Define custom fields

Custom fields let you store information your team tracks that does not fit one of the standard account or contact fields - a segment label, a renewal quarter, an internal account tier, or anything else your process needs. Once a custom field exists, you can show it as a column, filter on it, and include it in integrations. This page covers managing the field definitions themselves; to put a value on a single record, see Use the account detail page and Use the contact detail page.

Custom fields are managed under Settings, which is available to members of the workspace. People with a read-only seat do not see the Settings area.

Before you start

You manage custom fields in two separate lists - one for accounts and one for contacts. A field defined for accounts is not available on contacts, and the reverse is also true. Decide which entity a field belongs to before you create it.

Steps

Open the custom fields list

Open Settings from the left sidebar.
Choose Custom fields configuration.
At the top, switch between the Accounts and Contacts tabs to manage fields for each entity. The list shows three columns: Field name, Used in (how many records currently have a value for that field), and Date updated. Use the Search box to find a field by name.

Create a field

Make sure the correct tab (Accounts or Contacts) is selected - the new field is created for whichever entity is active.
Select Add new.
In the dialog, enter a Custom field name. Field names must be unique within the same entity for your workspace; reusing a name that already exists on that entity is rejected. Fields hold free text.
Select Create. To back out without saving, select Cancel.

Edit a field

Find the field in the list and select the edit (pencil) action on its row.
Change the Custom field name in the dialog.
Select Save, or Close to discard the change.

Renaming a field keeps every value already stored against it. Only the label changes.

Delete a field

Find the field in the list and select the delete (trash) action on its row.
A confirmation dialog asks Delete Custom field? and warns that this removes the field and all assignments - that is, every value stored for it across your records.
Select Delete to confirm, or Cancel to keep the field.

How a CSV import creates fields for you

You do not have to define a field before importing data into it. When you import accounts or contacts from a file, any column whose heading is not one of the standard fields is treated as a custom field. The workspace creates a field automatically, using the column heading as the field name (underscores become spaces and the name is tidied into title case), and stores each row’s value against it. Blank cells are skipped.

If you previously deleted a field and then import a column with the same name, the original field is restored rather than duplicated. For the full list of standard columns that are not turned into custom fields, see CSV import fields. For the import steps themselves, see Import accounts from a CSV and Import contacts from a CSV.

What happens next

Once a custom field exists, its values appear in several places:

On the record. Open any account or contact and go to its Custom fields tab to see and edit the values stored for that record. You can add a value there by picking the field and entering text, or create a brand-new field on the spot with Create new.
As a column. In the Accounts and Contacts lists, custom fields are available as columns, each headed by the field name. Turn them on through column configuration - see Configure columns.
In filters and integrations. Custom fields can be used to filter your records and are carried through to connected systems.

The Used in count on the configuration list reflects how many records currently hold a value for each field, so you can see at a glance which fields are actually in use before you edit or remove one.