Page layout assignment by profile and record type
Key Takeaway
A user sees the page layout that their profile assigns to the record's record type. Giving users a record type is a separate setting, so it doesn't change which layout they see.
Page layout assignment decides which page layout a user sees on an object's records. Without record types, the user's profile alone picks the layout. When an object uses record types, the profile and the record type together pick it. So one object can show different fields and buttons to different teams and for different kinds of records.
How Salesforce picks a page layout
Salesforce chooses the page layout from the user's profile. When the object has record types, Salesforce uses the user's profile combined with the record's record type. Assignments are made per profile.
The assignment screen changes shape when an object has record types:
| Assignment screen | Layout picked by | |
|---|---|---|
| No record types | A table with one layout per profile | Profile |
| With record types | A matrix with a layout selector for each profile and record type pair | Profile and record type together |
Because each profile and record type pair has its own selector, one profile can see different layouts on Hardware and Software opportunities. Two profiles can also see different layouts on the same record type. To change what users see on a record type, change their profile's layout assignment for that record type.
Your Opportunity object has two record types, Hardware and Software. In the assignment matrix, the Sales profile gets the Hardware Sales layout for Hardware and the Software Sales layout for Software. The Support profile gets the Support Opportunity layout for both. Priya is on the Sales profile. She opens a Software opportunity and sees the Software Sales layout. Tom is on the Support profile. He opens the same record and sees the Support Opportunity layout.