Choosing fields

What you are deciding

Which fields appear on a record page, in what order — for everybody who sees that kind of record, not just you.

Where: Accounts → any record's name → Edit Page Layout

It is reached from a record, not the Admin Console. Any record of that kind will do — the layout applies to all of them.

The layout editor

Two lists sit side by side:

To	Do
Add a field	Click it on the left, then Move selection to Shown (in order)
Remove one	Click it on the right, then Move selection to Available
Reorder	Click it on the right, then Move selection up / down

Click Search fields… and type part of the name.

Fields you have already chosen stay on the right while you search, so searching can never lose your work.

Fewer than you think. A layout is a reading surface, and every field you add makes the ones that matter harder to find.

Guide	Why
Lead with identity	Name, owner, status — what tells you which record this is
Then what people act on	The handful that change regularly
Then everything else, in a section	Collapsed, available, out of the way
Leave off what nobody reads	It is still on the record; it is just not displayed

The value stays on the record and remains available to reports and the API. It is only hidden from this page.

That makes removing fields low-risk and reversible — the opposite of deleting one.

Symptom	Cause
A field is missing from Available	It does not exist on that object, or you lack permission for it.
Your change did not appear	Save Layout was not clicked, or people need to reload.
Somebody still cannot edit a field	Layout shows a field; Editable Fields permission decides if they may change it.

That last row is the common confusion: putting a field on a layout does not grant edit access. See Permissions.

Fields are one of four things a layout controls, alongside sections, related lists and the new-record window.