Sharing Your Salesforce Dashboard

Your marketing director bursts into the weekly meeting, frustrated. “Why can’t I see the pipeline dashboard everyone’s talking about?” The sales team exchanges awkward glances. Your Salesforce admin explains that the dashboard exists, but nobody thought to share it with the marketing team. Meanwhile, your CEO wants to share key metrics with board members who don’t have Salesforce licenses, and your customer success team needs personalized views of case metrics without seeing each other’s territories.

These scenarios play out daily across organizations using Salesforce. You’ve invested countless hours building perfect dashboards that visualize critical business data, but they deliver zero value when the right people can’t access them. Worse still, improper sharing can expose sensitive data to the wrong audiences or create bottlenecks where teams constantly request updated reports instead of accessing live dashboards themselves.

Dashboard sharing in Salesforce isn’t just a technical checkbox—it’s the bridge between isolated data and organization-wide intelligence. When done right, it transforms dashboards from static reports into dynamic tools that drive alignment and decision-making across departments.

This comprehensive guide walks you through everything from basic sharing mechanics to advanced configurations that balance accessibility with security. You’ll learn not just which buttons to click, but how to design a sharing strategy that scales with your organization while maintaining appropriate data governance.

Understanding Dashboard Sharing in Salesforce and Its Strategic Importance

Salesforce dashboards do more than present pretty charts. They serve as central information hubs where teams align on KPIs, track progress toward goals, and identify emerging trends before they become problems. But their true power emerges only when they reach the right audience.

When properly shared, dashboards eliminate data silos that plague organizations. Sales leaders gain visibility into marketing campaign performance. Service teams see how their case metrics impact customer retention. Executives access real-time business health indicators without requesting custom reports. This cross-functional visibility creates a shared reality where decisions stem from consistent, trusted data rather than departmental interpretations.

The business impact of effective dashboard sharing is measurable:

• Reduced reporting overhead: Teams access information directly instead of requesting custom exports
• Faster decision cycles: Real-time access to data eliminates waiting periods for insights
• Improved cross-functional alignment: Everyone works from the same metrics and definitions
• Enhanced accountability: Performance visibility drives ownership of results

However, dashboard sharing in Salesforce involves navigating a sophisticated security model that controls not just who can see dashboards, but what data appears within them. This complexity stems from Salesforce’s design as an enterprise platform where data access must be precisely controlled across organizational boundaries.

Prerequisites and Permissions Required for Dashboard Sharing

Before you can share a single dashboard, several foundational elements must be in place. Understanding these prerequisites prevents the frustrating experience of clicking “Share” only to encounter permission errors or missing options.

User Permissions

The person doing the sharing needs specific permissions to make dashboards available to others:

• Manage Dashboards in Public Folders: Required to share dashboards with other users
• Run Reports: Needed to view the data that populates dashboard components
• View Dashboards in Public Folders: Basic permission for accessing shared dashboards

These permissions typically come through profile settings or permission sets assigned to users. Without them, the Share button might not appear, or you’ll encounter error messages when attempting to share.

Dashboard Location Requirements

Dashboards must live in the right place to be shareable:

• Private folders contain dashboards visible only to their creator and system administrators
• Public folders hold dashboards that can be shared with other users
• Custom shared folders allow more granular access control for specific teams or departments

If your dashboard sits in a private folder, you’ll need to move it to a public or shared folder before sharing it. This isn’t just a technical requirement—it reflects Salesforce’s philosophy that sharing should be an intentional action rather than an accidental exposure.

Access Levels

Salesforce offers three distinct access levels that determine what users can do with shared dashboards:

• Viewer: Can see and run the dashboard but can’t modify it
• Editor: Can view, run, and modify the dashboard but can’t change sharing settings
• Manager: Has full control including sharing with others

Following the principle of least privilege, most users should receive Viewer access unless they specifically need to modify dashboard components or control sharing.

Step-by-Step Guide to Sharing a Salesforce Dashboard

With prerequisites in place, you’re ready to share your dashboard. The process follows a logical sequence that works consistently across most Salesforce organizations.

Step 1: Open Your Salesforce Dashboard

Navigate to the dashboard you want to share. You can find dashboards through:

• The Dashboards tab in the navigation bar
• The App Launcher by searching for “Dashboards”
• The Reports and Dashboards section in Setup

Before sharing, verify that the dashboard displays correctly and contains all the intended components. This quick check prevents sharing an incomplete or broken dashboard with your colleagues.

Step 2: Click on the “Share” Button

Look for the Share button in the upper-right corner of the dashboard. If you don’t see this button, check that:

• You have the necessary sharing permissions
• The dashboard is in a public or shared folder, not a private folder
• You’re using the Lightning Experience (Classic has a different sharing workflow)

Step 3: Choose Sharing Options

The sharing dialog presents several options for determining who receives access:

• Share with specific users: Grant access to individual team members
• Share with public groups: Share with predefined collections of users
• Share with roles: Make the dashboard available to everyone in specific roles
• Share with roles and subordinates: Include everyone in the role hierarchy below the selected role

For most organizations, sharing with public groups offers the best balance of flexibility and administrative efficiency. As team members join or leave, you update the group membership rather than modifying dozens of individual dashboard shares.

