Standard picklist fields allow users to choose from a preselected list of values for a specific field. However, in certain scenarios, it is necessary to establish a relationship between two fields, where the options available are dependent upon the previous field. Dependent picklists allow administrators to define the dependency between the fields, ensuring users can only choose relevant options. You can use dependent picklists to help your users enter accurate and consistent data. A dependent picklist is a custom, or multi-select picklist, for which the valid values depend on the value of another field, called the controlling field. Controlling fields can be any picklist (with at least one and fewer than 300 values) or checkbox field on the same record. What does that mean? A useful example could be the controlling field: Contact Type, and the dependent fields will be associated with the Contact Type field.

 

In this example, the Contact Type is the controlling field, and depending on which option is selected as the Contact Type, that filters out the options available in the dependent Contact Subtype field below.

 

Selecting a Contact Type of Client provides the options of Contact Subtype as Primary, Secondary, and Family Member. Meanwhile, selecting a Contact Type of COI then provides the options of Contact Subtype as Consultant, Attorney, CPA, and Trusted Advisor.

 

Create a Dependent Picklist

To create a Dependent Picklist, you need to create two picklists, the controlling field and the dependent field. Then you will set the field dependencies. In this example, we will create the Contact Type and Contact Subtype picklists on the Contact object. For more details on creating a new picklist, check out this article.

 

Note: If your firm uses record types, make sure that the controlling and dependent picklist values are available on the appropriate record types before defining a dependent picklist. 

 

1. From Setup, select the Object Manager tab and search for Contact. Select the Contact object

2. Select Fields & Relationships and select New

3. Select Picklist and Next

4. Complete the details including the values entered on a separate line. Click Next

5. Click Next and then Save & New.

6. Repeat steps 1-4 to create the dependent picklist for Contact Subtype. Save

7. From Fields & Relationships, select Field Dependencies

8. Click New

9. Select the Controlling Field as Contact Type and Dependent Field as Contact Subtype. Continue

10. Double-click on the cell to make it an option in the dependent picklist if the controlling field option is selected 

11. Click Preview to test your results. Save