How to Manage Report Subscriptions in Salesforce
Updated · By the Clientell AI team · How we write
To manage a report subscription in Salesforce, open the report in Lightning Experience and click Subscribe. From there you can change how often it runs, the time, the recipients and the conditions, or unsubscribe. You need the Subscribe to Reports permission, and the Add Recipients permission to add other people.
How to create, edit and remove report subscriptions
A subscription runs a report on a schedule and emails the result. Each subscription runs as a user, and that user's access decides what the report shows.
- 1
Make sure the permissions are in place
Users need Subscribe to Reports. To add other people as recipients they also need Add Recipients. Admins grant both in a permission set or profile.
- 2
Create a subscription
Open the report, click the more actions icon and choose Subscribe. Set the frequency, the days and the time. Choose who receives it.
- 3
Edit or remove a subscription
Open the same report and click Subscribe again. Change the schedule or recipients and save, or choose to unsubscribe.
- 4
Use conditions to cut noise
Add a condition, such as a count above a number, so the email goes out only when the report needs attention.
- 5
Mind the running user
Recipients see the data as the running user sees it. Pick a running user who has access to the report folder and the records, and avoid sending sensitive data to people who should not see it.
- 6
Free up space if you hit the limit
Salesforce caps how many report and dashboard subscriptions a user can have. If a user sees a limit message, remove subscriptions that nobody reads. The Salesforce Help article "Report or Dashboard Subscription Limit Reached" explains how to free up room.
- 7
Review subscriptions when people leave
When someone changes role or leaves, check the reports they own and update the running user and recipients, so the emails keep arriving to the right people.
Sources: Salesforce Help: Schedule a Report for Refresh; Salesforce Help: Report or Dashboard Subscription Limit Reached
The Challenge
Managing report subscriptions across an organization is tedious when each user must individually subscribe to the reports they need. Admins have no centralized way to bulk-manage subscriptions, enforce delivery schedules, or set up conditional notifications that only send when report data meets certain thresholds.
Or let Clientell AI do it
Clientell AI lets you describe your report distribution requirements in plain English and configures subscriptions, delivery schedules, and conditional send criteria automatically. It can set up subscriptions on behalf of users based on their role, add conditions so reports only send when data crosses defined thresholds, and provide a centralized view of all active subscriptions.
How It Works
- 1
Define distribution rules
Specify which reports should go to which users or roles, the delivery frequency and preferred time, and any conditions that should trigger or suppress the report send.
- 2
AI configures subscriptions
Clientell AI sets up report subscriptions with the defined schedules, configures conditional delivery criteria based on record counts or field value thresholds, and assigns subscriptions to the target recipients.
- 3
Test delivery logic
Verify that subscriptions deliver reports at the correct times, conditional logic properly suppresses sends when thresholds are not met, and report formatting meets stakeholder expectations.
- 4
Deploy and manage
Activate all subscriptions in production and use the centralized subscription overview to monitor, adjust, or revoke subscriptions as team structures and reporting needs change.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I send a report only when it returns results above a certain threshold?
- Yes. Salesforce supports conditional subscription criteria based on record count, field value aggregates, and other conditions. Clientell AI configures these conditions so reports are only delivered when the data is actionable.
- Can I subscribe other users to reports they did not create?
- Admins with the appropriate permissions can subscribe users to reports. Clientell AI handles the subscription setup based on your specified user or role criteria, so you do not need to log in as each user or ask them to subscribe individually.
- What format are subscribed reports delivered in?
- Salesforce report subscriptions deliver via email with an HTML table of the report data and a link to the full report in Salesforce. For reports that need CSV or Excel delivery, Clientell AI can configure alternative delivery methods using scheduled Flows.
- What is the difference between subscribing to a report and scheduling it?
- In Lightning Experience you subscribe to a report to get it by email on a schedule. Scheduling in the older Classic setup refreshes a report and emails an HTML version. Both run the report on a timer.
- Can I subscribe to a dynamic dashboard?
- No. Dynamic dashboards cannot be subscribed to or refreshed on a schedule.
- Why did my report subscription stop?
- Check that the running user is still active and still has access to the report folder. Also check the schedule end date and any conditions you set.
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