Salesforce Flow: The Complete Guide (2026)

Flow in Salesforce has become the only game in town for automation. As of December 31, 2025, Salesforce officially ended support for both Process Builder and Workflow Rules. If you're still running legacy automations, you're now on borrowed time.

Whether you're building new automations, finally migrating from Process Builder, or trying to figure out if Flow is enough for your needs, this guide covers what you need to know.

What Is Flow in Salesforce?

Flow is Salesforce's native automation platform. Think of it as a visual programming tool — you drag and drop elements to build logic that runs automatically when certain conditions are met.

It replaced several older tools:

• Workflow Rules (support ended Dec 2025)
• Process Builder (support ended Dec 2025)
• Visual Workflow (merged into Flow)

Now everything lives under one roof: Salesforce Flow, sometimes called Lightning Flow Salesforce in older documentation.

Types of Flow in Salesforce

Not all flows are the same. The type you choose depends on what triggers it and how it runs.

Screen Flows

These are interactive — a user clicks a button and gets guided through a series of screens. Good for:

• Guided data entry
• Multi-step wizards
• Customer-facing forms

Record-Triggered Flows

These run automatically when a record is created, updated, or deleted. The workhorse of Salesforce automation.

Use cases:

• Update related records when a deal closes
• Send notifications when a field changes
• Validate data before save

Autolaunched Flow Salesforce

These run in the background with no user interaction. They can be triggered by other automations, scheduled jobs, or external systems via API.

Autolaunched flows are what you'll use for:

• Complex background processing
• Integrations with external tools
• Scheduled batch operations

Scheduled Flows

Run on a schedule — daily, weekly, or custom. Perfect for:

• Weekly report generation
• Stale deal alerts
• Data cleanup jobs

Flow Builder in Salesforce: The Basics

The Salesforce Flow Builder is where you design and build flows. It's a canvas-based interface where you connect elements to create logic.

Key Elements

Triggers — What starts the flow

• Record changes (create/update/delete)
• Schedule
• Platform event
• User action (button click)

Logic — Decisions and loops

• Decision elements (if/then branching)
• Loops (iterate over collections)
• Assignment (set variable values)

Actions — What the flow does

• Create/update/delete records
• Send emails (now with attachments)
• Post to Slack
• Call Apex code
• Call external services

Data — Getting and storing information

• Get Records (query Salesforce, with configurable limits)
• Variables (store data during execution)
• Collections (lists of records)
• Transform element (combine data from multiple sources)

2025 Flow Builder Improvements

Salesforce significantly improved Flow Builder throughout 2025:

• Single-click editing: No more double-clicking to edit elements
• Improved Resource Picker: Search up to 10 levels deep for nested fields
• Transform element: Combine data from multiple sources without complex loops
• Email attachments: Send emails with attachments directly from flows (up to 35MB)
• Einstein for Flow: Describe what you want in natural language, and AI generates the flow
• Better debugging: Redesigned debug panel with clearer element summaries and search

Building Your First Flow

Here's a practical example: automatically create a follow-up task when an opportunity moves to "Negotiation" stage.

1. Create a Record-Triggered Flow

   • Object: Opportunity
   • Trigger: When record is updated
   • Condition: Stage equals "Negotiation"

2. Add a Create Records element

   • Object: Task
   • Subject: "Follow up on negotiation"
   • Related To: The opportunity that triggered the flow
   • Due Date: 3 days from today
   • Assigned To: Opportunity owner

3. Activate the flow

That's it. Every opportunity that hits Negotiation now gets a follow-up task automatically.

When Flow Isn't Enough

Flow is powerful, but it has limits.

What Flow handles well:

• Salesforce-to-Salesforce automation
• Simple external callouts
• User-guided processes
• Scheduled internal jobs

Where Flow struggles:

• Complex integrations with external systems
• Two-way syncs with other platforms
• Error handling across multiple systems
• High-volume data processing

For anything that needs to reliably connect Salesforce to your other tools — invoicing systems, project management, email platforms — you'll want a dedicated integration layer.

We covered this in detail in our guide on how to automate Salesforce workflows, including when to use Flow vs external tools like n8n.

Migrating from Process Builder to Flow

The deadline has passed. As of January 1, 2026, Salesforce no longer provides support or bug fixes for Process Builder or Workflow Rules. Your existing automations will keep running — until they don't.

If something breaks now, you're on your own.

