Salesforce Winter '27: What Is New
A grouped guide to Salesforce Winter '27: what changed in each area, which items are GA, beta or pilot, and how to prepare your org.
Winter '27 is the third Salesforce release of 2026, and it rolled out around Dreamforce 2026. Agents and MCP servers get the attention, but for most teams the changes that matter this quarter are Flow testing, list view editing, raised Apex heap limits and security retirements with fixed dates. This guide groups the highlights by area and marks each item's status as Salesforce labels it. Where Salesforce gives no label, we say so. Please don't read that as generally available.
Key dates and API version
Salesforce's admin blog gives these dates. Your production instance received the release on one of the three production weekends. Check Salesforce Trust for your exact instance.
Winter '27 release timeline
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Pre-release Developer Edition sign-up | 13 August 2026 |
| Release notes published | 19 August 2026 |
| Sandbox refresh cut-off | 27 August 2026, before 5 p.m. PT |
| Sandbox preview begins | 28 August 2026 |
| Production release windows | 4 September, 2 October and 9 October 2026 |
| Generally available (per Salesforce newsroom) | 12 October 2026 |
| API version | 68.0 |
Platform and admin
- Flexible inline editing in list views: edit any accessible field, including across record types. It is off by default, so someone has to switch it on. Status not stated.
- User Field History Tracking: track up to 20 User fields, with history kept for 18 months. GA.
- Keep manual shares on record transfer: a new option in Sharing Settings. Status not stated.
- Record previews from Lightning reports and Common Rows Only for joined reports. Beta; the second is enabled through Support.
- Profile Filtering is enforced as a release update. Users without "View All Profiles" now see only their own profile name.
- Setup with Agentforce enhancements add natural-language help for sandboxes, deployments and org health. GA per the platform blog.
Flow
- Flow Test Mode saves test scenarios with assertions, and mock outputs let tests skip live Action and Subflow calls. Beta.
- User Context run mode enforces the running user's permissions on API 68.0 and later. Status not stated.
- Also new, with no stated status: automatic retry on record-lock errors, save-time field warnings, element grouping, an Edit History panel, a Time component for screen flows, and up to 10 approval processes per record page in Flow Approvals.
Developer
- Apex heap limits raised: synchronous from 6 MB to 10 MB, asynchronous from 12 MB to 25 MB. Status not stated.
- LWC complex template expressions (API 66.0+) and
lwc:externalfor third-party web components, which requires Lightning Web Security. GA. - Web Console, a browser IDE built on VS Code for the Web. GA.
FORMULA()in SOQL WHERE clauses, the Apex Symbol API, Apex cursors for Data 360 DMOs and elastic limits for Batch Apex. Beta.- Apex integration tests (
@IntegrationTest). Developer Preview. - Headless Experience Layer. The developer blog says Beta and the platform blog says GA, so treat it as rolling out.
Security and identity
The Salesforce Guardian additions are GA per the platform blog: MCP Risk Scores in Security Center, new Security Mesh connectors, Global Consent Manager, and Platform Encryption for Archive and Backup. Observability Center is Beta. The bigger story is the retirements: refresh-token inactivity expiry from 4 November 2026, OAuth flow restrictions, and the end of connected apps support in Summer '27. We cover these in connected apps and OAuth changes.
Agentforce and AI
- Multi-Agent Orchestration: GA. Agent Skills and Plugins registry (100+ skills): GA per the platform blog.
- Agent Optimizer in Agentforce Builder: GA announced for October 2026.
- Agent Script gains
else if, system variables andescalate. - Agentforce Voice in the Salesforce mobile app: GA per the admin blog.
- Third-Party Agent Orchestration (A2A): status not stated.
Data 360
Agentic Segmentation and Activation, Agent Memory, Salesforce Catalog and parent-child relationships for agent grounding all arrive with no stated status. Python code extensions on zero-copy data use a CLI plugin that is Beta. See Data 360 in 2026.
Sales, Service and Marketing
- Sales: Pipeline Forecasting (a rebranded Forecasts), Sales Cloud in Microsoft Teams and Slack, and Momentum. Hunter, the outbound sales agent, is a pilot, with GA announced for November 2026.
- Service: Agentforce Contact Center in 30+ countries, Adaptive Experiences and Dynamic Plans (live with four customers per the newsroom), Knowledge Blocks (needs a Knowledge add-on licence) and Workforce Engagement Management. Enhanced Case Merge is Beta.
- Marketing: Agentforce Content Agent, Sender Rating Score, a Marketing Cloud Engagement MCP server with 40 tools, and Flow-based completion actions in Marketing Cloud Next. The Marketing Goals Agent and Campaign Agent are Pilot.
How to prepare your org
- 01
Confirm your instance date
Check Trust for when your production instance received Winter '27, and whether your sandboxes were on preview.
- 02
Review release updates
Look at Profile Filtering, the View Setup Audit Trail permission and the email verification exception in Release Updates, and plan when to apply each one.
- 03
Regression-test key automations
Run your record-triggered flows, approvals and integrations in a sandbox. Try Flow Test Mode (Beta) only in sandboxes.
- 04
Inventory OAuth and connected apps
List every integration's OAuth flow and token use before the 4 November and 30 November 2026 dates.
- 05
Update tooling
Move CI runners to Node.js 22+ for CLI api request commands, and stop relying on printed secrets before 28 October 2026.
- 06
Decide on opt-in features
Choose whether to enable inline list editing, User Field History Tracking and record transfer sharing, and tell users what changes.
- 07
Pilot agent features deliberately
Keep beta and pilot agent features in sandboxes or limited groups until they reach GA.
Questions we hear
When did Winter '27 reach my org?
What API version is Winter '27?
Is everything in the release GA?
What should we do first?
Related reading
Winter '27 for admins and developers
A deeper look at Flow, Apex, LWC and CLI changes
→Connected apps and OAuth changes
Dates and a migration plan
→Release readiness checklist
A reusable checklist for every release
→Release testing checklist
How we structure regression testing
→Spring and Summer '26 recap
What came before Winter '27
→Our testing and QA and managed support services can plan regression runs around each release. See also the Salesforce product map.
Sources
Get your org ready for Winter '27
We can review your release updates, test your key automations and plan the OAuth changes with your team.
