Ceili Winter ’25 Release Notes
Intro
Here is a traditional Ceili’s summary of the upcoming new features and changes in Salesforce’s Winter ’25 release. Salesforce releases an update package three times a year, which contain major and minor reforms. On this page, we have collected the most important updates that may have an impact on your organization’s Salesforce operation, in a compact package.
The blog post briefly introduces each feature in its own paragraph, which also lists the concrete benefits customers will receive and the necessary measures, if there are any in the update. We are happy to help if you need support in implementing new features. You can contact support@ceili.fi
You can easily find the exact time when Salesforce will install the Winter ’25 Release in your own organization at: status.salesforce.com (Maintenance tab). You can display the information by entering the instance number of your Salesforce organization in the search field, which you can find in Salesforce in your company’s information.
Content:
General updates in Salesforce
Create and Verify Your Default No-Reply Organization-Wide Email Address to Send Email (Release Update)
To comply with increased email security standards, orgs are required to create and verify a Default No-reply address in Organization-Wide Email Address settings.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in all Editions, except Database.com.
When: This update was introduced with Summer ’24 and Salesforce is scheduled to enforce it in Winter ’25. To get the major release upgrade date for your instance, go to Trust Status, search for your instance, and click the maintenance tab.
Why: The verified Default No-Reply organization-wide email address is used to send emails from your org. This update allows increased accountability for email deliverability.
How: In order to comply with increased email security standards, some emails will fail to be sent when lacking a customer defined Default No-Reply Organization-Wide Email Address.
Verify Your Return Email Address for Sender Verification
After Spring ’25, to comply with increased email security standards, you’re required to verify the Email Address in My Email Settings.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in all editions except Database.com.
When: Salesforce enforces this update in Spring ’25. To get the major release upgrade date for your instance, go to Trust Status, search for your instance, and click the maintenance tab.
Why: A verified email address is used to send emails from your account. This update allows increased accountability and security for email deliverability.
How: To comply with increased email security standards, emails fail to send from the return email address in My Email Settings until the address is verified. Instruct all users to visit their My Email Settings. Users can manually verify their email addresses by selecting Resend Verification Email and clicking the link in the email. If the resend option is unavailable, the return address is already verified. Users receive a verification email once per release until Spring ’25. The email includes the verification link.
Add the new setup domain
Ensure that Setup pages in Lightning Experience load content correctly when browsers block third-party cookies. If your users have general access to the internet, no action is required. If your company controls users’ or servers’ access to the internet through firewalls or allowlists, your IT department must add *.salesforce-setup.com to the company’s list of allowed domains. Salesforce Setup pages are now hosted on that domain.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions.
When: Setup pages move to the *.salesforce-setup.com domain through a staggered rollout. The rollout began in Spring ’24 and continues through Summer ’24 and Winter ’25. The change is first enabled in sandboxes and nonproduction orgs, and then in production orgs.
Commerce Cloud
Work More Efficiently with the Updated Commerce UI
Get where you want to be in the Commerce app with fewer clicks. Easily switch between your key workspaces and settings, that are meaningfully grouped into expandable accordions. Or collapse the navigation menu to view just the icons.
Where: This change applies to B2B and D2C Commerce in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
How: On the Store tab (1), expand Merchandising (2) to find the Products, Categories, Pricing, and Inventory workspaces all in one place. Expand Customers (3) to find Accounts and Buyer Groups. Expand Settings (4) to find store, checkout configuration, product, and search settings all in one place. Click Collapse (5) to view only the icons.
See Analytics Dashboards and Set Goal Targets in the Insights Workspace
The new Insights Workspace combines analytics, goals, and recommended actions in a single location. Use these insights to set goal targets and make important business decisions.
Where: This change applies to B2B Commerce and D2C Commerce in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
Who: To see intelligence analytics dashboards, goals, and recommended actions in the Insights Workspace, you must have a Commerce Growth or Advanced license. Other licenses see the standard business analytics dashboards.
How: In the navigation sidebar, select a store, then click Insights to view goals (1), analytics dashboards (2), and recommended actions (3).
Set Up Intelligence Analytics with a Few Clicks
Use the updated Commerce Setup Assistant to configure Data Cloud for Commerce and activate Intelligence Analytics. This update simplifies the setup process, saving you time and effort while enhancing productivity. Access the Intelligence Analytics dashboards for products, shoppers, and inventory, enabling you to make data-driven decisions that boost revenue and efficiency.
