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What is Lookup Relationship in Salesforce?

A Lookup Relationship is a loosely coupled link between two Salesforce objects where the child record references the parent but remains independent; deleting the parent does not delete the child.

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Term Context

Category

Data

13 terms in this category

Related Terms

4

connected concepts

Glossary

66

total definitions

How does Lookup Relationship work in Salesforce?

Lookup relationships create a foreign-key reference from one object (the child) to another (the parent). The child record stores the parent's record ID in a lookup field, and users can navigate between related records via the lookup field or related lists. Unlike master-detail relationships, lookup relationships are optional by default (the lookup field can be blank) and the child record has its own independent OWD and sharing settings.

Lookup relationships support self-relationships (an object referencing itself, such as an Account's Parent Account), hierarchical relationships (special self-lookup on the User object for the role hierarchy), and external lookups to external objects. They do not support roll-up summary fields natively (though Flow or Apex can replicate this). Admins can configure what happens when the parent is deleted: clear the lookup value, prevent deletion, or (in some cases) delete the child. Lookups are the right choice when the child record has an independent lifecycle. Clientell AI can recommend the optimal relationship type when you describe your data model requirements.

Questions people ask

What is a lookup relationship in Salesforce?

A link from one object to another, like a pointer. It is loose, so the child record can exist without a parent.

What is the difference between a lookup and a master-detail relationship?

In master-detail the child needs a parent, and it is deleted with the parent. A lookup is optional and has no cascade delete.

What happens to a record when the lookup parent is deleted?

By default the lookup field is cleared. You can also block the delete.

Can I make a lookup required?

Yes. Mark the field as required when you create it.

Related Salesforce Terms

4 terms

Master-Detail Relationship

Data

A Master-Detail Relationship is a tightly coupled parent-child link where the child inherits the parent's sharing and security settings, and deleting the parent cascades to delete all children.

Custom Object

Data

A Custom Object is a user-defined database table in Salesforce that stores data specific to your organization's unique business needs.

Custom Field

Data

A Custom Field is a user-defined field added to a standard or custom object in Salesforce to capture data not covered by out-of-the-box fields.

Junction Object

Data

A Junction Object is a custom object with two master-detail relationships that creates a many-to-many association between two other objects in Salesforce.

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Custom Field

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