What "End of Support" Actually Means

• Existing Process Builders and Workflow Rules continue to run
• You cannot create new ones (disabled since Spring '25)
• Salesforce will not fix bugs in these tools
• No customer support for issues with legacy automations
• New platform features may break old automations without warning

Why You Should Migrate Now

It's not just about support. Process Builder and Workflow Rules:

• Run slower than Flow
• Use more system resources
• Can't access newer Salesforce features
• Create technical debt that compounds over time

The Migration Process

Salesforce provides a built-in migration tool. Here's how to use it:

1. Go to Setup → Process Automation → Migrate to Flow
2. Select the Process Builder automation to convert
3. Review the generated Flow (it won't be perfect)
4. Test thoroughly in a sandbox
5. Activate the Flow and deactivate the Process

What the Migration Tool Gets Wrong

The tool does a decent job for simple processes, but expect manual cleanup for:

• Complex branching logic
• Multiple criteria groups
• Invoked actions and subflows
• Anything with scheduled actions

Migration Complexity by Process Type

Process Builder Type	Migration Difficulty	Notes
Single field update	Easy	Usually converts cleanly
Multiple field updates	Easy	Minor cleanup needed
Create related record	Medium	Check field mappings
Send email	Medium	Template references may break
Post to Chatter	Medium	Converts to Flow action
Call Apex	Medium-Hard	Logic may need restructuring
Multiple criteria nodes	Hard	Often needs manual rebuild
Scheduled actions	Hard	Time-based logic differs in Flow

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Still running Process Builders after the deadline? You're exposed. Converting dozens of legacy automations — especially ones that interact with each other — gets messy fast. Book a free consultation and we'll help you build a migration plan before something breaks.

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Flow Best Practices

After building hundreds of flows, here's what separates clean automations from debugging nightmares.

1. One Flow Per Object Action

Don't create separate flows for every automation on the same object. Build one record-triggered flow per object per action (before save, after save) and use decision elements to branch.

Why? Execution order. Multiple flows on the same object fire in an unpredictable order. One flow with branches is deterministic.

2. Bulkify Everything

Flows can process multiple records at once (batch updates, imports). If your flow only works for single records, it'll fail or hit limits during bulk operations.

Always use loops and collection variables instead of assuming single-record execution.

3. Error Handling Isn't Optional

Flows fail silently by default. A callout times out, a required field is missing, a validation rule fires — and you won't know unless you build in error handling.

Use fault paths on every action element. Log errors to a custom object. Send alerts when critical flows fail.

4. Document Your Flows

Use the Description field on every element. Future you (or your replacement) will need to understand why that decision branch exists.

5. Test With Real Data Volume

A flow that works with 10 records might hit governor limits with 10,000. Test with realistic data volumes in a full sandbox before deploying.

What's Coming in Spring '26

Salesforce continues to invest heavily in Flow. Here's what's landing in the next release:

• Screen styling: Control background colors, borders, and button styles directly in Flow
• Kanban Board component: Display records in a Kanban view within screen flows
• Collapsible elements: Collapse Loop and Decision elements to navigate complex flows more easily
• Data table inline editing: Finally — edit records directly in data tables (text fields for now)
• ContentDocument triggers: Build record-triggered flows on files and attachments

Calculating ROI on Flow Automation

Wondering if building this automation is worth the time? Use the calculator below to estimate your return.

When to Build vs When to Get Help

Honest assessment based on complexity:

Automation Type	Build Yourself?	Notes
Field updates on same record	✅ Yes	Flow handles this perfectly
Create related records	✅ Yes	Standard Flow pattern
Internal notifications	✅ Yes	Email alerts, Chatter posts
Simple scheduled jobs	✅ Yes	Scheduled flows work well
Screen flows for data entry	⚠️ Maybe	Depends on complexity
Salesforce → External system	⚠️ Maybe	Simple callouts are doable
External system → Salesforce	❌ Probably not	Better handled externally
Two-way sync	❌ No	Edge cases will break you
Complex multi-object logic	❌ No	Maintenance becomes a job
Migrating 10+ Process Builders	❌ No	Compound complexity

The dividing line: if it stays inside Salesforce and follows happy-path logic, build it yourself. If it crosses system boundaries or needs robust error handling, get help.

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Not sure which category your automation falls into? Describe your workflow to us — we'll tell you honestly whether it's a DIY job or something that needs proper engineering.

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Summary

Flow in Salesforce is the platform's present and future for automation. With Process Builder and Workflow Rules now unsupported, there's no alternative.

Whether you're:

• Building new automations from scratch
• Finally migrating legacy Process Builders (you should)
• Trying to figure out if Flow is enough or you need external tools

...understanding how the Salesforce Flow Builder works and where its limits are will save you time and headaches.

Start simple. Build one flow that solves one problem. Get comfortable with the builder. Then gradually tackle more complex automations — or know when to bring in help.

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Building Salesforce automations and want a second opinion on your approach? Reach out for a free workflow review.