Where: This change applies to B2B Commerce and D2C Commerce in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
Who: To access this feature, you need a Commerce Intelligence basic or advanced license.
How: In Setup, in the Quick Find box, find and select Commerce Setup Assistant. Click Get Started for Set Up Data Cloud for Commerce. Install Intelligence Analytics.
Display Hi-Res Images and Alternative Views with the Enhanced Product Image Gallery
Sharply showcase your product views and improve engagement with the enhanced Product Image Gallery LWR component. Shoppers can zoom in on a product image by hovering, clicking, or tapping to inspect details and textures. Images maintain clarity at maximum zoom levels whether you’re shopping on a mobile device or a web store.
Where: This change applies to B2B Commerce and D2C Commerce in Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
How: In the navigation sidebar, select a store from the Store dropdown. Click Website Design, and select a product page.
Customization
Get Insight into How a User’s Permissions Are Granted
To simplify user management, you now have visibility into the profile, permission sets, and permission set groups that grant permissions to a specific user. This information about a user’s assigned object, field, user, and custom permissions is available in the User Access Summary. Previously, troubleshooting where a user’s permissions came from required multiple queries or steps. Now you can get this information with a few clicks. We delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions.
How: From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Users, and then select Users. Select a user, and then click View Summary. To see how an individual permission was granted, click the row-level action, and then click Access Granted By.
See How Object Access Is Granted in Object Manager
Get a comprehensive view of the permission sets, permission set groups, and profiles that grant access to an object, and the level of access granted. Use the read-only Object Access Summary in Object Manager to quickly check object permissions when troubleshooting, completing reviews, or determining how to grant user access. We delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions.
How: In Setup, go to Object Manager, and then select an object. In the sidebar, click Object Access.
Enable ICU Locale Formats (Release Update)
To conduct business wherever you are, adopt the International Components for Unicode (ICU) locale formats. Locales control the formats for dates, times, currencies, addresses, names, and numeric values. ICU sets the international standard for these formats. The ICU locale formats provide a consistent experience across the platform and improve integration with ICU-compliant applications across the globe. When you enable this update, the ICU locale formats replace Oracle’s Java Development Kit (JDK) locale formats in Salesforce. This update was first made available in Winter ’20 and will be enforced on a rolling basis starting in Spring ’24.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience, Salesforce Classic, and all versions of the Salesforce mobile app in all editions, except Database.com.
When: Salesforce is retiring JDK locale formats and enforcing ICU locale formats on a rolling basis starting with the Spring ’24 release. Salesforce orgs created in Winter ’20 or later have ICU locale formats enabled by default. You can defer the enforcement until Spring ’25 through the UI. Salesforce emails admins 30 to 60 days before the ICU enablement for their orgs. After the ICU locale formats are enabled, Salesforce also notifies admins of that event.
How: To enable this update, from Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Release Updates, and then select Release Updates. To Enable ICU Locale Formats, follow the testing and activation steps.
The English (Canada) locale (en_CA) requires separate activation. From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter User Interface, and select User Interface. Then select Enable ICU formats for en_CA, and save your changes.
To defer the enforcement of the ICU locale formats until Spring ‘25, in Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter User Interface, and select User Interface. Then deselect Enable ICU locale formats as part of the scheduled rollout and save your changes. This option is visible only if your org uses the JDK locale formats.
Manage Details About a User in One Place
User information is now consolidated on the improved User Access Summary page, so it’s easier to view and edit that information. The standard and custom user fields that appear on the summary page match the User Details section of the user’s assigned user profile page layout.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (not available in all orgs) in all editions.
How: From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Users, and then select Users. Select a user, and then click View Summary.
Configure Record Highlights in Lightning App Builder
Use the new Dynamic Highlights Panel to configure your most important fields right in the Lightning App Builder. Previously, you could only configure fields in the Highlights Panel by using compact layouts in Setup. The Dynamic Highlights Panel can contain up to 12 fields. We delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
How: Drag the Dynamic Highlights Panel component onto the Lightning App Builder canvas, and then add fields to it. The Primary Field value is preselected for you, but you can change it.
