Page Layouts control what fields, related lists, and buttons your users see when they open a record. Keeping layouts clean and relevant — showing only what your team actually needs — improves adoption and reduces data entry errors. The good news: no code required.

🔐 Admin access required.You need the System Administrator profile or "Customize Application" permission to edit page layouts.

Step 1 — Navigate to the Page Layout Editor

  1. Click the gear icon ⚙️ → Setup.
  2. In the Quick Find box, search for the object you want to edit — for example, Opportunity.
  3. Click Object Manager at the top of the Setup page (next to Home).
  4. Find and click the object (e.g., Opportunity).
  5. In the left sidebar, click Page Layouts.
  6. Click the layout name you want to edit.

The Page Layout Editor will open — a drag-and-drop interface showing your current layout.

Step 2 — Understand the Layout Editor

The editor has two main areas:

Palette (top section)

This is your toolbox. It contains all available fields, buttons, related lists, and custom links that can be added to the layout. Items currently on the layout are grayed out.

Layout Canvas (bottom section)

This is what your users actually see. Fields are arranged in sections, each with one or two columns. Drag items from the palette into the canvas to add them, or drag items out of the canvas to remove them.

Step 3 — Add or Remove Fields

To add a field:

  1. Find the field in the palette at the top (use the search box to find it quickly).
  2. Click and drag it into the desired position on the layout canvas.
  3. Drop it between existing fields — a blue line shows where it will land.

To remove a field:

  1. Find the field on the layout canvas.
  2. Drag it back up to the palette, or drag it to the trash icon that appears.

💡 Tip:Required fields (marked with a red asterisk) cannot be removed from the layout — they must remain visible. You can move them to a less prominent section, but you can't hide them entirely.

Step 4 — Add or Rename Sections

Sections help organize fields into logical groups (e.g., "Deal Information," "Key Dates," "Internal Notes"). To add a new section:

  1. In the palette, find Section and drag it onto the canvas.
  2. A dialog box will appear — give the section a name and choose one or two columns.
  3. Drag fields into the new section.

To rename an existing section, double-click the section header directly on the canvas.

Step 5 — Manage Related Lists

Related Lists appear at the bottom of a record and show related records (e.g., Contacts on an Account, Activities on an Opportunity). Scroll down in the layout editor to the Related Lists section to add, remove, or reorder them.

You can also customize which columns appear in each related list by clicking the wrench icon on the related list header in the layout editor.

Step 6 — Save and Assign the Layout

  1. Click Save at the top of the editor. Changes are live immediately for anyone assigned to this layout.
  2. To control which users see which layout, click Page Layout Assignment (available from the Page Layouts list for that object).
  3. Map each Profile to the appropriate layout — different teams can have different views of the same record.

💡 Best practice: Less is more. A layout with 50 fields overwhelms users and leads to poor data quality. Show only the fields your team actually fills in — hide everything else or move it to a collapsible section.

Page Layouts vs. Lightning App Builder

The Page Layout Editor controls the fields and related lists on a record. The Lightning App Builder controls the overall page structure— what components appear and where (e.g., adding a chart or a custom component to the sidebar). For most admin tasks, the Page Layout Editor is all you need. If you want to add custom components or change the page structure beyond fields and related lists, that's when you'd use the Lightning App Builder.