Salesforce Admin Certification Practice Test 2026 – Complete Exam Prep

The dashboard running user plays a crucial role in determining the data displayed in a dashboard for users. This user is the one whose data security and visibility settings are applied when the dashboard is viewed. Essentially, the dashboard running user’s data access permissions dictate which records are included in the dashboard’s components.

For instance, if a sales manager creates a dashboard and sets themselves as the running user, all the metrics and visuals in that dashboard will reflect data according to the sales manager's access rights. This means that other users who view the dashboard will see only the data they are authorized to see based on their profiles or role hierarchy, effectively filtering the results as necessary to maintain data security and compliance with organizational policies.

While the dashboard owner, viewer, and editor can influence various aspects of the dashboard, such as creation and editing, they do not impact the visibility of the data in the same way the running user does. The running user ensures that the dashboard is dynamically tailored to reflect the proper level of data access for different users based on their individual security settings.