The Dynamic Highlights Panel is a container for fields just like a Field Section. You can find it on the Fields tab in the Lightning App Builder.
You can also customize the actions that appear in the panel. The Dynamic Highlights Panel uses dynamic actions by default and is supported for all LWC-enabled objects. For a list of LWC-enabled objects, see LWC Migration for Record Home Pages.
Your users can see the Dynamic Highlights Panel immediately on desktop, but for it to appear on mobile record pages, you must enable it from Setup | Salesforce Mobile App | Dynamic Forms and Dynamic Highlights Panel on Mobile.
Show Sales Reps Seller Home in More Places
Give sales users an overview of their opportunities, accounts, leads, and contacts, along with their day’s agenda in any standard or custom Salesforce app. Apply the Seller Home template as the default home page for the app in Lightning App Builder. Sales team members can start their day with a complete view of their business. Previously, Seller Home was only available in a few standard apps.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Professional, Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited editions with Sales Cloud.
Why: With more useful information available at a glance, users can get oriented faster and choose what to do next. Seller Home includes:
- Account overview
- Best prospects
- Contact overview
- Contact suggestions—identified by Einstein from a user’s emails and events
- Forecast commit
- Lead overview
- Opportunity overview
- Recent records
- Salesblazer articles
- To-do items
- Today’s events
- Weekly or monthly goals
Make Inline Edits with the Enhanced User List View
You can now view, sort, and filter user records in a list format and directly modify new entries inline. Quickly update and modify records and simplify this experience without navigating away from the list view. We delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions.
How: From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Users, and then select User Management Settings. Enable Enhanced User List View. Select Users to view the enhanced page.
Make Record Fields Stand Out with Conditional Formatting
Apply formatting to fields to help users can quickly identify the most relevant information on a record page. In Lightning App Builder, give fields on Dynamic Forms-enabled pages custom icons and colors that can appear, disappear, and change color based on the criteria and rules that you define. The conditions can be based on the field’s value or on the values of other fields on the page. You can view, edit, and delete rulesets for an object with the new Conditional Field Formatting node in Object Manager. We delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
When: This functionality is available on a rolling basis starting with pre-release and sandbox orgs in October 2024.
How: Conditional formatting uses rulesets, which are collections of rules. Each rule is made up of conditions that determine how and when formatting appears on a field. To apply conditional formatting to a field, open a Dynamic Forms-enabled record page in the Lightning App Builder and click the field on the canvas. In the field’s property panel, use the Conditional Formatting property to assign an existing ruleset or to create one.
Example:
For example, you have a Customer Sentiment field on a page with available values of Positive, Neutral, and Negative. You can add conditional formatting to the field with rules configured to show
- a green happy-face icon when the field value is Positive,
- a grey neutral face when the value is Neutral, and
- a red sad-face icon when the value is Negative.
That way, viewers can instantly see the sentiment value based on the style and color of the icon.
Einstein
Get Faster Insights with Einstein Case Management (Beta)
Improve customer service with near real-time insights that help agents quickly identify and prioritize cases based on urgency, status, customer effort score, and service level agreement (SLA) targets. Einstein Case Management dashboards show minutes-latency metrics that help your team deliver more informed, personalized service. Plus, with the new Flag to Supervisor flow, agents can instantly alert supervisors about case developments.
Where: This change applies to Service Cloud in Lightning Experience in Enterprise and Unlimited editions for an additional cost.
Who: To use the Einstein Case Management dashboard, you need the Service Intelligence User permission set. To manage the Einstein Case Management dashboard, you need the Service Intelligence App Admin permission set.
How: From Service Intelligence dashboards, click the Open Analytics Studio icon, and in Analytics Home, search for Einstein Case Management. From Service Intelligence Setup, install the Flag to Supervisor flow so agents can immediately notify supervisors of case updates.
Get to Know Customers Faster with Improved Intent Recognition
Enhanced bots now recognize the intent of the first message a customer sends. Previously, only standard bots supported intent recognition for the first customer message.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. Setup for Einstein Bots is available only in Lightning Experience.
How: To turn on this feature, contact Salesforce Customer Support.
Reach More Customers with Multi-Language Support for Messaging Components (Generally Available)
Enhanced bots with messaging components now have full multi-language support.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. Setup for Einstein Bots is available only in Lightning Experience.
