How to Use Sharing Rules and Manual Sharing in Salesforce

In today’s complex business environment, managing data access and security is crucial. Salesforce is designed to provide flexible and secure access to data, ensuring users only see what they are permitted to access. Two key features that enable this flexibility are Sharing Rules and Manual Sharing. Let’s dive into the details of these features, their purposes, and how to implement them effectively.

What are the Sharing Rules in Salesforce

Sharing Rules are automated rules that define how records are shared between users or groups of users. These rules provide additional access to records beyond what the default Org-Wide Defaults (OWD) and Role Hierarchies allow. Sharing Rules are particularly useful when specific users or teams need broader access to records without affecting the overall security model.

Key Characteristics of Sharing Rules

1. Expand Access: Sharing Rules can only extend access (e.g., from private to read-only or read/write). They cannot restrict access.
2. Based on Criteria: Sharing can be determined by record ownership or specific field values.
3. Automatic Application: Once configured, Sharing Rules automatically grant access to designated users or groups.

Types of Sharing Rules

1. Owner-Based Sharing Rules:
   These rules share records owned by a specific user or group (e.g., roles, roles and subordinates, or public groups) with other users.
   • Example: Share records owned by the Sales team with the Marketing team.
2. Criteria-Based Sharing Rules:
   These rules share records that meet specific field-value criteria with a user or group.
   • Example: Share all account records where the Industry field is set to Technology with a designated Public Group.
3. Guest User Access, Based on Criteria

• Allows external Guest Users (e.g., users accessing a public website or portal) to view records based on specific criteria.
• Example: Share public Knowledge Articles or FAQs with guest users visiting a customer support portal.

How to Create Sharing Rules

1. Navigate to Setup → Sharing Settings.
2. Choose the object you want to create a Sharing Rule for, such as Account or Opportunity.

3. Click New Sharing Rule.
4. Choose the rule type: Owner-based or Criteria-based.
5. Define the target users or groups who will gain access (e.g., roles, groups, or roles and subordinates).
6. Choose the access level for the shared records, such as Read-Only or Read/Write.

What is Manual Sharing in Salesforce?

Manual Sharing allows individual users to share specific records with other users on a case-by-case basis. Unlike Sharing Rules, Manual Sharing is user-initiated and is ideal for ad-hoc access requirements.

When to Use Manual Sharing

• A specific user needs temporary or situational access to a record.
• The sharing requirement doesn’t fit into an automated sharing framework like Org-Wide Defaults or Sharing Rules.

How to Use Manual Sharing

1. Open the record you want to share.
2. Locate the “Sharing” button on the record’s detail page.
3. Note: This button is visible only when the object’s Org-Wide Default is set to something other than Public.
4. Click the “Sharing” button to proceed.

5. Choose the specific user, role, or group you want to grant access to.

6. Choose the user, role, or group you want to share the record with, and specify the appropriate access level (Read-Only or Read/Write).

Important Notes on Manual Sharing

• Manual Sharing is available only for users with the “Full Access” permission on the record (typically the record owner or admins).
• Manual shares can be removed when they are no longer needed.

How to Use Sharing Rules and Manual Sharing in Salesforce

1. Plan Your Sharing Model: Always start by defining the Organization-Wide Default settings and Role Hierarchies. Use Sharing Rules and Manual Sharing as enhancements.
2. Use Sharing Rules for Consistency: Automate sharing for predictable, recurring requirements to avoid the need for repetitive manual sharing.
3. Restrict Manual Sharing: Reserve Manual Sharing for exceptional cases to maintain a clean and scalable sharing model.
4. Monitor Access: Regularly review sharing settings and manually shared records to ensure compliance with your organization’s data access policies.

Conclusion

Sharing Rules and Manual Sharing are powerful tools in Salesforce that allow for precise and flexible data sharing. Sharing Rules help automate access across teams or groups, while Manual Sharing offers flexibility for individual cases. By combining these features with Salesforce’s other sharing mechanisms, organizations can achieve a robust and secure data-sharing strategy that supports collaboration while maintaining data integrity.