Record type availability and defaults on profiles
Key Takeaway
Making a record type available lets users pick it when they create or edit a record. It doesn't control which records they can view. Only the profile can set a user's default record type.
Record types let one object offer different picklist values, business processes, and page layouts to different users. A profile decides two things: which record types its users can pick when they create or edit a record (availability), and which record type is chosen for them first (the default). Permission sets can also give users record types, but they work differently from profiles.
Make Available and Make Default on profiles
You need the "Customize Application" permission to create or change record types.
When you create a record type, you choose which profiles can use it and which profiles get it as their default. You do this by selecting "Make Available" and "Make Default" next to each profile:
| Selected next to one profile | Selected in the header row | |
|---|---|---|
| Make Available | Users with that profile can use the record type. | The record type is available to all profiles. |
| Make Default | The record type becomes that profile's default. | The record type becomes the default for all profiles. |
Make Default comes second. For the profiles where you selected Make Available, you can then select Make Default.