Salesforce: Delete Custom Field

As a Salesforce admin, you may be aware that it is straightforward to create a custom field in Salesforce, and the same also to delete a custom field. But, Salesforce is smart enough to detect if the field that you try to delete is used in some rules, such as validation rules, workflow rules, apex class, etc., and the system will stop you from deleting the field.

In this blog, I would like to share items that will stop you from deleting a custom field when it is used in:

1. Validation Rule
If the rule is Active - NOT ALLOWED
If the rule is Inactive - ALLOWED, if you edit the validation rule without removing the deleted field, you cannot save the validation rule and will get an error message "Field field_name__c not exist".

2. Custom Formula Field
NOT ALLOWED

3. Workflow Rule (include Approval Process)
  * as dropdown/criteria are met - Active or Inactive - NOT ALLOWED
  * as formula evaluates to true - Active or Inactive - NOT ALLOWED

4. Field Update action for Workflow Rule
NOT ALLOWED

5. Email Template

ALLOWED - sample: {!Account.field_name__c} will become {!Account.00N50000002yCez}. Undelete the field will change the API field name with _del__c, and it is updated in Email Template.

6. Apex Trigger

Active or Inactive - NOT ALLOWED

7. Apex Class

NOT ALLOWED

8. Process Builder (as condition/dropdown)

  * use as Criteria - NOT ALLOWED

  * use as Filter in Record update - NOT ALLOWED

  * use as Field Values in Record update - NOT ALLOWED

9. Process Builder (as formula)

  * use as criteria - NOT ALLOWED

10. Flow

Active or Inactive - NOT ALLOWED

11. Report

ALLOWED - both in filter and report will be removed

12. List View

ALLOWED - both in filter and view will be removed

13. Page Layout

ALLOWED

14. Dynamic form

NOT ALLOWED

This blog is written in Summer '16 release, so things may change in the future, please comment if you found something changed, or any rules not covered above.

In short, it is pretty safe to delete unused fields and Salesforce will detect it for you before deletion, except inactive validation rules and email templates, and also in report, dashboard, and page layout.

Additional tips: when you delete the email template, Salesforce will stop you when the email template is used in Email Alert.