Experience Cloud
Update References to Your Force.com Site URLs
To ensure continued access to your sites, update references to your old *.force.com site URLs, which are no longer redirected in most non-production orgs. Look for references to those domains in Salesforce, such as in knowledge articles, and outside Salesforce, such as links in your marketing materials.
Where: This change applies to Aura, LWR, and Visualforce sites accessed through Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (not available in all orgs) in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
Link Files from Your LWR Site to Salesforce (Beta)
Now you can use the File Upload Lightning web component setting to upload files from an LWR site or an enhanced LWR site to your Salesforce org. Previously, the File Upload component was available only for Aura sites.
Where: This change applies to LWR sites accessed through Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (not available in all orgs) in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
How: From Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Salesforce Files, and then select General Settings. Select Allow site guest users to upload files and select Use the File Upload Lightning web component for LWR sites (Beta).
Sales Cloud
Einstein Activity Capture: Upgrade Your Service Account Connections to Org-Level OAuth 2.0 Authentication
Microsoft is retiring the ApplicationImpersonation role in Exchange Online in February 2025. As a result, Salesforce is retiring service account OAuth 2.0 access to Microsoft Office 365 from Einstein Activity Capture. To make sure that Einstein Activity Capture continues working, upgrade to org-level OAuth 2.0 authentication.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited editions.
Why: Your Microsoft Office 365 connections that use service account OAuth2.0 authentication continue to work until February 2025. But if you haven’t upgraded to org-level OAuth 2.0 by then, your Einstein Activity Capture connection stops working.
How: Upgrade to org-level OAuth 2.0 in Einstein Activity Capture settings in Setup. During the upgrade process, you’re prompted to log in to your Office 365 tenant. Make sure you log in to the same tenant you used when creating the connection. If you don’t, you have to reset your Einstein Activity Capture connection and start over.
After you upgrade, you can scope authentication to a specific set of users with Microsoft Exchange Role Based Access Control.
Until you upgrade your connection, all admins for your org receive a weekly email reminder. You can turn off the notification in Setup.
Optimize Your Strategic Planning with Account Plans
Nurture existing relationships and grow key accounts strategically with Account Plans. You can research and analyze accounts, set objectives with actionable metrics, and keep tabs on growth and development, all from one repository within Salesforce. Salesforce delivered this feature thanks to your ideas on IdeaExchange.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited editions and in Einstein 1 Sales Edition with Sales Cloud.
When: This feature is available in production on a rolling basis after the Winter ’25 release is complete and available to all customers in mid- to late November 2024. The feature is accessible in sandboxes only after it’s available in production. To see the feature in sandboxes, run the Match Production Licenses tool or request a refresh after the feature is available in production.
Why: To maximize revenue potential and invest in your customers’ goals and challenges, track all your strategic planning with Account Plans.
- View opportunity details in the dashboard.
- Create a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) Analysis.
- Capture the customer needs and market dynamics.
- Focus on clear, measurable objectives with metrics.
- To visualize key stakeholders, view the relationship map.
How: Go to the new Account Plans page in Setup and turn on Account Plans. Then, configure the Account Plans object in the Object Manager, add the Account Plans related list to the Account object, and optionally set up Relationship Maps.
Review and Update Settings to Capture Leads from LinkedIn (Release Update)
If you’re syncing leads from LinkedIn Lead Forms to Salesforce, you must manually disconnect your LinkedIn account, reconfigure the feature by enabling a new setting, and then reconnect your account. Otherwise, LinkedIn leads will stop syncing when LinkedIn retires their legacy Ads Lead Sync APIs on December 16, 2024. This update is available starting in Winter ’25.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions with Sales Cloud except Pro Suite and Einstein 1 Sales Edition.
When: To continue syncing leads from LinkedIn, update your settings by December 16, 2024.
Why: LinkedIn updated the APIs used to capture lead data from LinkedIn Lead Gen forms and sync it to Salesforce with two-factor authentication. After you manually enable the Use LinkedIn Lead Sync APIs with Lead Forms setting and connect your LinkedIn account, your Salesforce org can continue to sync leads generated from LinkedIn Lead Gen forms.
How: To review this update, from Setup, in the Quick Find box, enter Release Updates, and then select Release Updates. For Review and Update Settings to Capture Leads from LinkedIn, follow the testing and activation steps.
