Salesforce has announced the end of life (EOL) of permissions on profiles. Although it is a very critical decision, it shouldn't be a big surprise. Salesforce has been improving the permission sets and permission groups in the last few releases. Moreover, for the past 3 years, they have been telling that permission sets are the future of user management.
Even though Salesforce announced it a short time ago, it is not effective immediately. Retirement is due in the Spring ‘26 release. There is a lot of time to plan and get ready for this change. However, it is not recommended to wait until then to start making changes.
What is Changing?
First of all, it is not the end of life of profiles. It is the end of life of permissions on profiles. There is a big difference between them. Profiles will still exist, however, permissions will be available only on permission sets.
What Will Remain on Profiles?
As mentioned before, profiles will still exist and every user must have a profile. Here are the configurations that will remain on profiles:
- One-to-one relationships: Login Hours/IP Ranges
- Defaults: Record Types/Apps
- Page Layout Assignments: Since the future is App Builder/Dynamic Forms, Salesforce will not invest in bringing page layout assignment to permission sets.
What Will Be Available Only On Permission Sets?
These permissions will move into Permission Sets after the Spring ‘26 release:
- User Permissions (System and App Permissions)
- Object Permissions (Object Create, Read, Update, and Delete)
- Field Permissions (Field-Level Security)
- Tabs
- Record types (Not defaults)
- Apps (Not defaults)
- Connected App Access
- Apex Classes
- Visualforce Pages
- Custom Permissions
Actions That Can Be Done Now
Starting with Spring ‘23, there is a closed beta for User Access Policies. It is a new feature to migrate user profiles to Permission Sets and Permission Set Groups. You can participate in this closed beta by filling out this form.
On the other hand, there is a beta feature that you can turn on in the user management settings to set FLS on permission sets instead of profiles. This also applies to the “Set FLS button” on fields. Salesforce is planning to make this Generally Available (GA) in Summer ‘23.
Summary
End of life (EOL) of permissions on profiles is a crucial change that will happen in the Spring ‘26 release. Even though there are a few years, you cannot hide from it. You should start planning for this change. Don't forget that permission sets are the future of user management.
permissions on profiles is a crucial change that will happen in the Spring of ‘26 but I like that change after that it helps the admin.
Yes, it helps the admins. I think it gives us more control.
How do companies respond to the innovation decisions and updates made by Salesforce? I really wonder if they're happy or complaining. Or how well can they keep up with these changes? What do you think about it?
Thank you!
Some of them complain since they should find (and pay) a consultant to make the changes (if they don't know how to implement Salesforce). On the other hand, some companies have internal Salesforce team and they are happy with the changes. At the end, these changes make admin's life easier.