Salesforce Sharing Rules
What Is Sharing Rules?
Sharing rules automatically extend record access beyond what the org-wide default and role hierarchy already provide, based on record ownership or specific criteria you define.
Why It Matters
Salesforce's default sharing model is often too restrictive for real team structures. A regional sales manager might need visibility into deals owned by reps outside their direct hierarchy, or a cross-functional team might need read access to accounts they don't own. Sharing rules solve this without loosening org-wide defaults for everyone.
How to Set It Up
Confirm the object's org-wide default is set to Private or Public Read Only -- sharing rules only add access, they never restrict it further.
Go to Setup, search for "Sharing Settings", and find the object you need to configure.
Click New in the relevant sharing rule section, and choose either an ownership-based or criteria-based rule.
Define which records qualify (owned by a specific role/group, or matching field criteria) and which users or groups should gain access.
Set the access level granted (Read Only or Read/Write) and save -- Salesforce recalculates sharing in the background, which can take time on large data volumes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Criteria-based sharing rules can't reference fields on related objects, which surprises admins trying to share based on a lookup field's value. Also common: stacking many overlapping sharing rules instead of consolidating logic, making it genuinely difficult to audit who can see what and why months later.
Next Step
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