Salesforce Winter '25 Release: TOP 10 FLOW UPDATES YOU NEED TO KNOW⚡

            

The Salesforce Winter '25 release is packed with exciting updates, especially for users who rely on Salesforce Flow for automating business processes. Whether you’re a seasoned Flow Builder or just getting started, this release introduces powerful features that streamline flow creation, enhance user experience, and improve overall efficiency. In this blog post, I'll walk you through my top 10 favorite updates to Salesforce Flows in Winter '25. These updates promise to make flow design, troubleshooting, and management easier than ever before.

1. Troubleshoot Configuration Issues Systematically with the Errors and Warning Pane

One of the most significant updates for Flow Builder in Winter '25 is the Errors and Warnings Pane. Troubleshooting flow errors can be a headache, but with this new feature, Salesforce makes it easier than ever to pinpoint issues. As you work in Flow Builder, the pane displays any errors or warnings preventing you from saving or activating your flow, with links to the specific elements causing the issue. The pane is easy to scan and provides a notification badge showing the total number of issues, so you can address them one by one.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions)
• How: Create or edit a flow, then click the Show Error icon in the Flow Builder button bar to view the Errors and Warnings Pane.

2. Find Flow Resource Variables More Easily in Assignment and Create Records Elements

Another fantastic update is the enhanced resource selection experience in Flow Builder. Previously, managing resources like Actions, Screen components, and Variables could be a bit tedious. Now, these resources are organized into easy-to-navigate groups, and you’ll see more intuitive icons to help you quickly identify what you need.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions)
• How: Add or edit an Assignment or Create Records element, and you’ll notice a clearer layout for resource selection.

3. Identify Inefficient Flow Designs with New Tips

This update is particularly helpful for new Flow Builders. Salesforce now includes efficiency tips within Flow Builder to highlight potential performance issues in your designs. These tips can help you avoid creating flows that may slow down over time or hit Apex governor limits. By improving your flow’s design early, you ensure it runs efficiently as it scales.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer editions)
• Why: These tips are invaluable for new users who may not yet be familiar with common pitfalls in flow design.

4. Provide a Better Screen Flow Experience with Action Buttons (Generally Available)

With the Action Button component, the running user can trigger a screen action with the click of a button on a screen. The screen action runs an active autolaunched flow, and the results of the autolaunched flow can be shown on the same screen as the button. This component means fewer screens so users can complete screen flows more quickly and with fewer mistakes. Previously, users clicked through multiple screens to get the same functionality. Now generally available, the Action Button component includes some improvements since the last release.

Where: This change applies to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. It’s not supported in Classic runtime for flows.

Here is a video on how you can use action button -

5. Disable More Screen Component Fields at Runtime

In Winter '25, you can disable additional screen components at runtime, providing more control over user input. This includes components like Action Buttons, Lookup fields, and Picklists. When the Disabled attribute is set to true, users can no longer interact with these fields, providing a clean and guided user experience.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions)
• How: For components like Lookup, Slider, or Action Buttons, set the Disabled attribute to a Boolean value, which can be dynamically controlled by flow conditions.

6. Select Multiple Choices with the Choice Lookup Component

The Choice Lookup component has been updated to allow multiple selections (up to 25) rather than just a single selection. This is a major upgrade for business processes that require users to select more than one option from a list—whether it’s assigning multiple tasks or selecting multiple records to work with.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions)
• How: Use the Choice Lookup component and configure it to allow multiple selections (up to 25).

               

7. Create or Update Records Efficiently with the Create Records Element

The new Create Records element allows you to both create and update records in a single operation. This eliminates the need to separately check for the existence of a record before updating it. By combining these actions into one step, your flow becomes simpler and more efficient, reducing the potential for errors.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer editions)
• How: In Flow Builder, use the Create Records element and enable the "Update Existing Records" option. The flow will automatically decide whether to create or update records.

8. Transform Data into More Target Resource Types

Winter '25 introduces the ability to use the Transform element to store transformed data in more resource types, including Text, Numbers, Currency, Boolean, Date, and Date/Time. This makes it easier to manipulate and store data in the format that best suits your needs, improving the flexibility of your flows.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer editions)
• How: Use the Transform element to aggregate or modify data and store it in different resource types (e.g., converting a sum of sales into a number variable).

Before this update we only have two options to choose from data type in Target Data but after this update we have a lot more options -

This Transform element calculates the number of open opportunities and stores the target output in a number variable.

Here is an example of how transform element was limited to only Record and Apex defined data type -

9. Expand Your Email Reach with CC and BCC Options in Send Email Action

Salesforce now supports CC and BCC recipients in the Send Email Action in Flow Builder, making it easier to reach a larger group of recipients from within a flow. The total number of recipients per email has also been increased from 5 to 150. This is perfect for businesses that need to send emails to large groups or want to keep certain recipients in the loop without revealing their contact details.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions)
• How: Use the Send Email action, and configure the CC and BCC fields with comma-delimited lists or merge fields.

10. Enhanced Support for Multi-Record Operations

Flow Builder now allows you to work more efficiently with multiple records. Whether you’re using Get Records, Update Records, or Create Records, you can now perform batch operations across multiple records simultaneously, making it much easier to automate large-scale processes without hitting governor limits.

• Where: Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic (Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Performance, and Developer editions)
• How: In elements like Get Records and Create Records, you can now handle multiple records at once, reducing the need for looping.

Conclusion

Salesforce Winter '25 brings a host of enhancements to Flow Builder that will help streamline the way you build, troubleshoot, and execute flows. From more intuitive UI elements and performance tips to improved data handling and email capabilities, these updates are designed to enhance both the user experience and flow management. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned Salesforce professional, these new features will significantly improve the efficiency and functionality of your flows.

For a complete list of updates, check out the official release notes: Salesforce Winter '25 Release Notes - Automate.

Stay tuned for more updates, and happy Flow building!

If you have any questions please leave a comment below.

If you would like to add something to this post please leave a comment below.

Share this blog with your friends if you find it helpful somehow!

Thanks

Let's learn and grow together.

Love and Peace!