Dynamic dashboards versus specified running user
Key Takeaway
A dashboard shows data through the access of its running user. If "View Dashboard As" is set to a specific user, every viewer sees that user's data, regardless of their own security settings. To make each viewer see only the data they can access, set it to the dashboard viewer, which makes it a dynamic dashboard.
Every Salesforce dashboard shows data through the eyes of a running user. A static dashboard has a specified running user, so every viewer sees the same data based on that one user's access. A dynamic dashboard uses the logged-in viewer as the running user, so each person sees only the data they can access. Because one dynamic dashboard adjusts to each viewer, you don't need separate dashboards and folders for each audience.
Static and dynamic dashboards
A static dashboard uses the access of the user configured as its running user. A dynamic dashboard uses the access of whoever is logged in, so the running user changes with each viewer.
| Static dashboard | Dynamic dashboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Running user | One specified user | Whoever is logged in |
| What viewers see | The same data, regardless of their own security settings | Only the data each viewer can access |
| Use it when | Everyone should see the same numbers | Each person should see only their own slice of the data from one dashboard |
A specified running user can show viewers more data than they normally have access to. If the running user is an admin or an internal user, viewers could see personally identifiable information (PII).
Priya is a support director who can see cases from every region. She builds an Open Cases dashboard and sets herself as the running user. Tom is a support agent who can access only the cases in the West region. When Tom opens the dashboard, he sees open cases from every region, because the dashboard shows Priya's data. Priya then changes the running user to the dashboard viewer, which makes it a dynamic dashboard. Now Tom sees only West region cases, and Priya still sees every region, all from the same dashboard.
You can also add filters to a dynamic dashboard to tailor the data. For example, a dynamic Open Cases dashboard with an agent filter lets a support manager view the whole team's cases together or one agent's cases at a time.
When a dashboard shows data a user doesn't expect, check the running user first. On a dynamic dashboard, each user sees only what they themselves can access.