With the Salesforce Winter ’26 Release just around the corner, it’s time to gear up for another round of powerful enhancements. Salesforce releases three seasonal updates annually, each bringing new capabilities, feature enhancements, and critical changes. While the Summer ’25 Release may feel recent, staying ahead of the latest Salesforce Releases is essential to keep your systems secure, optimized, and compliant. This guide will help you understand what to expect, what actions to take, and how to best prepare for Salesforce seasonal release changes before they go live.
Preparation for Salesforce Winter ’26 Release
Start planning now to avoid problems when Salesforce updates in September 2025. Test new features in a sandbox first to see how they affect your setup. This is especially helpful if you have custom configurations.
Use tools like Salesforce DX, Workbench, or Salesforce Inspector Reloaded to scan metadata and permissions that might be affected. These tools can help identify dependencies that may be broken by new Winter ’26 Salesforce features. Also, keep an eye on the official Salesforce release notes, as Salesforce may modify, postpone, or cancel certain updates without prior notice. Staying informed ensures your Winter’ 26 Pre‑release org remains stable and up-to-date.
Salesforce Winter ’26 Release: What You Need to Know
As the Winter ’26 Release approaches, several updates will be automatically activated in your Salesforce org. These changes can affect how features behave, so testing in advance is essential. This guide outlines general best practices for preparing your org, especially important if your setup involves custom configurations or managed packages.
Apply updates in your sandbox first. This lets you review and adjust changes safely, without affecting your main system. Test everything carefully before making changes live.
When you’re ready to update your main system, do it outside business hours. This reduces the chance of disrupting users and gives you time to check changes or undo them if needed.
Confirm Verified Email Addresses for Legacy Users
What’s Affected?
Users created on or before November 1, 2016, must have a verified email address to send emails from Salesforce. Once this update is enforced, users without verification will lose email-sending capabilities.
How to Identify Affected Users (No-Code Approach)
Create a user list view with these filters:
- Created Date ≤ November 1, 2016
- User Verified Email = False
- Active = True
Add fields like Created Date and User Verified Email to easily track verification status.
Sandbox Preparation
Use the list view or run a SOQL query to find unverified users. If users are active, go to each user’s record and click “Verify” next to their email. Verification links expire in 72 hours, so check progress regularly.
You may also consider configuring a DKIM key for your domain. (See Salesforce documentation for setting this up.)
How to Prepare for Production
Identify affected users using either the No-Code or Pro-Code approach. If any unverified users are found, go to each user’s record and click “Verify” beside their email address.
Recheck every 72 hours to confirm that users have completed the verification process before the update is enforced.
Enforce Secure Roles and Correct Sharing References Before Winter ’26
What’s the Impact?
Earlier Salesforce seasonal releases introduced changes related to role hierarchies and sharing group references, but they only applied to sandbox environments. Now, with the Salesforce Winter ’26 Release, these changes are enforced in production too.
To maintain seamless functionality, references to “Roles and Subordinates” must be updated to “Role and Internal Subordinates.” Without this, key functionality may break after the update.
No-Code or Pro-Code Preparation
You’ll need to search your org (manually or using tools) for these references:
- Roles and Subordinates
- roleAndSubordinates
- RoleAndSubordinates
- roleAndSubordinate
These can appear in:
- SOQL queries
- Apex code
- Flows
- Lightning components
- API integrations
- Metadata configuration
This update ensures your production aligns with the Winter’ 26 Pre‑release org Salesforce features and avoids disruptions during the Salesforce Winter Release rollout. Review the Salesforce release notes to identify other Salesforce updates related to role-based access.
Preparing in Your Sandbox
The Salesforce Winter ’26 Release brings changes that many may have already seen in the Summer ’25 sandbox update. If you’ve already adjusted your sandbox to reflect the new behavior, the next step is to get your production org ready.
Before deploying from the sandbox to production, ensure both environments are synchronized. Check for any references that may not be automatically updated during deployment. If inconsistencies exist, refresh or create a new sandbox using the latest Salesforce release notes. Always back up any work that isn’t deployed elsewhere to avoid data loss.
Preparing for Production
When preparing for the Salesforce Winter Release, schedule your deployment outside of core business hours. Migrate changes from your sandbox, perform a test run, and validate the impacted functionality. This will ensure minimal user disruption if a rollback is necessary.
Monitoring your deployment progress helps confirm compatibility with the latest Salesforce releases. Always validate changes related to secure roles behavior, especially those impacted by the Winter ’26 Salesforce features.
For smoother updates, leverage your Salesforce sandbox preview Winter ’26 org or spin up a Winter’ 26 Pre-release org to simulate changes in advance.
Modify User Permissions for Service Assistant Access
What’s the Impact?
Salesforce is updating access requirements for Agentforce Service Assistant. Currently available to users with a standard Salesforce license, access will soon be restricted. Once enforced, users must have the Service Planner User Permission Set License to continue using this tool.
No-Code/Pro-Code Tip
Leverage Service Assistant Metrics to identify current users and assess usage patterns.
How to Prepare (Sandbox & Production)
Assign the required permission set license to all active Service Assistant users to ensure uninterrupted access.
Additional Updates
The update previously titled “Enforce Permission Requirements Defined on Built-In Apex Classes Used as Inputs” has been renamed to “Enforcing No-Argument Constructor on Apex Classes Used for Invocable Action Parameters.” Its enforcement has been deferred to the Summer ‘26 release.
Salesforce also planned to retire the Frequency and Frequency Type fields on the Maintenance Plan object within Field Service. This deprecation, along with the related update “Migrate from Maintenance Plan Frequency Fields to Maintenance Work Rules,” has now been canceled.
Summary
Proactive planning for these adjustments allows you to prioritize updates effectively and maintain system stability. Stay informed and ready as we bring you more insights on the Salesforce Winter ’26 Release.
