR) site visitors.
Create reports with Flow Orchestration objects
You can now track your Flow Orchestration usage by creating a Salesforce report. You can track Flow Orchestration Run, Flow Orchestration Stage Run, Flow Orchestration Step Run, and Flow Orchestration Work Item objects.
Use subflows with evaluation flows
Create more complex entry and exit conditions with the Subflow element in evaluation flows. You can also re-use your evaluation flows where possible.
The Preference Manager app, formerly known as Privacy Center, is now GA. Preference Manager helps you manage customer consent and communication preferences, allowing you to create and publish self-service forms for your customers to specify their communication preferences. Build these low-code/no-code forms with filters for brand, data use purpose, and channel type. Place your customized form on any webpage and it will automatically update Salesforce records and objects.
Find the Data Loader v56 installer file from a new location
You can now download the new version of Data Loader from https://developer.salesforce.com/tools/data-loader. The download link will still be available on the Data Loader page in Setup.
As a best practice with each release, don’t forget to review the release updates to ensure you’re on top of upcoming updates, giving you ample time to test and activate them before they’re enforced in your org.
To learn more, go to Release Updates in Setup. Give yourself plenty of time before an update is enforced to enable it in a sandbox, do proper testing, and make any necessary changes to code and configuration to ensure all still work post-update.
I’m calling out a few of the release updates here. I recommend reviewing the comprehensive list of the release updates for those that apply to your org.
Enable permission set expiration and enhanced UI (Release Update)
Enable the new UI and improved workflow in your org so you can assign an expiration date to each permission set or permission set group. In Setup, select Release Updates, select the Enable Permission Set & Permission Set Group Assignments with Expiration Dates release update, and follow the testing and activation steps.
Keep working with tab-focused dialogs (Release Update)
This release update has been postponed indefinitely and should not be enabled in your org.
Flow and Process release updates
Check out the release notes for six release updates scheduled to be enforced in future releases.
Remove guest user assignments from permission sets associated with permission set licenses with restricted object permissions (Release Update)
To be enforced in Winter ’23, Salesforce will remove the affected permission set and permission set assignments from guest users that will prevent guest users from being granted View All, Modify All, Edit, and Delete standard object permissions. This applies to Aura, LWR, and Visualforce sites.
Require granular flow permissions for Experience Cloud guest users (Release Update)
In Spring ’23, Salesforce will remove the Run Flows permission from the Guest User profile for all orgs. Without the Run Flows permission, admins can use the more granular permission structure within flows to give users the access they need.
Enable the New Order Save Behavior (Release Update)
When you enable the New Order Save Behavior, whenever an order product update causes a change to the parent order, Salesforce runs custom application logic, such as validation rules, WFRs, flows, or Apex classes or triggers. Previously, it did not correctly run the custom logic on the parent order record. Note: This will be enforced in Summer ’23.
Disable Ref ID and transition to new email threading behavior (Release Update)
With this change, Salesforce will match emails to their related cases using email headers. As a result, new outbound emails will not contain a Ref ID. This release update will be enforced in Summer ’23.
Use a default No-Reply email address as the system address for case email notifications (Release Update)
As an admin, you can configure a default No-Reply email address for your org on the Organization-Wide Addresses page. If you do not take this step, then when you turn on Send Case Notifications from System Address, the email notifications on existing cases, Case Assignment, Case Escalation, and Case Comment will all be sent from noreply@salesforce.com.
Note: This release update, originally scheduled for enforcement in Spring ’22, has been postponed until Spring ’23.
Which feature(s) in Winter ’23 are you excited about? Share with us on Twitter @SalesforceAdmns using #AwesomeAdmin.
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