Step 4: Select Users or Groups

Based on your chosen sharing method, select the specific users, groups, or roles that should receive access. The interface provides a search function to quickly locate recipients in larger organizations.

Consider the dashboard’s purpose and content when selecting recipients. Dashboards containing sensitive financial data or customer information should be shared selectively, while general performance metrics might be appropriate for broader distribution.

Step 5: Define Access Levels

For each recipient, specify the appropriate access level:

• Viewer: For most end users who need to consume dashboard data
• Editor: For analysts who might need to refine dashboard components
• Manager: For team leads or administrators who manage sharing

Be judicious with Editor and Manager access—too many cooks can lead to inconsistent dashboards or inappropriate sharing.

Step 6: Save and Notify Users

Click “Done” or “Share” to apply your settings. Depending on your organization’s configuration, Salesforce may automatically notify users that a dashboard has been shared with them.

Consider sending a follow-up message explaining the dashboard’s purpose, how often it refreshes, and any filters or interactive elements that help users extract maximum value.

How to Share a Dashboard in Salesforce Lightning

Salesforce Lightning offers a streamlined, modern interface for dashboard sharing that reduces friction and simplifies the process compared to Classic.

Unique Features of Salesforce Lightning

Lightning Experience enhances dashboard sharing through several key improvements:

• Intuitive sharing dialog with clear visual indicators of current access levels
• Typeahead search that suggests users as you type their names
• Folder-based sharing that allows you to share multiple dashboards at once
• Improved error messages that explain permission issues clearly

These refinements make Lightning the preferred interface for organizations managing complex sharing arrangements across multiple teams.

Steps to Share a Private Dashboard

Sharing a private dashboard in Lightning requires a slightly different approach:

1. Locate the dashboard in your private dashboard folder
2. Select “Move” from the dashboard’s action menu
3. Choose a public or shared folder as the destination
4. Follow the standard sharing steps outlined earlier

Remember that moving a dashboard from private to public makes it discoverable by users with folder access, even before you explicitly share it with them.

For organizations transitioning from Classic to Lightning, the dashboard creation process differs slightly, but sharing mechanics remain conceptually similar. The main advantage comes from Lightning’s improved user interface and more intuitive workflow.

Advanced Sharing Options and Specialized Scenarios

Standard sharing works for most situations, but complex organizations often encounter specialized requirements that push beyond Salesforce’s native capabilities.

Sharing with Non-Licensed Stakeholders

One common challenge involves sharing dashboards with people who don’t have Salesforce licenses—board members, contractors, or external partners. Salesforce requires licenses for direct dashboard access, but several workarounds exist:

• Scheduled exports: Configure dashboards to automatically export to PDF or Excel and email to external recipients
• Integration tools: Use applications like Coefficient to sync dashboard data to Google Sheets or Excel, then share those files
• Experience Cloud: Create portal access for external users (requires additional licensing)

Each approach involves tradeoffs between interactivity, data freshness, and cost. For occasional sharing, scheduled exports often provide the simplest solution. For ongoing external collaboration, Experience Cloud offers the most robust capabilities despite its additional licensing requirements.

Public Link Sharing and Limitations

Some organizations explore public link sharing, which creates URLs that don’t require Salesforce authentication. This approach comes with significant limitations:

• Available only for certain dashboard types
• Presents serious security concerns for sensitive data
• Offers limited control over who accesses the dashboard
• Provides no audit trail of who viewed the data

Public links should only be used for non-sensitive, general information dashboards where broad distribution outweighs security concerns. Even then, consider password protection and expiration dates to maintain some control over access.

For organizations seeking more robust external sharing capabilities, understanding report sharing provides additional options, as reports can sometimes be distributed through channels unavailable to dashboards.

Dashboard Data Visibility and Running User Configuration

Perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of dashboard sharing involves the “running user” concept. This setting determines what data appears in dashboard components, separate from who has access to the dashboard itself.

Static vs. Dynamic Dashboards

Salesforce offers two fundamentally different approaches to data visibility in shared dashboards:

• Static dashboards show identical data to all viewers based on a designated running user’s permissions
• Dynamic dashboards display personalized data based on each viewer’s own permissions

This distinction creates powerful flexibility but also potential confusion. A sales representative viewing a static dashboard running as the VP of Sales will see all opportunities across the organization—data they normally couldn’t access in their day-to-day role. Conversely, an executive viewing a dynamic dashboard might see less data than expected if the dashboard respects individual permissions.

