How to Inline Edit a Related List

 

Have you ever wanted to add inline edit to a related list?

So many clients have asked me for this, and recently I got the request again.

I did some research to find the best solution - and I learned about something awesome.

First, Salesforce has this functionality on their roadmap and hopes to deliver it in the Summer '25 release, which means it should be super easy to build soon.

 

Source

On the downside, Summer '25 is not today which, coincidentally, is when clients want the features I'm working on ready by... (kidding!)

What to do?

You could build a Lightning Web Component to provide inline edit capability.

And, as I will never get tired of telling you, with AI tools this is easier than ever.

But maybe you don't want to build a LWC.

No problem! You can use an awesome AppExchange app called Smart Lists.

Here are some highlights:

  • It's free
  • Allows inline edit
  • Allows exporting any related list to CSV
  • Build data source using SOQL
  • Supports editing picklists (amazingly inline edit in LWC doesn't do by default)
  • Easily drag and drop onto Lightning Page
  • Customize your lists using custom metadata 
  • Can show a list as a data table or as tiles
  • Supports custom actions
  • Can use SOSL search on related lists
  • Usable in screen flows

It's powerful!

If you're familiar with custom metadata it's fast to setup.

If you're not familiar with custom metadata, there will be a bit of a learning curve.

Don't worry though, the learning curve is not too steep and it pays dividends forever.

Here's a simple Smart List I set up to edit Opportunities from the Account page.

You can see I'm able to edit the stage right from the list.

 

So next time you get a request to make a related list have inline edit, think of Smart Lists.

Also, think of Smart Lists if you need Export to CSV functionality, or are dealing with Grandparent-grandchild list functionality.

When you're ready to dive in:

Hope this helps!

 

Best,

Nick

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