Salesforce Kanban View: Complete Guide
Quick Summary:
Kanban view displays records as draggable cards grouped by a picklist field (like Opportunity Stage), letting users update status visually by dragging between columns rather than editing fields individually.
What Is Kanban View?
Kanban view groups records into columns based on a picklist field -- most commonly Opportunity Stage, Lead Status, or Case Status -- displaying each record as a card that can be dragged between columns to update its status directly. This gives teams a visual, at-a-glance view of where work stands across an entire pipeline or queue.
How to Use It
From any supported object's list view, click the Kanban view icon.
Confirm the correct picklist field is selected for column grouping.
Customize which fields appear on each card for the information most relevant to your process.
Drag cards between columns to update their status directly, with changes saving immediately.
A Real-World Example
A sales team managing 40 active Opportunities uses Kanban view grouped by Stage, with each column showing a running total of Opportunity value. Reps can visually see pipeline distribution at a glance and drag deals forward as they progress, without navigating into each individual record just to update a Stage field.
💡 Pro Tip
Configure column summary totals (sum of Amount, for example) to turn Kanban from a simple visual organizer into an actual at-a-glance pipeline health check -- seeing $340K stuck in one stage is far more immediately useful than a plain card count.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which objects support Kanban view?
Kanban is available for any object with a picklist field suitable for column grouping, most commonly Opportunities (by Stage), Leads (by Status), and Cases (by Status).
Can I drag records between columns to update their status?
Yes, dragging a record card to a different column updates the underlying picklist field value directly, the core interaction Kanban is built around.
Can Kanban columns show summary totals, like total Opportunity value?
Yes, each column can display a summary (like sum of Amount) at the top, giving an at-a-glance view of value distributed across stages.
Can I filter which records appear in Kanban view?
Yes, Kanban respects the underlying list view's filters, so switching to Kanban shows the same filtered record set in card form.
Does Kanban view work on mobile?
Yes, the Salesforce mobile app supports Kanban view with the same drag-and-drop interaction as desktop.
Can I customize which fields appear on each Kanban card?
Yes, card field display is configurable, letting you choose which fields (like Amount, Close Date, or Owner) are most useful to see at a glance.
Is there a limit to how many records Kanban view can display per column?
Kanban paginates within columns for performance, so extremely large columns won't all render simultaneously, but records remain accessible through scrolling/pagination.
Can Kanban view trigger validation rules when dragging a card?
Yes, since dragging updates the underlying field value, any validation rule tied to that field change still applies the same as it would through any other update method.
Can different users have different Kanban column configurations?
Kanban configuration is generally tied to the object and list view rather than per-user customization beyond what list view sharing already provides.
Is Kanban available in Salesforce Classic?
No, Kanban view is a Lightning Experience feature and isn't available in Classic.
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