Configuring the Running User

To set the running user for a dashboard:

1. Edit the dashboard
2. Click the gear icon to access dashboard properties
3. Under “View Dashboard As,” select either:
   • A specific user (for static dashboards)
   • “The dashboard viewer” (for dynamic dashboards)
4. Save your changes

This configuration dramatically impacts what data appears in the dashboard. Choose carefully based on your intended audience and security requirements.

Security Implications

Running user configuration carries significant security implications:

• Static dashboards running as administrators can expose sensitive data to broader audiences than intended
• Dynamic dashboards respect row-level security but may show different data to different users, creating inconsistent views
• Field-level security still applies—if the running user can’t see a field, it won’t appear in the dashboard

Organizations should document running user decisions and clearly communicate to users whether they’re seeing personalized data or a standard view that might include records they normally couldn’t access.

Troubleshooting Common Dashboard Sharing Issues

Even with careful planning, dashboard sharing sometimes goes awry. These common issues and their solutions will help you quickly resolve problems when they arise.

Access Denied Errors

When users receive “Access Denied” messages when attempting to view shared dashboards, check these common causes:

• Folder access: Verify the user has access to the folder containing the dashboard
• Profile permissions: Confirm the user has “View Dashboards in Public Folders” permission
• Field-level security: Check if the running user can access all fields referenced in dashboard components
• Sharing rules: Ensure sharing rules don’t restrict access to underlying records

Most access issues stem from folder permissions rather than dashboard-specific sharing settings. Always check folder access first when troubleshooting.

Missing Users in Sharing Settings

If you can’t find specific users when attempting to share:

• Verify the user account is active
• Check that you’re using the correct username or email
• Confirm the user has a profile that allows dashboard access
• Consider sharing with a public group containing the user instead

For organizations with many users, creating logical public groups simplifies sharing and reduces the need to search for individual users.

Changes Not Reflecting

When dashboard updates don’t appear for shared users:

• Ask users to refresh their browser cache
• Check if the dashboard is scheduled to refresh at specific intervals
• Verify that recent field or object changes haven’t broken dashboard components
• Confirm that filter conditions still return data after recent changes

Most visibility issues resolve with a simple browser refresh or manual dashboard refresh, but persistent problems may indicate deeper configuration issues.

Large User Groups Sharing Challenges

Organizations with hundreds or thousands of users face unique challenges:

• Salesforce limits folder sharing to 25 recipients through the UI (though API allows up to 500)
• Performance degrades when too many users access dynamic dashboards simultaneously
• Managing individual shares becomes unwieldy at scale

Leverage role hierarchies and public groups to simplify sharing for large organizations. These structures scale more effectively than individual user shares and adapt better to organizational changes.

Best Practices for Effective and Secure Dashboard Sharing

Implement these proven practices to maximize the value of your dashboard sharing while maintaining appropriate security controls.

Organize Dashboards into Logical Folders

Create a folder structure that mirrors your organizational structure or business processes:

• Department-specific folders (Sales, Marketing, Service)
• Role-based folders (Executive, Manager, Representative)
• Process-oriented folders (Pipeline Management, Customer Success)

This organization makes dashboards discoverable and simplifies sharing by allowing you to share entire folders rather than individual dashboards.

Leverage Public Groups and Roles

Rather than sharing with individual users:

• Create public groups aligned with teams or departments
• Use role hierarchies to share with management layers
• Update group membership as team composition changes

This approach reduces administrative overhead and ensures that new employees automatically receive appropriate access when assigned to roles or groups.

Apply the Principle of Least Privilege

Grant the minimum access required for each user’s role:

• Provide Viewer access by default
• Limit Editor access to analysts and dashboard developers
• Restrict Manager access to team leads and administrators
• Document exceptions when higher access levels are granted

This security principle minimizes risk while ensuring users can perform their required functions.

Document Your Sharing Strategy

Maintain clear documentation about your sharing approach:

• Record which dashboards are shared with which groups
• Document running user decisions and their rationale
• Note any exceptions to standard sharing patterns
• Update documentation when making significant changes

This documentation proves invaluable during audits, when onboarding new administrators, or when troubleshooting complex sharing issues.

Conduct Regular Access Reviews

Schedule periodic reviews of dashboard access:

• Quarterly audits of who has access to sensitive dashboards
• Verification that departed employees no longer have access
• Confirmation that running user settings remain appropriate
• Checks for excessive sharing that could expose sensitive data

These reviews maintain security hygiene and prevent permission creep that gradually exposes more data than intended.

Conclusion: Making the Most of Your Dashboard Sharing Strategy

Effective dashboard sharing transforms Salesforce from a transactional system into a strategic intelligence platform. When the right people can access the right dashboards with the right data, your organization makes better decisions faster.

Book a demo to see how Revenue Grid can help you maintain clean, consolidated Salesforce data and build a CRM your entire revenue team can trust.