Reference

Salesforce standard fields, explained

The core standard fields on Account, Contact, Opportunity, Lead, and Case — the ones every Salesforce org ships with — each with its type and what it's actually for, in plain language.

Then the part no reference can give you: every field, standard and custom, in your own org.

Standard fields are the same in every org. Your org is not.

Every Salesforce org starts with the same set of standard fields — they're built in, identical everywhere, and can't be deleted. This page is a plain-language reference for the core ones, so "what does Opportunity.ForecastCategoryName actually do" is a lookup, not a guess.

What makes your org yours is everything layered on top: the custom fields (the __c ones) three admins added over five years, the standard fields you repurposed, the ones nobody uses anymore. A generic reference can't describe those — because they only exist in your org.

So use the table below for the standard fields, and connect your org for the rest.

The core standard fields, by object

A representative cross-section of the standard fields on the five objects most orgs live in. Types are as you'd see them in Setup.

Reference of the core standard fields on the Account, Contact, Opportunity, Lead, and Case objects in Salesforce, with each field's type and a plain-language description.
FieldTypeDescription
AccountAccount
NameTextThe name of the account — the company or organization.
TypePicklistThe kind of account, such as customer, partner, competitor, or prospect.
IndustryPicklistThe industry the account operates in.
AnnualRevenueCurrencyThe account's estimated annual revenue.
NumberOfEmployeesNumberThe number of employees at the account.
WebsiteURLThe account's website URL.
PhonePhoneThe account's primary phone number.
BillingAddressAddress (compound)The account's billing address — a compound field over BillingStreet, BillingCity, BillingState, BillingPostalCode, and BillingCountry.
OwnerIdLookup (User)The user who owns the account.
ParentIdLookup (Account)The parent account in the account hierarchy.
RatingPicklistThe account's prospect rating, typically Hot, Warm, or Cold.
AccountSourcePicklistHow the account record was originated.
ContactContact
NameName (compound)The contact's full name — a compound over Salutation, FirstName, and LastName.
AccountIdLookup (Account)The account this contact belongs to.
EmailEmailThe contact's email address.
PhonePhoneThe contact's primary phone number.
MobilePhonePhoneThe contact's mobile phone number.
TitleTextThe contact's job title.
DepartmentTextThe department the contact works in.
MailingAddressAddress (compound)The contact's mailing address — a compound over the MailingStreet/City/State/PostalCode/Country fields.
ReportsToIdLookup (Contact)The contact this person reports to.
LeadSourcePicklistHow the contact was originated.
OwnerIdLookup (User)The user who owns the contact.
OpportunityOpportunity
NameTextThe name or title of the opportunity (deal).
AccountIdLookup (Account)The account the opportunity is associated with.
AmountCurrencyThe estimated total sale amount for the opportunity.
CloseDateDateThe date the opportunity is expected to close, or did close.
StageNamePicklistThe current sales stage of the opportunity in the pipeline.
ProbabilityPercentThe likelihood (percent) the opportunity will be won — usually derived from the stage.
TypePicklistThe type of opportunity, such as new business or existing business.
LeadSourcePicklistThe source that originated the opportunity.
ForecastCategoryNamePicklistThe forecast category the opportunity rolls up to (pipeline, best case, commit, closed).
NextStepTextThe next action planned to move the opportunity forward.
IsClosedCheckbox (read-only)Whether the opportunity is closed (won or lost). System-maintained from the stage.
IsWonCheckbox (read-only)Whether the opportunity was won. System-maintained from the stage.
OwnerIdLookup (User)The user who owns the opportunity.
LeadLead
NameName (compound)The lead's full name — a compound over Salutation, FirstName, and LastName.
CompanyTextThe company the lead is associated with.
StatusPicklistThe lead's status in the qualification process.
LeadSourcePicklistHow the lead was originated.
EmailEmailThe lead's email address.
PhonePhoneThe lead's phone number.
TitleTextThe lead's job title.
IndustryPicklistThe lead's industry.
RatingPicklistThe lead's rating, typically Hot, Warm, or Cold.
IsConvertedCheckbox (read-only)Whether the lead has been converted. Set by Salesforce during lead conversion.
ConvertedAccountIdLookup (read-only)The account created or matched when the lead was converted.
OwnerIdLookup (User or Queue)The owner of the lead — a user or a queue.
CaseCase
CaseNumberAuto Number (read-only)The unique, auto-generated case number.
SubjectTextA short summary of the case.
StatusPicklistThe case's status in its lifecycle.
PriorityPicklistThe case's priority.
OriginPicklistThe channel the case came in through — email, web, phone, and so on.
TypePicklistThe type of case.
ReasonPicklistThe reason the case was created.
ContactIdLookup (Contact)The contact associated with the case.
AccountIdLookup (Account)The account associated with the case.
IsClosedCheckbox (read-only)Whether the case is closed. System-maintained from the status.
IsEscalatedCheckboxWhether the case has been escalated.
OwnerIdLookup (User or Queue)The owner of the case — a user or a queue.

These are standard fields, present in every org. Your org layers its own custom fields on top — connect it to see every one, described.

A reference is generic. Your org needs the specific.

Every field, standard and custom, described.

The table above is the standard fields. SchemaForce inventories your whole org — every object, every field, including the custom __c fields no reference could know about — and gives each one a plain-language purpose. Standard fields come pre-described from a curated library; your custom fields get an AI-written description you can review and, on Pro, push back to Salesforce.

Which fields you actually use.

A standard object can carry dozens of fields your org never populates. Turn on usage scanning and SchemaForce shows the population of each field — the share of records where it holds a value, counted in aggregate, never by reading a record — so you can tell a load-bearing field from a vestigial one.

Who can see each field.

SchemaForce maps field-level security across every profile, permission set, and permission-set group, so "who can read this field" is a lookup instead of an afternoon of clicking — which matters most for the standard fields that hold the sensitive data.

Common questions

What are standard fields in Salesforce?

Standard fields are the fields Salesforce ships with every org — they are identical across all orgs and cannot be deleted. Some are common to most objects (Name, OwnerId, CreatedDate, LastModifiedDate); others are specific to an object, like Opportunity.Amount or Case.Priority. The custom fields your org adds (the ones ending in __c) are layered on top of these.

What is the difference between a standard field and a custom field?

A standard field is built in by Salesforce and the same in every org; a custom field is one your org created, has an API name ending in __c, and is unique to your org. Standard fields generally cannot be deleted (and some are read-only or system-maintained), while custom fields are entirely under your control.

How do I see all the fields on a Salesforce object?

In Setup, open Object Manager, choose the object, and look at Fields & Relationships — that lists both standard and custom fields. To see every field across every object at once, with a plain-language description of each, SchemaForce inventories your whole org and lets you search it.

Can standard fields be deleted or renamed?

Standard fields can't be deleted. You can relabel many of them and hide them from page layouts, but the API name stays. Several standard fields are read-only or system-maintained (for example Opportunity.IsWon, Case.CaseNumber, Lead.IsConverted), so they can't be edited directly at all.

See your own org's fields, described.

Connect SchemaForce and get a described map of every field — standard and custom — with usage and who can see what. Free for a single org. It reads your schema, never your records.