Before you change, repurpose, or retire a custom field, field dependency analysis maps what references it — so the decision is made with evidence, not a guess.
Read-only diagnostics · Review-ready workbooks · No package install · No Connected App
Salesforce field dependency analysis is the practice of identifying what references a specific custom field before you act on it — a Flow that reads it, a formula field built on it, a Validation Rule that checks it, a Report that groups by it, a Page Layout that displays it.
It matters most in one moment: right before you change, repurpose, or retire a field. A field that looks unused in isolation can still be quietly load-bearing for a process nobody documented.
A structured field dependency review looks across the metadata categories most likely to reference a custom field on a selected object:
The scope is deliberately bounded to one selected object at a time — a field-by-field pass across an entire org is not the goal. The goal is a defensible, documented answer to one question: what references the fields on this object, right now, within these categories?
Not every reference carries the same confidence. Direct references are explicit, structural matches — a Flow element, a formula, or a Validation Rule that names the field directly. Heuristic references are source-text matches that surface a possible connection but require manual verification before anyone relies on them.
The two are never blended into a single count. A field with five Heuristic hits and zero Direct references is not the same review priority as a field with two Direct references, and a workbook that collapses that distinction into one number is hiding the exact information a reviewer needs.
Heuristic findings are leads to verify — not conclusions to act on.
Salesforce is not blind to field usage. When you attempt to delete a custom field, Setup runs its own dependency check and blocks the deletion if it detects certain references — commonly in formula fields, some Validation Rules, some automation, and Page Layouts.
For a single field, deleted one at a time, with time to read and act on whatever Setup reports, that native check is often sufficient on its own. It is free, it is built in, and it catches a meaningful share of blocking dependencies.
Where it runs out of usefulness is scale and documentation: it evaluates one field at a time, only at the moment of deletion, and it does not produce a reviewable record you can share with a stakeholder, a client, or your own future self before you get that far.
For the external-system side of this problem specifically, see Salesforce external field dependencies.
For the practical, step-by-step version of this — checking one specific field before you delete it — see how to check where a Salesforce field is used before deleting it.
Relevant Workbook
Dependency Map surfaces detected references within evaluated coverage across Apex, Flows, Workflow Rules, Validation Rules, formula fields, Reports, and Page Layouts for the custom fields on one selected object — with Direct vs. Heuristic labels throughout.
For where Dependency Map fits alongside KeelCadence's other workbooks, see Salesforce Audit Tools: Where KeelCadence Fits.
Salesforce field dependency analysis is the process of identifying what references a specific custom field — in Apex, Flows, Workflow Rules, Validation Rules, formula fields, Reports, and Page Layouts — before you change, repurpose, or retire it. It is a review step, not an automatic guarantee.
No. It surfaces detected references within evaluated coverage. It does not claim to find every dependency, and it does not tell you a field is safe to delete. Findings are review candidates that still require validation against the evidence detail.
Direct references are explicit, structural matches — a Flow element, a formula, or a Validation Rule that names the field. Heuristic references are source-text matches that require manual verification and are never counted toward review priority on their own.
Partially. Salesforce's own field-deletion flow blocks deletion when it detects certain references — typically in formulas, some validation rules, some automation, and layouts — but that check runs one field at a time, at the moment you attempt deletion, and does not produce a reviewable, exportable record you can share before you get that far.
Heuristic-only matches that were not manually confirmed, automation or logic outside the evaluated categories, and anything outside Salesforce entirely — external integrations, middleware, BI tools, and exports that reference a field's API name without that reference appearing in Salesforce metadata.
Run a read-only Dependency Map review to see detected references across Apex, Flows, Workflow Rules, Validation Rules, and more before you change, repurpose, or retire a field.
Read-only · No package install · No Connected App setup · No Salesforce writes
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