We recommend that you check that your LinkedIn administrator has two-factor authentication set up and can provide you with the verification code when you do the release update.
Close Deals Faster with a Seller-Focused Mobile App (Generally Available)
The Seller-Focused Mobile Experience app helps you easily view and update accounts, contacts, leads, and opportunities while on the go. Keep deals on track by quickly finding the information that you need, making calls, sending emails, and seeing and acting on upcoming tasks and events in the activity timeline. And let Einstein Copilot make all of that work even easier.
Where: The Seller-Focused Mobile Experience for Android and iOS is available on phones and tablets in all editions, except Database.com.
When: This app is available starting in October 2024.
Who: Einstein Copilot is available to users with the Use Einstein Copilot for Salesforce user permission.
Why: The Seller-Focused Mobile Experience gives you easy access to cards containing the Salesforce data that you need to prepare for meetings, make calls, and send emails. Get an at-a-glance view of your upcoming and overdue tasks and events. You can also view and update accounts, leads, opportunities, and contacts.
Service Cloud
Help Agents Prioritize Cases Effectively by Tracking Milestone Time
Help agents prioritize cases needing attention and maintain high service standards. With Time to Next Milestone in the case list view, they can easily identify cases that are overdue, nearing completion, or paused, based on the remaining time to complete the milestone. Previously, while handling multiple cases simultaneously, agents didn’t have a clear indication of which ones to prioritize.
Where: This update applies to Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions with the Service Cloud.
How: Open cases in a list view and check out the Time to Next Milestone column that shows how much time is left to complete the current milestone and when the next milestone is starting. Use the sort and filter options to view cases with overdue or paused milestones.
Move Emails Easily to the Relevant Case
Let agents reassign emails from one case to another with Email-to-Case. Keep emails correctly sorted when a customer replies to a thread with information about a different case.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
Who: To use this feature, you must have Lightning email threading enabled.
How: Go to the Email-to-Case Settings page in Setup, click Edit, and select Let Agents Move Emails. Save your changes.
After this setting is enabled, agents click the dropdown menu at the top right corner of an email feed item, click Move to Another Case, enter the case number of the target case, and click Move to reassign the email to the target case.
Transition to the Lightning Editor for Email Composers in Email-to-Case (Generally Available) (Release Update)
When enabled, this release update replaces the email editor in the docked and case feed email composers. This update was generally available in Lightning Experience in Spring ‘24 and has no scheduled enforcement date.
Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience in Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions.
Why: Salesforce is replacing the email editor in the docked and case feed email composers and switching to a modern editor based in HTML 5. The legacy Email-to-Case composer is currently in maintenance mode, and new features and bug fixes will be added only to the new Lightning editor. To ensure the best experience for your customers, please test this update in your sandbox and then enable it.
The new editor provides similar functionality in Lightning Experience. New features include:
- Full-screen mode
- Printing
- Undo and Redo buttons
- Format painting
- Emoji picker
- Resizability
- A more responsive toolbar
You asked for a cleaner visual experience, and Salesforce listened. Salesforce also removed the automatically displayed table controls, word and character counts, and the window about formatting pasted text.
How: This update is available to Salesforce orgs with Email-to-Case enabled. If your org was created in Winter ‘24 or later, you see the new editor by default. If your org was created before Winter ‘24, enable it on the Release Updates page in Setup after testing it in your sandbox. After the release update is enabled, users see similar functionality when they compose and edit emails.
Read our latest content
UN Women Finland is developing its fundraising in Salesforce with Ceili
The UN’s gender equality organization UN Women is the world’s leading organization advocating for the human rights of women and girls, with the goal of
Norlandia’s early childhood education processes harmonized with Salesforce
Norlandia Daycare, that offers early childhood education services, is part of the Norwegian Norlandia Health and Care family company. In addition to Norway, Norlandia has
Ceili GoPDF – Generate PDF documents from any Salesforce object
A Salesforce user may encounter various situations where they need to create a PDF document directly from Salesforce. Since the features of the default tool
Salesforce®, Sales Cloud®, and others are trademarks of salesforce.com, inc., and are used here with permission.
Want to know more?
Contact us and we will talk more!
If your contact request has attachments, you can contact info@ceili.fi instead of the form.
